Villagers Hail Headmaster Who Revives School with His Own Funds

SVVS Seshagiri Rao took charge as headmaster at the mandal praja parishad primary model school in Hukumpeta in Rajamahendravaram rural mandal on June 1 after getting marching orders from a school located at T Gavarapeta in Tuni mandal of Kakinada district.

The moment he arrived at the school, he found everything in a mess. The school ground faced encroachments from locals, the unclean classrooms and doors/windows were without latches, the overhead water tank remained uncleaned for years and water was leaking from it. There was no proper water supply in the washrooms, no power supply to the kitchen for mid-day meal preparation and a host of other issues.

The school has a sanctioned strength of one headmaster and five secondary grade teachers with a strength of nearly 98 students. There was nobody to hand over the charge officially to the new HM. With the summer vacation still on, no teacher was available.

Rao decided to clear the ground from the encroachments and level the soil. He deployed two earthmovers to do this and paid the money from his pocket so that the students could use it as their playground.

After seeing the condition of five classrooms and three verandahs, Rao started to spruce them by setting right even the minute details. He fixed latches to secure doors and windows to class rooms, arranged provision to keep the duster below the black board and even took on the role of a carpenter to fix wooden furniture to make them neat and tidy.

The school had no ladder to climb up and clean the overhead water tank, an excuse cited by the staff at the school. Rao thought enough was enough. He got a wooden ladder, climbed up himself and cleared the waste piled up on the terrace of the building for years.

Watching the show, the villagers were awestruck. Some of them came in and offered the HM a helping hand.

Ever since Seshagiri Rao took charge, he has been staying in the school, working tirelessly all day and sleeping on a bench in a classroom while local residents extend him support in the form of food and water.

Rao said, “I have big plans to make the model school as a role model in its true sense. I am spending money from my pocket and working on my own to spruce up the entire school campus and classrooms for the benefit of the students.”

“I am supposed to prepare estimates for various works and submit these to the higher authorities and get money sanctioned. All these would take a lot of time. Hence, I am spending my money. If the government intends to pay back some amount, I will accept it,” he said.

Seshagiri Rao, the headmaster, went on, “Once the classes commence on Thursday, our immediate priority is to get all the students back to the classes. I want to ensure quality teaching and even intend to challenge students from convent schools to compete with our students in their knowledge and skills.”

“I believe that if I do good to the students, it helps my family too to be happy,” he added.

Rao Sir, who won the hearts of the villagers in a matter of a few days, would however have only four more years in service before his retirement.