Khammam: Schools raise money to feed students
New initiative helps poor students to focus on their studies.
Khammam: Teachers are raising funds from locals and using the money to provide snacks to students studying in Class 10 during additional classes. All schools have been conducting special classes from 8 am to 9.30 am and 4 pm to 6.30 pm.
As 90 per cent of students come from an underprivileged background, their families find it difficult to provide them breakfast and evening snacks. As there funds are not provided for this, teachers in many schools have come forward to solve the issue.
The teachers approach donors in their villages and mandals, and provide biscuits and other eatables during the additional classes. If they are not given breakfast, a student who has dinner at 8 pm in his house eats lunch only at 1 pm the next day. Students cannot concentrate on studying on an empty stomach. Many students come to schools in the morning without breakfast.
Officials of the zilla parishad allocated '1,500 per three months to zilla parishad schools. Students of other schools do not get such funds. In this situation, the efforts of teachers are being praised.
In all, 17,848 students from 407 schools including private ones will be attending Class 10 exams in 2019 in the district. The government has set a target of achieving 90 per cent result against 83.78 in 2018. The pass percentage stood at 78 per cent in 2015, 85.63 in 2016 and 84.15 in 2017.
Some headmasters obtained the support of some trusts and voluntary organisations to fulfill the task. For example, a private trust has been serving breakfast to students in Nagulavancha school for the 10 years.