Mysuru: Residents of Hongalli village in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajnagar celebrated the first day of the 2018-19 academic year on Tuesday by taking school children including 18 class one students in a procession in ten bullock carts with the school band leading them!
The children were welcomed with roses and lemons besides books with the over 2,500 people in the village served with festive dishes including vegetable pulav, raitha and kesaribath. Eighteen school development management committee members, who are parents, participated in their uniforms- pink shirt, white lungi, towel and Gandhi topi.
There are 120 children from class 1 to class 7 in the village school which however has only one headmaster cum teacher. The posts of five teachers are vacant and guest teachers may be provided later in June, according to sources.
“We wanted our children to feel they are no inferior to children who study at convent schools. So the first day of the school was celebrated as a festival in the village,” said Mahadeswaraswamy B, HM of the school.
The authorities grow their own vegetables needed for midday meals, and even serve bananas and papayas grown in the school campus. The school has bagged the Parisara Mitra award of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.
“The change should begin with us. So in order to inculcate moral values in children, we have taken several measures. We avoid distribution of cakes and chocolates on birthdays, instead children are served a sweet dish along with the midday meal,” said Mahadeswaraswamy.
