Helping all students achieve

A  novel effort initiated by the Puttur Block Education Office (BEO), to motivate students to work hard and excel in studies, is spreading its wings in different parts of the State including Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru and Udupi, and helping script success stories. Inspired from the works of APJ Abdul Kalam, Mission 95 plus, a strategy to improve students’ performance in SSLC, was planned based on the theme ‘dream, thoughts and action’.

Innovative programmes
In 2014, Dakshina Kannada district slipped to 29th position in the State in SSLC performance, while it was still at third place when it came to securing the highest number of first classes and distinctions. G S Shashidhar, Block Education Officer of Puttur, decided to work on it and focus on students who find it hard to score pass marks. Accordingly, an innovative programme, where teacher would give a wake-up call to students at 5 am, was launched. The students had to return a missed call after waking up and start studying.

After identifying the below average students, the Department of Public Instructions in Puttur launched ‘Vidyarthi Mane Mana Bheti’ programme, wherein the teachers, officers of the department, elected representatives and bureaucrats visited the students’ houses at as early as 4.30 am, to instill confidence and make the student feel valued. The teams also met parents and suggested measures to help their children clear SSLC exams.

Apart from this, a group of teachers with the help of various organisations brought out ‘Daari Deepa’, a handbook with questions and simplified answers. The Junior Chamber International (JCI) and Rotary Club of Puttur supported the efforts. In fact, the members of JCI undertook a 705-km journey, where they visited every school of the block and delivered inspirational talks to the students. They also launched the programme, ‘Mind light’, with the help of physical education teachers. Through this, the students were taught meditation and breathing exercises to keep the mind fresh and improve concentration.

A team of 24 teachers also prepared notes known as ‘school tools’ and mailed to all schools through the ‘E- Deeksha’ programme. These innovative modules brought about collective changes in the school atmosphere with the involvement of the community, teachers and organisations.

Positive results
The impact of all these programmes is visible in the performance of students in SSLC. The results increased to 89.11% in 2015 from 79.76% in the previous year (2014). The performance of the district improved with the Dakshina Kannada district reaching third position and the Puttur taluk reaching second position among all the 204 taluks in the State. Continuing the strategy, in 2016, night classes were held in several schools where the focus was on below average students, in the months of March and April. 

Citing an example, Shashidhar said, “Mohammed Irshad of Government Pre-University College in Uppinangady had cleared the Class 10 examination by scoring 310 marks. As his performance in class 9 was poor, his previous school, a private institute, had given him a transfer certificate, and he later joined Uppinangady school. The teachers in the school included him for a month-long night classes. In another instance, Vidya, who had dropped out of the school in February was brought back to the school after counselling. With the help of special classes, she secured 361 marks.”

The ‘Visit to houses’ initiative gave teachers a better understanding of the students’ background and the reasons for their poor academic performance. Recalling an incident, Shashidhar said, “During one of the visits to the house of a girl student, I found that she was reading under street light at 5 am. As she was hailing from a poor background, the family members were using gaslight to light the house. The sound of the gas light was irritating her, so she was reading under the street lights.” With the help of philanthropists, the SSLC students, who do not have electricity connection, were given solar lamps. Apart from this, students from Koraga community studying in Class 10 were given a table and chair, books, bag and an umbrella, with the help of donors, to motivate them to excel.Speaking on the success of ‘Mission 95 plus’, Narayana K, headmaster, Government High School, Irde Uppalige, said, “The school has secured cent per cent result in SSLC for the second consecutive year. The Mission 95 plus benefitted the students in the range of 0-35 marks.”

Looking at the success of Mission 95 plus in Puttur, Jayaprakash Rao, a close associate of APJ Abdul Kalam, initiated the project in Mysuru last year. As a result of this, the SSLC performance in Mysuru district has improved drastically. Not only have the results been improving steadily, but also those involved in the project have responded well, including the parents.