Udupi: An unique idea has made the Nagur school more attractive for students and selfie lovers. Due to a decrease in number of students, the number of Kannada-medium schools are closing every year in the state, which has led Kannada-lovers to come up with various ideas to attract more students towards them. The Government Higher Primary Hindustani School at Nagur village in Udupi is an example of such a school.

The government has made efforts to improve the enrolment of students in government schools by introducing midday meals and giving free school uniforms, shoes and books. Now, school teachers are contributing towards creating interest in children to get them back to school. The school has been painted at a cost of Rs 36,000, in the theme of a train, which was contributed by the head master, which is creating interest in the school among locals and children.

The school’s headmaster, Vishwanath Poojari, told, ” Colour and art are just one aspect towards attracting students towards education. Our intention is to prove to the people around us, that we are not closing down any time soon.

In 2014-15, we had only two students, and we were about to close down the school. When we go to parents and ask them to send their children to our school, they ignore us, and ask us why should they send their children to a school which is going to close down soon? Due to this, we had to prove to parents that our school is not going to close down.”

“More than creating an interest in children in our school, we want to attract parents and locals to get interested towards the school. When I thought about how to achieve this, the Government UP School in Kasargod’s Pilicode, Kerala, came to my mind, and I shared this idea with some teachers, who supported the initiative, and extended help.

The paintings were done with the help of some teachers and old students like art teacher Badiger from the Government Junior College, Uppunda, and Somashekhar, a teacher from the Government School, Aroor, and Girish, a student in our school. From the day that we finished the project, we are getting infrastructural help from donors,” he added.