Doctor donates ₹14 crore, transforms government school in Karnataka's Bengaluru South district
This government school is on a par with any international school in Bengaluru, as the 50-room school has about 40 computers, maths and science labs, digital teaching boards, a well-equipped library, and sports facilities among others.
Earlier, this school was no different from any other government school of rural areas. But the transformation was possible due to the initiative of medical entrepreneur H.M. Venkatappa, a doctor and alumnus of this school, who contributed ₹14 crore to construct a new building and set up the required infrastructure.
A befitting tribute
'I studied in this school from from the first to the eighth standard between 1949 and 1957. The teachers of this school were instrumental in shaping the foundation for my educational career. I went on to complete MBBS and MD, although I hailed from an ordinary family, associated with agriculture. The then head master of the school, a Gandhian, inspired me a lot. I decided to rebuild and modernise this school to mark my association with it and also to ensure that poor students from rural areas get access to high quality education free of cost,' said the 79-year-old doctor, who has set up the Kanva Diagnostics Services Private Limited after retiring from government service.
The old building on four-and-a-half acres of land was fully demolished in June 2022, and two new buildings were built in the next two-and-a-half years. The school has been turned into a KPS comprising LKG/UKG to II PU, offering both Kannada and English medium. The school, named after Dr. Venkatappa's parents Chennamma and Manche Gowda, has already commenced its operations from this academic year.
The new school has already become so popular that the student strength has increased by 150 to 200 this year, taking the total number of students to around 800 at a time when government schools in general are reporting a massive drop in enrolment.
In addition to the one-time contribution of ₹14 crore, Dr. Venkatappa has also decided to make an annual contribution of around ₹10 lakh to take care of the maintenance of the school. As the school would have to hire guest teachers, he has decided to pay an additional ₹5,000 per head, apart from the monthly honorarium of ₹12,500 to be given by the government.
Inauguration today
The new school will be inaugurated formally by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday at a programme being organised by the State government. Minister for School Education Madhu Bangarappa said his department would try to get more such contributions through the involvement of School Development Monitoring Committees to improve other government schools as well.
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