Chandigarh, June 5: From a derelict building, which dripped in the rains, Government High School, Kalyanpur, here, has been transformed into an education haven, where students from all villages vie to take admission. Thanks to village NRIs Hari Singh Aulakh (Canada) and Ravinder Singh Kukku (UK), the school, which was nothing less than an eyesore four years ago, is now one of the most sought after government schools in the region.
Aulakh, who was also an alumnus of the school, started helping in 2015 with lakhs of rupees in grants, providing books and moral help.
A state-of-the-art and well-equipped school with labs, Rs 10,000 to 15,000 scholarships for first five Class X toppers (every year), a well-stacked library, extra classes by teachers before the exams, a slew of academic activities and a strength of 168 students.
The school results are also constantly getting better with each year. While last year, four students from the school made it to the merit list, before that in both 2016 and 2015 three students scored above 80 pc. The top five students of the school receive a scholarship of Rs 10,000 every year from the NRI, who started with Rs 15,000 to eight students in 2015. The school got 89 per cent pass percentage in Class X this year with the topper getting 75.08 per cent marks.
Due to the sops for Class X students, the school has 59 students in Class IX and had to refuse further admission to students. The school barely had four rooms in 2015 but the NRI-help ensured the construction of a portion on the first floor, which has been named Gopal Singh Yadgari Block after Aulakh’s father.
Sukhwinder Singh, a teacher of the school, said, “We had only three classrooms and a lab. The rest of the children attended classes on the verandah. We didn’t know how to house children during hot weather and rains. There was only one washroom (each) for boys and girls. But ever since Aulakh gave Rs 20 lakh to the school, things turned around. The upper story was built in 2015 and now we have additional four rooms for classes in addition to a science lab, two computer labs, one EDUSAT room, a library and staff rooms. The number of washrooms has also been increased to 10.”
While all labs bear detailed pictorial diagrams and charts on the function of the labs, the school facade is marked with thoughts and slogans painted in bold. The library is stacked with books (worth Rs 14,000), donated by Aulakh in 2016.
Source Tribune India
