Government school gets makeover, painted like train to attract students

Mysuru, 16 July 2018 [Fik/News Sources]: A government school in a remote village in the Mysuru district of Karnataka, has been painted to look like a train to put a check on the migration of its students to private schools.

The school is located in the Nanjangud taluk.

"Government schools are shutting down these days because children are going to private schools. The same was happening with our school too. This made us think why not we paint the school to make it look differently," Block Education Officer of the school M Narayana told PTI.

The school, which has classes from one to seven, had 50 students while a few others were reportedly waiting in the wings to join some private schools.

The education department stumbled upon this idea when it faced the challenge of possible school dropouts and parents admitting children to private schools, school authorities said.

The officer said the four-five teachers in the school decided to paint the school wall to resemble a train.

"After the painting, not only did children give up their plans to go to private schools but some others came back from nearby private schools," the officer said.

Earlier, there were 50 students but today, their number has increased to 55, he added.

Villagers too contributed their mite by laying the foundation for a school compound wall.

Basava Naik, the school headmaster, said, "One of our teachers got a message about the school-train somewhere in Rajasthan, which prompted him to plan a similar thing here.

We are happy that children are showing interest in our school."