– Reshma Ravishanker

Positive reinforcements to students and a leadership who kept their cool helped Udupi district in Karnataka catapult back to the top position in the SSLC rankings as against #14 last year, school teachers believe.

Much against the anticipation of many, Udupi district, which boasts high literacy rates and quality educational institutions, had not even made it to the top 10 in the list of districts with high pass percentage in the class 10 state board exams last year. However, within a year, the district bounced back to being ranked #1 in the state.

Shabhana Anjum, Block Education Officer, Brahmavara, Udupi district explained that a slew of measures taken at Taluks across the district helped them score high again.

Among them, workshops for teachers explaining new concepts and exposure to new teaching methodologies drew teachers’ attention towards improving performance. The same was done in all six subjects.

Coordinated by the education department officials, students were given mock SSLC exams in the centres that were allotted to them for the board exams to familiarise them with the environment and make them comfortable.

“Headmasters of schools and I went on surprise visits post school hours to those students’ houses who needed extra support. Our district is one with hilly terrain. The houses are far apart from each other and navigating though these roads that pass through dense greenery was not easy. Yet, we did around 4-5 visits to the houses of each of the students who needed an extra push to pass. We visited residential schools as late as 10 pm and spent time with students,” said Anjum.

H N Venkatesh, headmaster, Dr TMA Pai High School, Kalyanpura (aided school) said that owing to these measures, the school secured a 100 percent pass result for the first time in three decades.

“Starting November, remedial classes were conducted between 4 pm and 5 pm. Mothers of students were given special counselling. Four rounds of PTA were conducted. The idea behind home visits was not to instill fear. If a principal visited a household, parents and children would feel more invested in achieving higher scores,” said Venkatesh.

He recollected that on one such visit late in the night in an isolated locality, he and a teacher accompanying him were chased by a pack of 8 dogs, despite which the visits were continued.

“Even on the day of exams, students stayed back till 5 pm. They stay far away from exam centres. Walking long distances is both time and energy consuming. Instead, we urged parents to let them stay in the school till 5 pm where teachers would offer support, an additional meal was served and peer help was assured,” he added.

Ramesh Kulal, headmaster, Government High School, Avarse said, “13 of 51 students in our school passed with distinction. Online classes were facilitated in the entire district. Schools were given webcams and laptops. SSLC nodal officers did home visits. Although there were two other attempts, we encouraged students to put in their best in the first one itself. Rather than having previous year’s toppers talk to them, we got those students who had just passed to address these students. They spoke about the challenges they encountered and reassured them that they would pass. The DDPI adopted a practical, happy go approach that kept our spirits high,” he said.

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