more-in The alumni of Sri Venkateswarar High School in Appanaikkenpatti fear that their 60-year-old aided school might face closure as it is struggling to survive due to various reasons, including declining student strength. Medium of instruction A group of alumni, successful in various fields, told The Hindu that they were even willing to adopt the institution. They expressed concern that lack of understanding among the trustees had resulted in failure to upgrade the school. Also, the medium of instruction is Tamil, one of the reasons for the declining student strength, they said. “If the management co-operates with us, we are ready to revive the school and bring back the glory brought to it by its founder A.V. Srinivasalu Naidu,” the alumni said. Beginnings The school was established by philanthropist A.V. Srinivasalu Naidu in 1956 for the benefit of poor students, who were forced to go to Sulur, Karadivavi and Lakshminacikenpalayam for high school education. The school developed gradually and rose to a strength of over 500 students. For the last two years, the strength has reduced to below 200, said an alumni, who owns a textile mill in Coimbatore. When contacted, one of the school trustees, Sulochana, maintained that the school strength was above 250 and said they have requested the government to start English medium classes in the school. However, permission was granted to start English medium at the Government Primary School in Appanaikkenpatti. “This is the main stumbling block in getting admissions to Class VI in the school,” said Ms. Sulochana. Students who had studied in English medium in primary school naturally go to high school with English medium classes, she said. AD Welfare School heading for closure Meanwhile, an Adi Dravidar Welfare School that was established in 1943 at Chinna Kallar is heading for closure, as the lone student who studied in Class IV migrated to another school this academic year. The decision to close the school has to be taken by the Department of School Education, said Senthi Vel, Deputy Collector, Department of Adi Dravidar Welfare. Repeated attempts to contact CEO P. Ayyannan went in vain.

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