Hubballi: When Mallesh D Harivan, a teacher, joined the Government Lower Primary School in Adavisomapur , a remote tribal hamlet in Gadag, in 2003, there were only 68 students on the rolls. The school — a Class 1 to Class 5 institution — consisted of just two classrooms and Harivan was determined to increase the number of students on roll as well as to improve the facilities in the school.Harivan had spent five years teaching in Savanur before moving to Adavisomapur and that experience came in handy. Now, the school has 103 students on its rolls and Harivan had added three more classrooms. The government has recognized his efforts and will confer the best teacher award on him.“In this tanda (hamlet), parents of students migrate to other places in search of jobs,” Harivan, 49, told TOI. “Their children would accompany them. With the help of other teachers, I began visiting each house in the tanda to persuade parents to send their wards to school. The response was slow, but steady.”With the numbers increasing, Harivan decided to expand. He collected Rs 3.5 lakh in donations from friends and acquaintances and built three classrooms. To promote extra-curricular activity, he started a ‘no-bag day’ on every Saturday. Every two weeks, students are taken to the library to encourage them to read.“Now that I’m in-charge of this school, I will also teach Kannada in very unique way,” Harivan said.Shankar Hugar, senior lecturer, District Institute of Education and Training, Gadag, said, “Thanks to Harivan’s hard work, many dropouts have re-joined school. Together with government funds, he also collected donations people around to help poor students get notebooks and shoes. He has brought innovative teaching methods to this small school.”

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