MANGALURU: The in-charge head teacher of a Kannada-medium school in Ragihaklu village , Baindoor taluk, Udupi district, who realised that the institution would lose children due to lack of transportation, is ferrying them in his own car.Around 20 children in around in around the remote village benefit by the gesture of Mahadeva Manja who says he’s doing it so that children don’t migrate to other schools only because of this problem.The school is 4km from River Souparnika, from where Mahadeva picks up 20 students, including eight girls. If he doesn’t do it, they would have to walk through the forest to reach school every day. The area has no proper public transportation and during the monsoon, the stretch is not safe for kids. As a result, the number of admissions has dipped every passing year. “To stem this trend, I started offering the transportation service with my car,” Mahadeva said.The school, which has classes up to eighth standard, provides education for 94 students. “We wanted to shift our children to another nearby school due to the transportation prpblem. However, we’re relieved as the teacher is providing it,” said a parent.Happy with Mahadeva’s initiative, villagers and SDMC members have decided to help him. Annappa Kothari, president, SDMC, has now taken up the responsibility of being the car driver. When he’s not available, it’s driven by other SDMC members or teachers. “The timely help from Mahadeva has stopped 20 children dropping out of this school. He is using his own vehicle. SDMC and alumni are planning to donate a vehicle to ferry kids,” Annappa said.

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