Sahyadri Sanchaya shows how you can help tribal students in govt schools in Karnataka

Students of Government Lower Primary School at Nevalase, in Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, still sit on the floor. Moisture makes it difficult for the students to sit on the floor during the rainy season. They do not even have a mat to spread on the floor. The school is about 40 k.m. from Ankola town. The government and the civil society members have not been able to arrange desks and benches for this small school catering to students from classes 1 to 5.

“Should this not be a matter of concern for all of us,” asks Dinesh Holla, an artist and convener of Sahyadri Sanchaya, a registered organisation of green activists, in Mangaluru. “Uttara Kannada has many such government schools. We, at Sahyadri Sanchaya, know at least 15 of them,” Holla told The Hindu.

Many government schools — mainly in Joida, Yellapura, Ankola, Haliyal, Dandeli and Mundugodu — lack basic facilities. A majority of students enrolled in these schools are from tribal communities — Siddi, Kudubi, Halakki and Gouli.

Began helping tribal students by dipping into personal savings

Holla, who is an avid trekker and also a kite maker and flyer, realised the poor condition of government schools and their tribal students while trekking in the Western Ghats. It was in 2006 that he began distributing education materials, such as note books, pencils, pens, bags, and slates, to students of one or two schools in Uttara Kannada district by dipping into his personal savings. “I began on June 15, my birthday,” the artist said.

Holla, as part of Team Mangalore, a group of kite flyers, began attending some international kite festivals from 2008. He began showcasing and selling some of his artwork at the international kite festivals, especially in France. “I invested 30% of the proceeds from the sale of artwork for distribution of education material to tribal students back home in Uttara Kannada,” he said.

As there was a need to cover tribal students in more schools, he explained the condition of students and schools to his trekking friends who also began contributing money.

The empowerment thus started more than a decade ago has now spread its wings thanks to the good support from like-minded donors and institutions.

About 250 schools benefit

Over the past one-and-a-half decades, the team has arranged for computers, television sets, digital slates, library racks, library books, tables and chairs, desks, benches, solar lights, digital slates, umbrellas, and rain coats for many schools. “So far, we have covered around 250 schools,” he says.

Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited (MCF), Mangaluru, has provided furniture worth ₹5 lakh to schools in the past four years. A team led by Manjunath of HAL, Bengaluru, has been donating green boards and sports materials. Mukund Damle and his team from Saffron Technology, Bengaluru, have been giving computers. In addition, there are individual donors.

Holla’s team members include Rakesh Bolar, Harsha D’Souza, Giridhar Kamath, Vivek Gowda, Snake Kiran, Sudheer, Praveen, Punik Shetty, Sunil Attavara, Raki Gowda, Harish Adyar, and Kusum Shailesh. In addition, some volunteers co-ordinate the activities at the ground level. They are Rajeshwari Siddi and Anantha Siddi in Yellapura, Yashwant Naik in Joida and Manjunatha Gouda in Ankola.

On an average, a school has a minimum of eight students to a maximum of 80 students. A school at Bailandoor in Yellapura taluk has 136 students. “The tribal students are talented, but there is no one to mentor them,” Holla said.

Challenges during lockdown

The lockdown imposed in 2020 and 2021, and the COVID-19 restrictions became a hindrance for continuing the empowerment activities. When online teaching picked up and became the order of the day, tribal students in government schools lagged behind. Many did not have access to mobile phones.

When the lockdown conditions were relaxed in September 2020, Holla made the children engage in creative activities – drawing, kite making and crafts, dance and singing. He called the programme Vana Belaku — outdoor activities under the shade of trees.

At that time, there were no international kite festivals due to the pandemic restrictions. Holla could not sell his art work, especially his specialised line art work, which reduced funds for the children and the schools.

Then came Panambur Vasudeva Aithal from the United States. He offered to financially support the creative activities from 2021. Aithal hails from Mangaluru. The creative activities were re-structured and named as Vana Chethana to address the drawbacks in the learning abilities of students.

Children were taught English grammar, and mathematics through pictorial presentation and through games. They were involved in craft-based teaching. They were guided on increasing memory power. They were rewarded by organising competitions.

The Vana Chethana activities sponsored by Aithal continues even today and covers around 35 different schools in a year. The activities are held between September and March.

Aithal told The Hindu that he sponsored the programme as it was a creative work to educationally empower tribal students. Holla had maintained transparency at all levels, he said.

What teachers say

Chandrakant Gouda, a school teacher who earlier taught at Mudiye in Joida taluk for about five years and who now teaches at Karwar, said that the creativity of students opened up after participating in the activities of Team Holla. “Many students were earlier speaking only in Konkani. Now they speak in Kannada and have been exposed to many activities. Students keep enquiring with teachers about the next visit of Holla.”

Yashwant Naik, a teacher at Joida, said that Sahyadri Sanchaya has been into empowering students in Joida taluk for the past 16 years. A great change in the learning abilities of tribal students can be seen now. They have also arranged for scholarships for high scorers in class 10 examinations to pursue higher education. “They are doing a great work by maintaining a low profile and not seeking any publicity,” the teacher said.

Class 7 students of Dakshina Kannada contribute to activities

Impressed with the activities of Team Holla, two class 7 students of Dakshina Kannada recently donated money for the activities, on their birthdays. Anjali from Mangaluru donated her pocket money of ₹10,000 and Harshika Kaniyoor offered ₹25,000 for arranging desks and benches.

Team Holla arranged six used cycles for deserving students in Yellapura in 2023. This year, on his birthday on June 15, Holla arranged a cycle for a student of Nagoda school in Joida taluk donated by a teacher in Mangaluru. All those students otherwise had to walk about five km to their schools.

The team has collected about 50 used cycles in Mangaluru for distribution to students in Uttara Kannada. They are under repair and will be distributed by the end of August.