Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): When Vandana Yadav assumed the office of principal in government middle school at Chiklod Khurd village of Raisen district she was surprised to see the school had hardly any infrastructure and it had ceiling fans but no electricity connection, as per school staff and villagers. The school had no boundary wall, no bench for students in classrooms, windows damaged and no greenery. For a moment, she thought of requesting her authorities to cancel her transfer to the school but when she met the students and parents, she changed her decision. Talking to Free Press Vandana Yadav said, “I didn’t know where to begin from. There were mosquitoes and flies all around.” She said, “I found the ceiling fans damaged. I learnt later that the students were so angry with no electricity connection that they had poured out their anger on the ceiling fans.” She said she first started with boundary wall to check movement of stray cattle on the school campus spread over 3 acres of land.
With ‘Jan bhagidari’ (Public participation) she got the electricity connection and got repaired the school building. When she shared the school’s condition with her daughter Jigyasa, the latter donated fans for all the rooms in the school. For Vandana Yadav, a visit to a school in Switzerland where her sister resides was a learning experience. After her return, she started replicating some of the activities here with the help of teachers, about 10 in number and other staff. The school now has a toy bank and greenery all around with about 100 eucalyptus trees. The students now watch short and motivation films on Panchatantra and other motivational stories with the help of a projector. A solar system is also installed now. A school staffer said the local MLA Surendra Patwa was so much impressed on seeing the environment of the school about four years back that he announced a donation of Rs 2 lakh which was used for furniture in every classroom. Ex-sarpanch Durga Prasad Meena said, “The school has such a transformation that we can’t believe. Now, our children wait for the school time, and they come out of home before time to go to schools. All credit goes to the school principal Vandana Yadav and her colleagues.
