A remote village in Dumka finds place in PM Modi’s praise for its school’s innovation
DHANBAD: Dumarthar, a remote village in Jarmundi block of Dumka district, burst with joy after Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi appreciated a village school’s wall blackboard model for teaching students during the Covid-19 lockdown in his regular ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme on Sunday .
In his address, the PM said such an innovative idea for continuing students’ education during the tough times of lockdown was praise worthy .
When all schools were shut down in the state due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the principal of Dumarthar Middle School, Swapan Kumar, along with teachers of Dumarthar Middle School, made around 200 blackboards on walls of village residents’ houses in June last year and taught students
on the streets, and the classes have been going on since then.
As the PM mentioned the name of the village and the school during the radio programme on Sunday, the entire village, especially the students
and their guardians, burst with joy. Pawanlal Murmu, the village chief , said the entire village felt proud, as the PM’s appreciation made their village and school famous in the country.
“It is matter of pride for the village and we would felicitate principal Swapan kumar and celebrate it soon,” said the village chief.
Meanwhile, Swapan Kumar said he felt elated and proud, as the school got appreciation from the PM. “My dream came true today. I wanted the school’s innovation in the middle of a crisis to reach to the PM and it did,” he said.
Since the school was shut during the lockdown last year, and the remote village has no internet facility to run online classes for students, the teachers, with the help of locals, had come to the rescue of around 350 students to keep them connected to academics.
Remarkably, the students catered to many of their requirement themselves, including making chalks, brooms for sweeping the street, and mats for sitting during classes.