Rejuvenating children in Nature is their priority to teaching

Exploring on the green hills

Taking the class out doors is a tedious task these days. With rampant urbanization and commercialization of the country side a teacher finds it hard to hit upon a suitable location to expose their children to the joys of the out doors. Teachers who have found the worthiness of it upon the young minds must strive to take the kids on excursions against many odds. If the rising cost of transport or the entry fees to the park is a bother of some schools, keeping discipline and safety of the children are a fear of others. Some schools have even expressed their stand upon the unwanted risk of taking the teenagers out on a trip. ‘You don’t know what is in store. We cannot control their socialization within our own campuses. How could the teacher manage them in the woods!  Many teachers even in big cities express their anguish. If these factors are not an issue then the priority of the school are for religious circuits. The idea gets a better chance of acceptance from the parents and would have cheaper accommodation and free food at the temples.

Kids develop a 'lending hand ' in the outdoors

We find very few teachers who succeed in persistently pushing their interest of exposing their class to the outdoors. They face the wrath of their head masters and colleagues if not timely advice upon the nonexistent ‘imminent benefits’ for all the unwanted trouble she takes. Quoting the media about the increasing atrocities and abuses upon children they prove that the venture of taking children to the forests is suicidal in every sense.

Getting up the gully

Timmapur with his students

The first teacher who comes to our mind is Mr. S G Thimapur who served at a high school at Hidkal, a township created for the working staff of an irrigation project in Belgaum district. He spent most of his carrier teaching English in the remote yet multi faceted village. The school catered the children of the officers and the ground workers; he taught them all, the same confident stand. School hours apart, he was in constant touch with the Natural history of the dam site which had ample scope for learning. Being an authority on the birds of that locality he nurtured many students in the class as well as the outdoors. In fact his wife who taught at the primary school also towed along all his expeditions. His house would be bubbling with activities of children of various classes. Probably he was picking up all the eco smart kids in the school; some of them have got into wildlife studies in prestigious institutions.

Ms. Suma standing tall with her students

Suma G teaches Science at Srikantha Girl’s High School, and is a dedicated Nature enthusiast who has shown tremendous perseverance in the Eco club Movement. She was inducted in 2002, when she first represented Mahaveer Education Society for our Capacity building Program for Teachers Running a Nature Club, with the support of WWF-India.  The two year follow up package of the program in thirty schools in the District of Mysore witnessed her excellent performance and she won laurels to her institution and our society as well. Ever since, she has kept up her good spirit of learning and communicating with young minds. She attends every possible event related to Nature in town to keep herself updated with current issues and do justice to her profession of teaching Science and her passion of running the School Nature Club.

The Salu Marada Timakka Eco Club she runs at Srikantha Girl’s High School is kept thoroughly active with numerous guest lectures, field visits and excursions. She is being a source of Inspiration for many children to perceive Natural sciences for a carrier.

Gundappa on his favorite turf

Mr. Gundappa is another teacher beyond compare. Apart from many accolades and honors he ha won the hearts of many students through his constant nudging them into natural history. Working at a small village called Nagavalli near Tumkur, his School Nature Club was recognized by the IISc., for their work on preparing a Biodiversity register of the village. His work with the students in protecting Slender Lories in the village locality has got him state wide recognition. He recalls that day in his pre teacher training course when a lecture by TVN Murthy, the founder of Wildlife Aware Nature Club (WANC) inspired to do something for Nature.  Ever since he worked with the club and in a decade’s time takes up the responsibility of the president ship of the same.  

Ms. Triveni with her class on the rocks

Mrs. Triveni is one other motherly figure which the children of DMS, in Mysore are endowed with. Though she appeared a little late on our radar her dedication could be felt with her professionalism and the intimacy she has with her teenage students. Cutting across subject barriers she ceases every opportunity to correct grammar, language, attitudes and beliefs of the students. History, sociology, politics and current affairs are all her sidekicks in teaching science. She like Gundappa, Suma and Thimmapur and many others feel that taking children to the out doors will certainly charge them up for the rest of the year. Such wonderful teachers are rare to get.