Actor Pranitha Subhash is among those campaigning for the revival of a 150-year-old school in Chamarajpet.
Bengaluru’s first private Kannada-medium school, Model High School, was started in 1870 under British rule.
Despite an illustrious list of alumni that includes movie star Vishnuvardhan and cricket legend G R Vishwanath, the school recently took its name board down, wiping out all traces of its existence.
In 2017, after the school’s higher secondary wing shut down citing poor enrollment, then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced that no Kannada medium school would be closed down.
However, his promise didn’t help the school’s fortunes. Within a year, the primary wing of the school also got shut down, citing zero admissions. “When I first learned about the state of the oldest Kannada medium school in our city, it deeply saddened me. This is our heritage, and it is our duty to preserve it,” she told Metrolife.
Pranitha says Kannada-medium schools shutting down is now a sad reality.
Earlier this week, she tweeted about the school, and that caught the attention of many. “I am bombarded with phone calls from various organisations and officials willing to aid the school’s revival,” she says. Pranitha runs a charitable organisation called Pranitha Foundation, founded in 2018 to focus on crisis relief, healthcare, and education of the less privileged.
“Over the last couple of years, we have adopted and improved schools in Bengaluru and elsewhere. Education has been our main focus,” explains Pranitha.
The foundation also took part in Covid relief operations in 2020.
Pranitha is not sure how long it will take to revive the school.
“When people think of improving government schools, they often only associate it with providing furniture and blackboards,” she says. “But more often than not schools shut down because of poor upkeep of buildings and lack of good teachers.”
She says her organisation hopes to partner with the government and NGOs to get the school back up on its feet.
No word from ministers
Aravind Limbavali, minister of Kannada and culture, refused to comment, saying he was in West Bengal on campaigning duty. Education Minister Suresh Kumar did not respond to calls.
Want to help?
Pranitha Foundation Banashankari, can be contacted on 95389 44624. Email: info@pranithafoundation.org