Indian Teacher Buys Bus, Picks Up Students Daily So They Won’t Miss School

It is a sad reality that many children from the village of Baarali in Udupi, India are dropping out of school because of how hard it is to get there in the first place. Apparently, going to school requires students to travel about 2 miles through the forest.

Fortunately, one kind-hearted school teacher decided to take action and deal with the problem. Because of his efforts, more kids from the village are able to continue with their education.

Not all heroes wear capes! This one teaches science and mathematics – and drives a bus!

Rajaram, who teaches at Baarali Government Higher Primary School, shared:

“There are no roads from the houses of the children to the school. There is a mud path through the forest and most of the girl students began dropping out as their families were scared of allowing their children to walk for a total of 6 km to and from school.”

Rajara later decided he’d do something about the problem and so he contacted Vijay Hegde, an “alumnus of the school who runs a property management company in Bengaluru,” reported SunnySkyz.

“Every week at least five to six students were not turning up. I called up one of our former students – Vijay Hegde and proposed the idea of buying a bus to pick up and drop the children,” explained Rajaram.

Eventually, Hedge and Rajaram decided to pool in some money and purchase a bus for the school. Moreover, Rajaram also uses his on money to pay for gas and vehicle insurance. And since they couldn’t afford to hire a driver, he volunteered to do it instead.

The teacher said in a News Minute interview:

“I live on the meager salary of a government school teacher. I could not afford to pay for a driver. Hence, I decided that I would learn how to drive the bus and do the task myself.”

Rajaram goes on four pick-up trips everyday to help students attend their classes.

According to Rajaram:

“The school starts at 9.30 am and I make sure that all students are on time. There are three teachers including me and a headmistress in our school. One of the teachers comes to school before the students from the first trip reach school. The teachers stay back in school until all the students are dropped off and I come back to park the bus.”

As a result, school attendance has increased from 50 to 90.

The teacher, however, doesn’t want to stop there and the next goal is to build a track so the children can participate in sports, too.

Rajaram remarked:

“I am thinking of constructing a fence around the school and also a track so children can practise sports. The problem is I don’t have enough money. I have reached out to the alumni of the school and asked if they will help. So far, there is money trouble but I am sure we will surpass that hurdle as well. The children will be motivated to attend classes if there are sports and other activities.”

What a good teacher! We hope this guy gets some love and support not only from netizens but from the Indian government.