Kambalapally ZPHS promoting holistic education
One of the oldest schools in the district, Kambalapally ZPHS, about 10 km from Mahabubabad town, was set up in 1970 and has a total student strength of 296 (Class 6 to 10)
Mahabubabad: Thanks to the sincere efforts of the teaching faculty, Kambalapally Zilla Parishad High School (ZPHS) in Mahabubabad is competing with the corporate schools in providing quality education to students from the poor financial background, and emerged as a model for other government schools not only in Mahabubabad district, but also in the entire erstwhile Warangal district.
One of the oldest schools in the district, Kambalapally ZPHS, about 10 km from Mahabubabad town, was set up in 1970 and has a total student strength of 296 (Class 6 to 10). Speaking to ‘Telangana Today’, Dr V Gurunadha Rao, a physics teacher, said that the children at the school are not only provided with free quality education in both English and Telugu mediums, but are also being taught life skills to enable them to face the future. “To promote holistic education, our school has a joyous experience of unfolding the innate potential in each child with the right mix of games and martial arts in addition to nurturing values of love, compassion, friendliness, and self-discipline,” he said.
Headmaster (FAC) S Vishnuvardhan said they strongly believe that education should cater to all facets of life- be it cognitive, physical, emotional, or social and this can be achieved by implementing creative teaching methods with emphasis on arts and sports. “As a part of this, we are imparting several life skills to the students. We encourage students to act as Student Police Cadets (SPC) and join the Junior Red Cross to perceive collaborative learning. During these projects, it has been witnessed that students take initiative and display compassion towards others. And the girls in school are taught martial arts. The self-defense classes are conducted twice a week for one hour duration. Taekwondo is truly unique in that as it ensures a healthy mind, body, and lifestyle for all ages,” he said, adding that B Madhu and B Banurakash from the school had represented Telangana in the Junior National Judo Open competition.
D Anjali, a 9th Class student, won the prestigious ‘Infosys Foundation – ISCA Travel Award’. She was the only tribal girl student from Telangana to get this award. Anjali, who hails from a poor family, thanked physical science teacher Dr V Gurunadha Rao for his encouragement. “He is my mentor. I come from a poor tribal family, and my father is a daily wage earner. Confidence is not easy coming from this background, but I was encouraged through my physics teacher Gurunadha Rao,” she added.
She received the award from none other than the 2004 Nobel Laureate Prof Ada Yonath, an Israeli scientist, at the 107th Indian Science Congress held in Bengaluru. The teachers at the school also conduct short story and poem writing contests to explore their imagination. “ZPHS, Kambalapally, is organising book exhibition every year,” said the HM.
Physical science teacher Dr V Gurunadha Rao attended and presented an innovative project on ‘ICT supported techniques for developing scientific skills among high school students Training (NCERT), ‘National Awards for Innovative Practices and Experiments in Education for Schools and Teacher Education Institutions 2019’. From Telangana, this was the only project selected for a national competition.
Spread over a sprawling two acre land, the school has a water tank and RO plant with the support of the villagers including R Sridhar Reddy, a teacher. “The walls of the schools were painted with portraits of the great scientists, freedom fighters, poets and philosophers,” Gurundha Rao said, adding that the compound wall was painted with a message to create awareness among the people on the ill-effects of child marriages and child labour. While students of Kambalapally village and 16 other hamlets attend the school, the majority of them are STs (Koyas and Lamabadas). Meanwhile, the government is constructing a new building with five rooms including a science lab at a cost of around Rs 70 lakh. A total of 16 teachers are working in the school.
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