MM: Kerala school builds a study area on a Mayflower tree to fulfil students wish: January 07, 2008

Look up, thats our tree-top classroom

Kerala school builds a study area on a Mayflower tree to fulfil students wish ………GLADWIN EMMANUEL

A classroom atop a tree is something unique, even in a place like Wayanad in Kerala, which boasts of plenty of treetop resorts. No surprise then, the classroom atop a gorgeous Mayflower tree is turning out to be the pride of 176 students of the government-aided ANM Upper Primary School.

Jeena Paul, a Class VII student and the school leader, says, We were very excited when the place was ready last month because we get a thrill out of climbing the 30-odd steps to the 10×10 ft room, which is being used for group study and seminars.

The classroom is at a height of about 50 ft. It is made of bamboos and was constructed by a local expert Krishnankutty, with the help of students at a cost of Rs 1 lakh. It can accommodate 20 students. Actually, the place is not yet complete. A toilet and expansion of the room is on the anvil, says E P Shivadasan, the headmaster who has travelled to Sweden and Tanzania to learn ways to develop child-friendly schools.

BUT WHY A CLASS ON A TREE?

The idea was the consequence of a school trip to Kuruva Island in Wayanad district. During the three-day camp, the students stayed in an Erumadam, a tree house, and, on their return, expressed a desire to have a treetop classroom. Pradeep Kumar, the English teacher, In our school, students are the decisionmakers.

They expressed their wish last year during a meeting of the People Parent Teachers Association (PPTA). The PPTA is another initiative of the school, an effort to encourage peoples participation in the affairs of the school, going beyond the clichéd Parent-Teacher Association.

This child-friendly classroom was funding by the PPTA, says E P Mohandas, DPO, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Wayanad and the Shivadasans brother.

TREE WONDER SCHOOL

The ANM Upper Primary School located in Wayanad district has classes from V to VII. Ninety per cent of the students are from Below Poverty Line families. Majority of them are from scheduled tribes.

HEARD OF WAYANAD?

Wayanad district in Kerala is located on the Western Ghats with altitudes ranging from 700 to 2,100 metres above mean sea level. It is one of the greenest places in India.

KERALA GOVT TO PUT CINEMA IN SCHOOL SYLLABUS
GLADWIN EMMANUEL

Kerala schools would soon have cinema as a subject as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government is keen on introducing it in the curriculum.Though some universities in India have film studies, no state has incorporated cinema as a subject at the school level.

Cultural Affairs and Education Minister M A Baby says,We want cinema, its history, its language, idiom, inner meanings etc, to be a subject at all levels, right from primary to secondary.This would enable children, who grow up watching television and films, to understand a good movie. By good films, I mean films that address the problems of humankind, are truthful to history and contemporary realities and are artistic and aesthetic.

The Kerala State Chalachithra Academy (Motion Picture Academy of Kerala), an autonomous institution created by the state government, is working with the education department to find ways to incorporate cinema in school curriculum and use visual culture to address contemporary issues.

The classroom is at a height of 50 ft and can accommodate 20 people