Covid has disrupted the classroom.
So schools are doing all they can to ensure work, sustenance for staff.
And what better way than an organic farm
School campuses have fallen silent due to covid.
No one thought the “silence please” request from teachers would one day come true.
And pin drop silence at that.
That’s the sad reality of covid when the once-bustling temples of knowledge with giggles and shrieks and thuds of running feet filled the air.
But some teachers have turned the adversity into opportunity by not just changing school campuses but by changing their professions too.
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When covid has subsided and children come back to school, they will see Suseela Santosh, director of Vishwa Vidyapeeth in a different light.
The educationist turned into an urban farmer when classes moved online and the large campus lay vacant and the staff in the school had nothing to do.
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“We started this school ten years ago but covid changed everything.
After covid struck, the allied staff in the school – canteen chefs, bus drivers, cleaners and ayahs, had nothing to do.
To keep them occupied we decided to use the empty plots in the school to grown organic fruits, vegetables and herbs,” says Santosh.
A few staff members had experience in farming while others learned on the job.
“Our mission was to turn the campus into a green one and become self-sufficient.
So, we collected leaves from the nearby trees and decided to compost them for manure.
A water channel inside the campus was used to grow bananas.
There was a lot of space on the terrace of the kitchen which we wanted to convert into a terrace garden.
However, we wanted to do something different.
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Our workers wove huge baskets and filled them with mud and manure.
In this, we started growing vegetables and flowering plants.
The fruits of our labour was there to see in a few months,” says Santosh.
To meet the water requirements, rainwater was harvested, and greywater from the kitchen was used too.
Now, the school has hundreds of banana plants.
It also boasts of a herbal garden with 41 species besides greens, numerous vegetables and fruits.
With the school kitchen shut, they had to think of how to utilise the produce.
Thankfully, around the same time, they started to receive requests from various quarters to supply food to covid patients who were in home isolation.
“So, we started using our kitchen to prepare food, using most of the vegetables grown in our campus.
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Today, we are busy supplying food to a lot of patients, NGOs and others who need meals.
I strongly feel that instead of cribbing that covid has snatched our jobs, we need to look at converting every adversity into an opportunity.”
Teacher turns mason
Many teachers who have lost jobs have been forced to take up alternative careers.
Narasimha, a teacher in a school in Kolar district, has taken up a job as a mason.
As the schools are shut and he gets no income, he was forced to take up construction work and is now helping to construct a house.
In Sira of Tumakuru district, many teachers have become vegetable vendors.
“The schools are shut.
However, the vegetable business is evergreen as vendors are permitted to operate.
Though the income is negligible, there is no option but to sell vegetables.”
After covid struck, the allied staff in the school – canteen chefs, bus drivers, cleaners and ayahs, had nothing to do.
To keep them occupied, we decided to use the school’s empty plots to grow organic fruits, vegetables and herbs— Suseela Santosh, director of Vishwa Vidyapeeth school
When schools resume, these teachers will go back as role models to their students.
These life lessons may not find their way into textbooks but the learnings from them will endure forever.
