A government-sponsored school in south Kolkata’s Santoshpur has covered its facade with paintings that recognise the achievements of its girls and help them set goals for the future.
About 80 per cent of the students of Santoshpur Rishi Aurobindo Balika Vidyapith, affiliated to the state board, are from poor families and they have to be taught to “aspire and create goals” for themselves.
The corridors, classrooms and staircase are used as learning aids where some of the content that they learn in class have been explained pictorially.
The paintings depict girls standing on the victory stand, practising karate, playing chess, working in a science laboratory and busy on a computer, activities that are part of their school lives.
In another portion of the school, a painting shows a girl jumping as if she is trying to touch her dreams and another one in the convocation robe.
“There are some paintings where students identify with what they have done in school. It is as if they see themselves in those images,” said headmistress Sarbani Sen.
“In some others, we have tried to set goals for them so that they aspire to achieve them. The minimum that they should do is complete graduation, so there is the painting of a girl in the convocation robe. We have to teach them to dream because given the kind of background they come from, they hardly have anyone to talk to about education and school (at home),” said Sen.
The parents of a large number of students at the school struggle to make a living, the authorities said.
The mothers are mostly domestic help and the fathers are rickshaw-pullers or autorickshaw drivers.
The images of girls on the facade of the school building inspire students throughout the year, officials said.
“There was a senior student whose family was financially weak but she was one of our toppers. When I see that painting, I am reminded of her,” said Class XI student Arundhati Bhattacharjee, whose mother is a tailor.
The school started the paintings in 2020 and later got some funds from a private organisation.
Last year, they got some money from a project of the school education department and that helped them complete the project, said Sen.
Some students lent a hand in painting walls of a classroom and along a corridor.
Paintings on the walls along a corridor and (right) in one of the classrooms
The paintings on the walls have made school more welcoming, students said.
“Before the pandemic the walls were blank, but now each wall tells a story. The pictures are also related to the things we learn in class. This makes it more interesting for us,” said Arundhati.
“Learning does not happen from textbooks alone. The environment plays a part, too, and the school has tried to use that,” said a teacher.