Tamil Nadu teacher spends Rs 1 lakh to buy 1000 umbrellas for school students

Vasantha said she had often observed students being forced to skip school during the monsoon season as they did not have umbrellas or raincoats to protect themselves from the rain, which ultimately affected their studies.

“I have been earning an income for myself by teaching students at my school for the past 28 years. I decided that I had to do something for the children with my salary and thought of distributing umbrellas; not only to my students but to all school children who had been affected by cyclone Gaja,” she said.

Vasantha said the next phase of her project will involve the distribution of raincoats to school students.

According to Vasantha, most of the families in her area did not have the means to purchase monsoon equipment. The teacher decided to share in their burden and purchased umbrellas herself.

The elementary school teacher said that she had spent Rs. 1 lakh from her savings to procure 1000 umbrellas from a manufacturer in Madurai, who then delivered them to her by bus. The umbrellas were later distributed to 1,000 students from 16 schools in Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur districts.

A proud mother of two daughters, both MBBS graduates, Vasantha has been teaching students from classes 1 to 5 at the school for the past 28 years.

Vasantha said that both she and her husband, V Chitravelu, who works as Headmaster of the nearby Gnanambika Aided Primary School,  have always been passionate about social service and teaching. “I take special classes for students who find it difficult to keep up with the speed in the regular class on weekends and ensure that I can help parents with their wards. Besides this, I engage in a lot of social services,” said Vasantha.

“With my husband, myself and my elder daughter earning money, we are quite well off as a family. While I always did social work, the additional income at my disposal has helped do a great deal more for others and that gives me happiness,” said Vasantha, whose elder daughter is a doctor at Chettinad Hospital, while the younger daughter is pursuing Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Radiology.

Apart from this, the teacher and her daughters helped raise money for provisions towards relief work at Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur during cyclone Gaja in 2018.

Vasantha’s work has garnered her lot of goodwill and respect from the people in Vedaranyam. She was also conferred various awards.

Vasantha was conferred with the Dr. Radhakrishnan award in 2016.

Officials from the School Education Department at Nagapattinam said that they were proud that a teacher from their district was the face behind the initiative. K Gunasekaran, the Chief Education Officer (CEO) of Nagapattinam said, “Mrs. Vasantha often says that it is because of the children that she has a job today and dotes on them. The parents of the children in her block work as conservancy workers. So when we organise functions or meals, the children never turn up. We often go to their homes and bring them to school by 11am but during the monsoon season this is not possible. She came up with the idea of distributing free umbrellas.”

The CEO also said that Vasantha was a sincere and hard working teacher who, along with her family, has always been involved in social work. “Even during cyclone Gaja, she distributed relief material for those who had been affected”, said Gunasekaran.