Sri Swamy Krishnan, Sri Sunil Dutt, Sri Venkata Siva Reddy, Sri BR Srinivas Murthy, Sri Varaha Murthy, Sri G N Nagaraj, Smt Nagamani, other members of the alumni, my colleagues on the Executive Committee who are present, teachers, administrators, and dear students. There is a great opportunity to serve your alma mater, society, and Gauribidnur town with this association and I am very delighted with the starting of an alumni association today. The alumni association is starting 75 years after the school was started, it is never late for a good cause and I think it might be the right time.
My sincere thanks to Sasken and team Sasken for donating the computers. This will be a good support to the students.
We can have only one association so it is very important that all batches are represented I request the Headmaster and teachers especially those who are alumni to see that the alumni association has the representation of all batches.
The purpose of establishing these institutions was to empower through education and seeing the achievements of the alumni I think we are doing well. Today things are different, We may not be providing the quality that you received many years and decades ago. When the school was established it was the first one in the taluk, Today we have many good schools in town, AHS today is different from other schools on at the least two counts. 1. Thanks to the government aid for most of the teachers and infrastructure built under the leadership of Mr. A.N Balram and others, we charge around Rs.1000/- per year so everyone can afford education. The second difference that continues over the decades is that we offer education where patriotism and some minimum spiritual practices are part of the curriculum. We still have committed teachers even though their number is coming down.
The way alumni association can add value is by getting involved by offering selfless service. Sadly, history has been that the resources of the institutions have been offered to politicians and government officials for small political advantage. This has resulted in many issues. When a wonderful initiative like the alumni association comes up, because of past experiences, many people worry, as to what could be the ulterior motive and which person or group is trying to gain in this effort. As many of the old students are aware we have lost more than 2 acres of land. It has gone for good causes like inter-faith harmony, hosing for SC/ST and to house international service organizations, yet it is in some ways a loss for our students.
Our association NREA has an 80G exemption and alumni and alumni association should make use of this tax benefit.
As a part of the constitution of the NREA one elected representative of our alumni is on the Executive Committee and since the other institutions do not yet have a registered association for the present it will be from the association being formed today. At present Sri. B. Srinivas Murthy represents the alumni on the Executive Council. At the AHS we also have a governing council and I request Dr.Subramania and Sri. Madhusudan who are both experienced academics to join this governing council and I will be sending them a formal invitation soon.
I will be delighted if Sri B.Srinivas Murthy, Dr. Geetha, along with some senior members of the alumni and our employees who are also alumni form a platinum jubilee celebrations committee and help the institution by organizing a grand platinum jubilee of the National and Rural Education Association which is the mother organization for all the institutions with AHS being the first to be established.
Education is changing rapidly and we need to update in many areas. Our students and teachers should be on par with peers anywhere. This is where alumni can play a big role. Some of the areas I am seeking help include 1. televisions and digital content for classrooms as this is good teaching and learning aid. 2. Upgradation of the kitchen with stainless steel vessels and working tables as aluminum is really not good 3. Faculty room upgradation and furniture so teachers can have a better working space 4. Rainwater harvesting as we are facing huge water shortages 5. A covered area for assembly in front of the stage 6. Support for life skills training/talks by experts/film shows/ extracurricular activities etc.
Another important area alumni can work is scholarships. I believe government aid will slowly reduce and we will have Government and Private institutions. In such a scenario, fees will go up and if we want to keep the essential character of the school we need to provide scholarships. It will be very good if one alumnus can sponsor one child and the alumni association ensures the scholarships reach the most deserving by way of a transparent selection process.
Finally, I am hoping the alumni association will be a good association for networking among students of various batches. All the 25000 students share a part of their lives with this school and it would be wonderful if they can connect with each other, help each other and enrich the lives of each other.
We can together make this school a model school in Karnataka with your support and involvement. My sincere thanks again to the sponsors, Alumni who are here today and the faculty and students who made these arrangements and for having me here. I am really happy with the dress and turnout of our students today, all in clean and white, super bright.
Thank you and Namaste
My sincere thanks to Sasken and team Sasken for donating the computers. This will be a good support to the students.
We can have only one association so it is very important that all batches are represented I request the Headmaster and teachers especially those who are alumni to see that the alumni association has the representation of all batches.
The purpose of establishing these institutions was to empower through education and seeing the achievements of the alumni I think we are doing well. Today things are different, We may not be providing the quality that you received many years and decades ago. When the school was established it was the first one in the taluk, Today we have many good schools in town, AHS today is different from other schools on at the least two counts. 1. Thanks to the government aid for most of the teachers and infrastructure built under the leadership of Mr. A.N Balram and others, we charge around Rs.1000/- per year so everyone can afford education. The second difference that continues over the decades is that we offer education where patriotism and some minimum spiritual practices are part of the curriculum. We still have committed teachers even though their number is coming down.
The way alumni association can add value is by getting involved by offering selfless service. Sadly, history has been that the resources of the institutions have been offered to politicians and government officials for small political advantage. This has resulted in many issues. When a wonderful initiative like the alumni association comes up, because of past experiences, many people worry, as to what could be the ulterior motive and which person or group is trying to gain in this effort. As many of the old students are aware we have lost more than 2 acres of land. It has gone for good causes like inter-faith harmony, hosing for SC/ST and to house international service organizations, yet it is in some ways a loss for our students.
Our association NREA has an 80G exemption and alumni and alumni association should make use of this tax benefit.
As a part of the constitution of the NREA one elected representative of our alumni is on the Executive Committee and since the other institutions do not yet have a registered association for the present it will be from the association being formed today. At present Sri. B. Srinivas Murthy represents the alumni on the Executive Council. At the AHS we also have a governing council and I request Dr.Subramania and Sri. Madhusudan who are both experienced academics to join this governing council and I will be sending them a formal invitation soon.
I will be delighted if Sri B.Srinivas Murthy, Dr. Geetha, along with some senior members of the alumni and our employees who are also alumni form a platinum jubilee celebrations committee and help the institution by organizing a grand platinum jubilee of the National and Rural Education Association which is the mother organization for all the institutions with AHS being the first to be established.
Education is changing rapidly and we need to update in many areas. Our students and teachers should be on par with peers anywhere. This is where alumni can play a big role. Some of the areas I am seeking help include 1. televisions and digital content for classrooms as this is good teaching and learning aid. 2. Upgradation of the kitchen with stainless steel vessels and working tables as aluminum is really not good 3. Faculty room upgradation and furniture so teachers can have a better working space 4. Rainwater harvesting as we are facing huge water shortages 5. A covered area for assembly in front of the stage 6. Support for life skills training/talks by experts/film shows/ extracurricular activities etc.
Another important area alumni can work is scholarships. I believe government aid will slowly reduce and we will have Government and Private institutions. In such a scenario, fees will go up and if we want to keep the essential character of the school we need to provide scholarships. It will be very good if one alumnus can sponsor one child and the alumni association ensures the scholarships reach the most deserving by way of a transparent selection process.
Finally, I am hoping the alumni association will be a good association for networking among students of various batches. All the 25000 students share a part of their lives with this school and it would be wonderful if they can connect with each other, help each other and enrich the lives of each other.
We can together make this school a model school in Karnataka with your support and involvement. My sincere thanks again to the sponsors, Alumni who are here today and the faculty and students who made these arrangements and for having me here. I am really happy with the dress and turnout of our students today, all in clean and white, super bright.
Thank you and Namaste
