Bandla Bapaiah Educational Institutions prepping for centenary celebrations

The Bandla Bapaiah Educational Institutions, which was established as a middle school and providing education to graduation in the poor and rural area of Vetapalem for generations of people is now turning 100-years-old soon.

Bandla Bapaiah is a native of Ravooripeta, Vetapalem village in Madras state and being from the Devanga family, developed great connections in the weavers and exported the handlooms to various countries including Singapore, Java, Malaysia, Pinang, Sri Lanka and others.

With encouragement from the local prominent persons like Thota Seshadrinayudu, Bandla Venkaiah, Bandla Bhadraiah, Pinjala Subrahmanyam and others, Bapaiah started the Bandla Bapaiah Middle School in Vetapalem on November 4, 1921. The then governor of Madras State lord Wellingdon laid the foundation stone for the school building with a five acres campus in 1922.

The British government honoured him with the title of Rao Saheb for his services to the public. He died in 1928, leaving behind the responsibilities to his wife Saradamba and children Venkateswara Rao, Viswanatha Rao and China Bapaiah Setty.

They, along with the committee members developed the school as the high school in 1946, higher secondary school in 1961, junior college in 1969 and Degree College in 1981. The local like-minded people played an important role in the development of the institutions.

Vetapalem and surrounding villages are home to poor people. To encourage them to send their children to school, committee member Gollapudi Radhakrishnaiah Sreshti introduced the midday meals programme for school children in 1932, which boosted the strength of the school.

He dedicated a building, furniture, and assets to continue the free meals to the students. After the death of Radhakrishnaiah, his son Seetharam is continuing the programme.

The institution is developed by a number of people who sacrificed their valuable assets and time for the children and their generations. Bandla Venkateswara Rao, the eldest son of Bandla Bapaiah Setty, as president and his team of secretaries and correspondents, provided the services to the children, in this government-aided school.

The free midday meal, good library, buildings, well-furnished classrooms, science laboratories, and vast playgrounds and the introduction of a healthy atmosphere to provide the best education, are being appreciated by the local people.

The present president of the committee retired lieutenant colonel Bandla Ankaiah Setty, the grandson of Bapaiah Setty, and his team including Koduri Ekambareswara Babu, Bandla Sarat Babu, Kosanam Nagamamba are providing the best services to the children with the cooperation of other organisations and a strong network of their alumni.

The Nayi Talim coordinator Dr CA Prasad presented the school with around 3,000 books, to help the children expand their horizons of thoughts. Having the tax exemption certificate under section 80-G, 12 AA certification NITI Aayog ID, CSR-1 form to receive CSR funds, FCRA certification to receive funds from NRIs, the school is now equipped with five digital classrooms, computer lab, mathematics lab, Agastya Science Centre and encouraging children in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) activities.

The Pratham Foundation, Vandematharam Foundation, Agastya International Foundation, CSR funds from various companies and the president's family contributed to them.

During the Covid, the school also organised online classes, set up village learning circles to share knowledge among peers.

Now, the school management focuses on some more STEM activities like 3D printing, innovation hub, robotics, electronics lab, lab on the bike, Arts and Crafts like woodcraft, clay craft and handloom craft, and vocational courses like a 2-year course in Graphics and animation and a two-year course in Electronics Engineering at Intermediate level, along with enhancing English language skills among students, to meet the challenges of New Education Policy 2020.

The priority for games, NCC to the students is also in line with a special focus for girls on their health, sports and extracurricular activities.

Bandla Ankaiah Setty explains that they want to improve activity-based learning in the school so that the student understands and remember the topics easily. He said that they are conducting remedial classes and bridge courses for slow learners and weak students in the evenings.

For the expertise in the languages, he said that they are following the LSRW techniques, encouraging the student to listen, speak, read and write in the language. He also said that they are proud of their alumni who are widespread in India, the USA, UK, and Australia who excelled in medicine, technology and literature.

Sharing his idea about the Centenary celebrations scheduled in November 2021, Ankaiah Setty announced that the management will do a simple function for now and will conduct an elaborate celebration with the alumni coming from various countries after the pandemic situation is fully under control.