Gaya: Students in this school pay garbage as school fee

The students of Padampani School in Sevabigha village here collect waste materials on their way to school as their school fee. This step has been taken by the school authorities to create awareness among the children about the importance of protecting nature.

Gaya: Padmapaani Middle School, run by South Korean Institute in Bodhgaya's Sewa Bigaha village, is giving free education to students. It does not take any fees from the students, instead has asked them to bring to the school as much as garbage they can and dump it into the dustbins outside the school.

The school management sends the collected garbage for recycling. And has also asked the students to pour the water left in their bottles at the end of the day.

The school is acting as an inspiration to the government. The institution also provides the students with uniform, books and mid-day meal along with free tuition. It is semi-government and unlike other government schools, it does not take help from the government for the facilities that it provides to the students.

The school principal said, "The school is run by a South Korea organisation. It was established in 2014 in Dalit village Sewa Bigaha. The students have been given the garbage collection task since the last 45 months. They, however, had to be motivated first. But now, all the students complete their tasks."

According to the students," the school does not take any fees from them in return of which, we pay our contribution towards environmental conservation. We did not like the idea at first, but today, when we see the roads leading to our school clean, we feel good about it."