Keechankuppam school wins national award for hygiene

Representatives of the Panchayat Union Middle School at Keechankuppam village will receive the ‘Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar’ from the President on September 1, headmaster of the school R Balu said.

The school was among 100 government schools in the country chosen for the award, which carries a citation and Rs 50,000 cash prize, he said. It was evaluated by an expert panel for facilities like safe drinking water, clean toilets, hand washing practices among others.

It may be noted that 80 students of the school were killed along with 570 other people in the village in the tsunami attack on December 26, 2004. The school building was washed away completely. But today, it has won this recognition by the Government of India.

Schools which want to be recognised for their excellent hygiene up keep apply for the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar that is instituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The award is given by the Government of India in recognition of excellence in sanitation and hygiene practice in schools. The main purpose of the award is to honour institutions that have taken efforts to fulfil the mandate of the Swachh Vidyalaya campaign.