Uchila transformed by education across 4 generations

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Nov 18, 2019: Uchila is now a model on how education can drive development by transforming lives, it was once a poverty ridden fishing village.

 

Hundred years ago, when poverty, ignorance, caste and gender discrimination was at its height, Bovis fishing community led by Udyavara Beecha Belchapadaru begun a school, now known as Uchil Bovis Higher Primary School, exclusively for children from the fishing community in the sprawling house of one Manjappa.

Barring a few nearly all people in Uchila are fourth generation literate people. Every house has a member who is either serving as a teacher or an achiever leading successful career in far-off places, including foreign countries.

Bovis community succeeded in building a permanent school on the land donated,  there were two schools near Kotekar, a school in the neighbourhood meant easy access to education, particularly for girl children. In tune to the changing times, an English medium high school was started.

The school also encouraged a culture of giving back to the institution. 

Two years ago, N G Mohan and his sister Shyamala Uchil with the help of alumni renovated the school building and saved it from demolition, Ullal Bovis High School Old Students Association President Sukesh G Uchil recollected.  The school also serves as a umbilical cord connecting the diaspora to its village, Uchil.

Kannada Medium Aided School in Uchila rose to dizzying heights of popularity because of the outstanding achievements of alumni in the field of sports.

Sanjeeva Uchil (was goalkeeper of Indian football team that had qualified for the 1948 summer Olympics in London), R N Uchil (whose state record in 400 mts race was broken recently), Taranath Uchil (a reputed Table Tennis player) among others had studied in the school, said Uchil Bovis Educational Institutions (UBEI) correspondent Devdas T Uchil. UBEI Centenary Celebration Committee in a bid to regain its glory has announced the launch of ITI and a sports academy.  Indeed this little old quaint village is worth noting.