GURUPRASAD HIGH SCHOOL
Mallapur, located in Honavar Taluka, Uttar Kannada district, is a holy place with four temples namely-Shri Maha Ganapati temple [Gramadevata], Shri Gopalkrishna temple [Avadi Math] which belongs to Ubhayakar family, Shri Datta Mandir of the Nagarkatte family and Shri Guru Math which comes under the umbrella of Shri Chitrapur Math, Shirali. Mallapur is a small hamlet with a population of just around 500 and it functions under the jurisdiction of Chandavar Gram Panchayat. There is a stone inscription stating this place was granted as an Agrahar for some Brahmin families in 1345 under the orders of Harihar, the then king of Vijaya Nagar.
For a long time, there was no High School in Mallapur and hence, after the 7th Standard students of Mallapur, Konalli, Chandavar and Kekkar had to travel 9 kms away to Kumta, for their High School education. Besides, they had to traverse this enormous distance on foot through thickly forested area!
Our Parama Guru Pujya Parijnanashram Swamiji III visited Mallapur when He was Shishya Swami and camped there for nearly two months . It was He who supported the plea of the local people that there should be a High School at Mallapur as it was equidistant from all the surrounding villages namely Konalli, Kekkar, Chandavar and Kujalli. After becoming the Mathadhipati, Pujya Guru Swami called the residents of Mallapur to Shirali to bless them with a donation and this sacred Guruprasad has spurred on all the developments and success that followed! Swamiji also advised that a Society be formed immediately so that funds could be collected from generous donors.
In 1967, Guruprasad Education Society was registered under Bombay Registration Act 1961 under the Presidentship of the eminent social worker Shri Sadashiv Rao M.Masurkar .On the 1st of June, 1968 Guruprasad High School was inaugurated with the maiden batch of 44 students by eminent advocate of Kumta – Shri U. K. Bhat. The Management of Shri Gopalkrishna Temple was kind enough to allow rent-free use of their adjacent building for three years. Arun Ubhayakar, who belonged to Mallapur and had conceived of the need for the High School, as Head Master and two Assistant teachers laid the foundation for a better education for the poor and backward class students of this rural area. Though the student population includes a majority of students belonging to the backward and scheduled classes, the school has been maintaining a fairly good record of S.S.L.C results.
In 1977, forest land of 5 acres [two hectares] had been granted to the Society on a 30 year-lease, for the High School building and playground. This place -full of thorny bushes and wild trees was leveled with the help of shramdaan by local farmers and parents .Fund raising programmes by the locally reputed Yakshagana teams were arranged. A fund- raising committee comprising members connected with Mallapur was established in Mumbai under the Presidentship of Smt.Meera P.Kagal. This committee arranged shows of three popular Marathi plays and helped the management create a corpus for the construction of the new building which was inaugurated in 1980 by the then Education Minister, Shri S.M.Yahya.
Guruprasad High School is an “Aided Institution”, and teachers appointed or posted to the School by the State Government receive their salaries from the Government, but all other adminstrative and capital investment costs are met by the Society Management. In 2002, the Karnataka Government adopted a policy under which the Management Committees of private schools cannot fill up vacancies created by staff retirement . Private institutions had to pay the salaries of the new recruits and this caused a financial burden on this Society. Hence, it passed a resolution and requested Parama Pujya Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji to take over the Management. Kind- hearted Swamiji responded positively and according to His Adesh a new Managing Committee consisting of 9 Bhanaps +4 locally elected members was formed. Ever since,Srivali Trust, Shirali has been providing financial support to the Guruprasad High School students.
Presently, there are a total of 206 students from Standards VIII to X. Due to the efforts of dedicated teachers the school has earned the reputation of being one of the better schools in the North Kanara district. Both in curricular and co-curricular activities the students have won awards at Taluka, District and State- level competitions in both curricular and extra-curricular activities. Some have even participated in National Level Sports Meets.
The Apex School Executive Committee (ASEC) of Guruprasad Education Society comprises Dr. Shakuntala Katre –Dean MES College, Bengaluru, Saraswat Education Society, Mangaluru, Shri Dilip Mavinkurve – retired Chairman and Managing Director SBM, Bengaluru, Shri Sharad Kadle –retired senior executive, Canara Bank, Bengaluru and Shri Muralidhar Prabhu –Managing Director, Konkan Education Trust, Kumta. The current Managing Committee consists of Shri Narayan Mallapur (President), Shri Arun D. Nadkarni and Shri. Arun S. Ubhaykar ( Vice-Presidents) and Gajanan K. Chandavarkar (Secretary).
Recently, high-tech toilet blocks for both girls and boys and an additional class room have been constructed. The school has also acquired new desks, benches, chairs and in tune with global access –a Digital Education System, thanks to the Menda Foundation, Bengaluru. This was launched by our present Mathadhipati- Parama Pujya Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji. 2018 will mark the Golden Jubilee of the school and plans are afoot to celebrate this momentous event on a grand scale. Efforts are also underway to invite donations from past students and philanthropists for the construction of a well-equipped laboratory and library.