Deepti Special School in Alappuzha district in Kerala has bagged the award for the best educational institution of the state government for its outstanding performance in the field of agriculture. It is the first special school in Alappuzha that was started on October 10, 1992.
Initially, it functioned as a dispensary. It was later started as a school for children with disabilities. The school is presently located near Vembanad lake. It is very hard to do vegetable cultivation near that area. However, Deepti Special School has overcome all such crises with a resounding success in the field of agriculture.
The school currently has about 105 students. Sister Juliet, the school's principal, says the school entered the field of agriculture as part of an effort to provide children with nutritious food through farming. The school has been active in agriculture for the last four years. They also want to put forward the idea that children with disabilities who are active in agriculture can improve their mental health through this initiative.
The floods in Kerala in 2018 completely destroyed the entire crops in the school. The exemplary work of this school, which once again grew all the vegetables on the fallow land, is an inspiration to other educational institutions in Kerala.
The teachers and students worked hard to cultivate different varieties on the school premises near the lake. Spinach, Okra, aubergine, tomato, green chillies, maize, carrots, beetroot, sugarcane and various varieties of bananas are grown here. Apart from this, fish farming, poultry farming, duck farming, and rabbit farming are also practiced in the school. The excrement obtained from these is used as fertilizer for the plants.
The children of this school knew how to apply fertilizers and pest control on the farm. TG Polymers Company in Kerala provided 500 grow bags for cultivation in free of cost. It has 23 employees who provide all kinds of assistance to the farm. In addition to Principal Sister Juliet, Sister Ancho and Sister Risapoul also lead the farm.
