Dhanbad, Dec. 15: Being students, they know what it takes to make studies interesting.

Soni, Sandhya, Juhi and Megha, the foursome from Classes VII and VI of BSS Balwadi Middle School here, have teamed up to gift their juniors a unique audio-visual project, something still unheard of at any government school in the district.

Infotainment may not be a term in their lexicon, but in their effort to install a television set with VCD player, they provided more than that to 192 students of Classes I to III. Each of the four contributed Rs 50 from their pocket money every month to create a pool that enabled them to buy a number of educational CDs, besides the television and VCD player.

The BSS Balwadi management did not take a penny from the education department for the project. Some teachers of the school, which has 700-odd poor students on its rolls, also chipped in. Late fines collected by the Bal Sansad, penalties from errant students and the fund of the Bal Vikas Kosh were utilised for initiating audio-visual lessons, which started from today.

Headmaster Arun Chandra Mandal said the students of Classes I-III would be taught through audio-visual medium now on. “Classes will be held daily for three hours and in phases to cover all students. Discs of nursery rhymes, alphabets, word formation, colour charts, fruit and vegetable charts et al have been bought,” he added. Movies meant for moral upgrade and knowledge enhancement of students will also be screened during the weekends.

Dilip Karn, an assistant teacher of the school who is involved in the project, said some of the teachers initially raised the proposal for education through audio-visual medium. “Today, it’s a dream come true for all of us,” he said.

After attending the first class, Raj Kumar Malakar, a student of Class III and the son of a betel shop-owner, said he had learnt poems better than he did earlier.

Raj Kumar Verma, another teacher also associated with the project, said more students of higher classes would be included under the project later. He, however, rued the lack of facilities at the school. He said while an audio-visual medium was arranged, students had to sit on the ground in the absence of benches.

The school, despite lack of infrastructure, has got an “A” grade from the district education committee headed by the deputy commissioner on the basis of its performance.

Hailing the audio-visual concept, district superintendent of education Ratan Kumar Mahavar, who graced the inauguration today, said a meeting of all 17 model schools would be convened soon during which they would be instructed to start similar projects on their respective campuses.