Keonjhar: Children of a project upper primary school at Haladiatangiri village of the district were in for a pleasant surprise with the district collector turning up at classroom to don the mantle of a teacher.

The children were visibly excited and elated as Keonjhar collector Ashis Thakare paid a surprise visit to the school and began imparting mathematics and geography lessons to the Class VII students.

The state government has launched Mo School campaign. Under the scheme, qualified individuals are welcome to teach students to bring about qualitative change in classroom teaching. "As part of the programme, I took a break from my hectic schedule to teach the students," said Thakare.

Excitement was writ on their faces as Thakare taught them national geography and geographical boundaries of countries bordering the country. He also taught the children simple mathematics problems. "The collector had taught them for about an hour and provided tips to excel in geography and mathematics," said district education officer Kapilendra Mishra.

"The classroom teaching done by me formed the part of Mo School Abhiyan, launched by the state government. Under the scheme, we have called upon the academicians to voluntarily teach the students. Students could learn important tips from them which could come in handy for them in examination and future life," said Thakare.

"I found the students academically good. I observed good grasping power in them. The basic general knowledge was satisfactory," he said.

"The school dropout ratio in Keonjhar district is 4.76 per cent. We are involving the civil society groups besides the members of panchayati raj institutions in motivating the parents in readmitting the dropouts," said Mishra.