Panchayat school wins rare honour

TRICHY: A Panchayat Union Primary School (PUPS) at

K Paramathi village

in Karur district has managed to receive 5S certification, a Japanese concept of systemised behaviour ensuring that a workplace functions in an organised manner. Seiri (sort), Seiton (set), Seiso (sweep), Seiketsu (standardise) and Shitsuke (sustain) are the 5S which deal with developing the behaviour of the stakeholders to keep the workplace organised.

The school has been touted as the first-ever government primary school from the state to have received the recognition that is usually bagged by reputed industrial organisations. The credit for the achievement mainly goes to the headmaster of K

Paramathi School

and his fellow staff and students. In fact, headmaster Selvakannan says he spent Rs 70,000 from his own pocket to develop the necessary infrastructure. His efforts were well-supported by fellow staff and students for the past five months by keeping objects at the earmarked places as well as by maintaining cleanliness on the campus.

The 5S concept was introduced to the PUPS by a well-wisher after the school managed to bag an ISO 9001:2015 certification. Awestruck by the concept followed in Japanese schools, headmaster

R Selvakannan

approached the Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI) Hyderabad chapter, a non-profit organization recognized by Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE), to certify the organization for sustaining 5S concept. Though it was mandatory for any organization to pay a sum for the enrollment, the PUPS was given an exception for being in a rural background.

“Since October 2017, our school has seen a sea change. Dustbins are being placed only at the earmarked spots and we even initiated 5S bell in our school. The 5S bell will ring 10 minutes prior to the day’s completion after which the children will arrange the tables properly. All the switches of fans and lights will be turned off,” Selvakannan told TOI. Borders had been marked for the tables which the students have to ensure are within the marks at end of the day. Likewise, dusters and chalk pieces should be placed at the earmarked spots. “With permissions from parents, students along with teachers regularly clean the benches and classrooms. We even give traffic awareness like how to cross the road after ensuring no vehicle is approaching from both sides,” the HM added.

The certification did not happen smoothly as representatives from QCFI inspected the school five times in January to ensure whether it sustained the 5S concept. It was only on January 22 that QCFI was quite convinced that the school’s behaviour had been brought under the 102 parameters mentioned in 5S. Subsequently, the school was certified under 5S at a function held at

Sathyamangalam

on February 9. The HM said that as many as 15 parents had come forward to pursue 5S concept in their house. This was for shaping the organised behaviour of their children so as to impart individual responsibility in keeping the ambience clean.

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