When Xavier Chandra Kumar first stepped into Vallalar Government Higher Secondary School in Kandamangalam, Viluppuram district as its principal, he knew he had his task cut out. “It was not a school,” he recalls. This was in January 2022. “Due to a road expansion project nearby, ten buildings were destroyed and there was no compound wall for the school,” recalls the 58-year-old. Anti-social elements used it at night to drink, while during the day, he found students roaming outside during school hours. Xavier got to work, taking on one issue at a time. Today, the school is not what it used to be thanks to his efforts, for which he recently won the Shikshagraha award 2025.
When Xavier, a stickler for discipline, graduated from teacher to headmaster, he decided to first get the building in order.
“I got the compound wall constructed, on which we painted works of art that also conveyed a message,” he says. Once the wall was spruced up, he invited parents of students from private schools who came in for admission, to contribute paint for its walls. “We collected a total of 540 litres,” he says, adding that gradually, the building came to life. “Teachers too pooled in money to improve its infrastructure.”
Once the building was as good as new, students started coming in. “I identified 14 problematic students who would jump over walls and bunk classes, also involving in substance abuse,” says Xavier. Communicating with them, he realised, was not going to be easy. “These children came from either broken families or were going through trauma at home themselves,” he notes. Their behaviour — right from their refusal to groom themselves to not sitting through classes — was their response to what they were experiencing back at home.
Xavier approached them through affection, and when that didn’t work, he used enforcement. “Once, I announced that boys cannot appear for their exams if they did not cut their hair,” he recalls. “I had taken a pair of scissors and comb to school then, telling them that they will have to go past me if they wanted to write exams.” That day alone, 64 boys got their hair cut.
For boys who involved in substance abuse, Xavier got them to attend therapy, with some of them giving up the habit after a few months. “Of those 14 students, eight are in college now,” he says. One of his students, during an agitated state, hit Xavier on the head, for which he needed stitches. “This became a huge issue that garnered media attention, with teachers demanding he be sent out of school,” he says.
Xavier, though, helped enrol him at a school in a nearby village. “The student eventually went on to do his Bachelor’s in Computer Science,” he says. “During his first year in college, he came visit me.” For Xavier, it was among his life’s best moments.
Published – April 10, 2025 03:25 pm IST
