Kumta is a coastal town in the verdant Konkan region of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka State.
The God-fearing townspeople of Kumta have maintained their traditional Indian culture. It has been endowed with several higher education institutions and is a regional agricultural trade center. In the 1980s, it was commonly understood that due to a variety of reasons, the quality of the education was in severe decline. Some of the reasons included, larger class sizes and teachers non-responsive to the needs of the ever-diverse student body.
To address these shortcomings, several visionary towns people came together to form the Konkan Education Trust in 1991, with the primary goal of providing an excellent educational opportunity to local students. The primary school, Saraswati Vidya Kendra started enrolling students in June 1993 and in June 2000 the Colaba Vithoba Shanbhag High School opened its doors to students. Together, nearly 850 students receive instruction from Kindergarten to SSLC.
In the year 2006 functioning of new institute D.Ed (Diploma in Education) has been started and in 2008 Saraswati Mhalappa Kamath Agri-Craft and Skill Development Institute been started which makes youth self sufficient to undertake their own work and fulfill their needs by providing training in Craft, Agriculture, Horticulture etc.
Secretary’s Words:
Konkan Education Trust is registered under the Trust Act and took its birth on 21-10-1991. The Trust was promoted by a few like minded Konkani Speaking Citizens to establish a model educational institute to train the young children into men & women of character and integrity under the Bharatiya Culture & Tradition.
The first school was started in the year 1993. It has been really a arduous task building up six institutes namely,
- Ranga Dasa Shanbhag Hegdekar Balmandir (RDSH Balmandir)
- Saraswati Vidya Kendra Primary School (SVK Primary School)
- Colaba Vithob Shanbhag Kalbhagkar High School (CVSK High School)
- Saraswati Pre University College (SPUC)
- S. M. Shanbhag Hegdekar Institute of Teacher’s Training
- Saraswati Mhalappa Kamat Agricraft & Skill Development Institute (SMKAC & SD)
- Janaki Prabhu Chaitanya Pratibha Kendra
Beginning with just 18 students, student strength now crossing 1600+ in a period of 24 years, studying in all six institutes, is a testimony of untiring efforts of Trustees, dedicated work of Teachers & Staff Members and large hearted donation from philanthropists.
The year under report (2009-10) is a year of performance by our students. SSLC results of our CVSK High School was as usual 100%. But what brought laurel to our Trust was, when three of our SSLC batch students were declared as toppers in our district. Students have also fared well in cultural and sports activities.
The concept of Mathrumandali, an organization of mothers of preprimary students, is unique and has been found to be very effective in inculcating the Indian Values and Culture into the young minds through young mothers. We wish to carry out this experiment in the primary section.
It has been desire of our Trustees, that portals of our institute should be open to one and all and hence the fee structure is kept at an affordable level. Also the Trust has taken upon itself the responsibility of educating till completion of SSLC, five poor and needy girl students by inviting them to join our school. We also intend to make available scholarships to at least 10% of our students every year in the near future with the help of donors.
Our Skill Development Institute (SMKAC & SD) has started showing results. Two batches of unemployed youth took training in MIG Welding and were immediately absorbed in SME sector. We at the Trust, have drawn plans to start an ITI (Industrial Training Institute) in Kumta and are scouting around for a suitable place.
We place on record the dedicated efforts of our Teachers, Staff, the educational consultants and also appreciate the help we received from Department of Education, Government Departments and Voluntary Organizations like Rotary & Lions Clubs. We would be failing in our duty, if we do not mention the support of our donors and Scholarship Sponsors who have helped us throughout in our efforts to bring smile on young faces.
We seek your continued support and guidance to make our efforts more vibrant and meaningful.