Moongibai Goenka Girls Higher Secondary School

We’ve been here in Siruvachur for quite a while now, sitting right along the road in Salem. It is a fairly old building, but it does what it needs to for the girls who come here every morning. You will mostly find us teachers and staff going through the daily routine of classes and lunch breaks. The classrooms are filled with those heavy wooden desks that have been around for years. We have the usual blackboards and a few maps on the walls. Every morning starts with the sound of cycles rattling as the students arrive at the gate. It gets pretty busy, especially when the exam season rolls around or when we have our sports day in the dusty yard. We don't have any of that fancy modern equipment, just the basics like a small library and some old lab kits that we try to keep clean. Most people in the village know us by now. When the power goes out, which happens sometimes, we just open all the windows to let the breeze in. The hallways are usually a bit noisy with students chatting, but it’s a good kind of noise. We spend a lot of our time just making sure everyone is in class and doing their work. It is a simple life here, with the bell ringing every hour and lunch boxes being opened under the trees. We keep things practical because that is what works for us. There is always a chair to fix or a floor to sweep before the day ends and we all go home.