It�s Saturday at Matheran�s only school- St. Xavier�s. And that can mean just one thing, it�s activity time. Everywhere you look, you see students dressed in their red uniforms practicing hard at games, hardball, marching and dramatics. In one corner of the lovely courtyard a dramatics session is on in full swing. These are some of the pursuits of the diligent children of the school. Every morning all the students led by Sister Flaviana Agnes, the principal of the school sing aloud a hymn.

Bind us together Lord,
Bind us together with cords
That cannot be broken,
Bind us together,
Bind us together with love

The students comprise those who are day scholars and live around the bazaar and also those that take up annual boarding with the establishment. In the cold misty mornings, you will see them either walking up the bazaar road or the more well-off ones being trundled in the rickshaw � on the road that goes towards the Olympia ground, only to return by 3:00 pm.

In her fifth year as principal, Sister Flaviana has inculcated a series of extra-curricular activities and competitions into the school muster. It is something that the children benefit from tremendously. They learn about craft, writing, drawing, poetry, dancing and singing, they even learn about salad dressing. The students participate at Inter-school levels which bring them all the way to Bombay.

Sr. Flaviana remembers one of the trips. �Last November, students from class II to X participated in the Cultural Fest in Bombay. A group of 60 students were selected in different categories and the teachers of St. Xavier�s had a chance to show off their skills too,� she says.

One of the many bright students of St. Xavier�s High School scored 98.8 per cent at the SVS Global Mathematical Testing. This translates to 15th rank globally. Not bad at all!

The future looks terrific for the students. But, according to Sr. Flaviana, there is just one major hindrance. �Most of the students come from poor economic backgrounds and cannot afford to pay for the school trips, even if the school pays half the amount.�

But she is glad to see that the students are making a name for themselves, even if this is just the beginning.

The proficient principal also delights in the fact that the number of girl students in the lower classes of the school, out numbers that of the boys. �At one time the opposite was true,� she reveals. �The whole mind-set among the village folk was such that they would give greater importance to educating their sons. As a result the daughters were sent to a marathi medium school.

Now, I�m glad to see that is changing,� she smilingly adds.