Asha for Education

Project Brief: A school in a village called Vadakurangaduthurai in the outskirts of Chennai providing low-cost education to poor children.
Project Type: Formal Schools (description)
Primary Focus: to go to formal school (description)

Secondary Focus: other

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact: CentralNJ

Status: completed - requirements ended
Project Steward: Vilasini Ganesan
Project Partner(s): V. Swaminathan
Other Contacts: Sudarshan Rao
Project Address: , 5/59A, Aduthurai Agraharam,Ullikkadai,,
Tamil Nadu  614 202
Tel:
Stewarding Chapter: CentralNJ

The Tamil Nadu Government in India now recognizes that the students in rural areas are at a disadvantage compared to those studying in urban areas and that they suffer for want of an adequate working knowledge of English. Why ? Is it because the children in the villages are less gifted or less intelligent ? Or, is it because the quality and standard of education available in the villages is poor ? Was it a mistake not to have given sufficient importance to the teaching of English in school curriculam ?

An experiment was launched in June, 2002 in a village called Vadakurangaduthurai in Papanasam Taluk of Thanjavur District. The small hamlet nestles on the left bank of the River Cauvery, 21 kms from Kumbakonam on the bus route to Thiruvaiyaru. A school by name Srividyasram Nursery & Primary School , with English medium, came up in that village, with infrastructure that would be the envy of any other well endowed school in any town . It was the effort of a few persons with a conscience , who wanted the see what difference quality, modern, value-based education could do to the poor village children. Persons with vast experience in several fields – both in India and outside – founded Sri Ramani Ranganayaki Trust, a charitable institution, that has spent over Rs 50 lakhs in establishing the school with all amenities– spacious modern class rooms, scores and scores of teaching aids, a good computer room and an audio-visual room, a big library, play ground and play area for the children , a modern kitchen and a big dining hall to serve midday meal to 320 children.

Continuous in-house training that is being given to the locally recruited teachers is paying rich dividends. The village children are learning well and fast. They are growing into well disciplined, knowledgeable children. They are imbibing the right values and it is hoped that they will grow as model citizens. It is seen that they are quick on the uptake and are not at all inferior to the city-bred children in any way. The parents of these children are poor agricultural labourers, who are not employed throughout the year. They can not, with their measly income, meet the full cost of education given to their children.

Plans to upgrade the school :
The school will have 230 children in June, 2006 in 7 classes (10 sections) from Pre-KG to Std – IV and we need an equal number of donors / sponsors to give them food and education.
More than 3 acres of land has been purchased to start the Middle School (Standards VI to VIII) by June, 2008, the High School (Standards IX and X) by June, 2011 and the Higher Secondary School (Standards XI and XII) by June, 2013.

Apr 2008 School Flyer
Apr 2008 Half Yearly 1st Report 2008
Mar 2008 Presentation by Bobby
Jan 2008 Quarterly 4th Report 2007-08
Jan 2008 Funds Utilization Summary 2006-07
Jan 2008 Tax Audit Report 2007
Aug 2007 Quarterly 2nd Report 2007-08
Aug 2007 Quarterly 3th Report 2007-08
Jul 2007 Quarterly 1st Report 2007-08
Jun 2007 Site Visit Report - Summer 2007
May 2007 School Annual Report 2006-07
Apr 2007 Srividyashram - 5th School Annual Report
Apr 2007 Srividyashram - Recurring Project Proposal form - 2007
Jan 2007 Tax Audit Report 2006
Oct 2006 Presentation from "Know Your Projects" session
Sep 2006 Site Visit by Bobby - 2006
Apr 2006 Project Proposal 2006