Project Sangamam-Senji
Improvements to Government Schools near Senji, Villupuram Dist.
Asha Chennai Proposal – Year 2015-16
July 06th 2015
Background:
Asha Chennai has been working with government schools in rural areas of Tamilnadu under the Project Sangamam, Project Dream and Project Pearl. One of the teachers at the Pearl project, Saravanan, cleared TET and got a government teacher posting. He got posted at Kamakaram in Villupuram district. Since he knew what Asha does, he has been contacting us regularly for the last few months asking us to support his school also with additional teacher and materials. There were other schools in the same area which also needed additional teachers.
The schools in this area are similar to those in many other rural areas of Tamilnadu. But in addition these villages do not have any public transport. That means getting and retaining the government teachers is a problem in these schools.
Since we have a couple of projects already in the area (Hariksha trust and Seeyapoondi) we expect that this project will not be too difficult to mange. Further in Saravanan we have a person who understands Asha and someone who will help us within the government schooling system.
Schools/Balwadis to be covered:
PUPS Kamagaram
This is the school where Saravanan works. The HM of that school was also keen to get Asha support. The children in the school knew better English than many of the children I have met in other schools. They have been using phonics to teach them. Supposedly the govt. has distributed some materials for teaching phonics. Here are some details regarding the school.
No of Students: 54
Head Mistress: Rukhmini
Govt Teachers: HM + 1 (Saravanan).
Building: In good condition and has 3 rooms.
Computers: 1.
Projectors: 1.
1st Std.5B + 5G
2ndStd5B + 3G
3rdStd7B + 10G
4thStd4B + 5G
5thStd5B + 5G
PUPS Nallanpillaipetral
Saravanan then took me to Nallanpillaipetral, a significantly bigger schools nearby. The HM at the school was also the cluster head. He is originally from this same village and has returned after serving at several places and is keen to make a difference here since this is his own village. The school had English medium for classes 3 only.
Here are the details of the school.
No of Students: 163
Head Master: S. Arivazhagan.
Govt Teachers: HM + 4.
Building: Really spread out with lots of classroom – way more than they need. Two local village temple lands were falling in the middle of these buildings. It was serving as their playground. But they do not have any ground of their own.
Computers: 2. Actually the cluster resource center was also serving as their computer room. The room was very nice with a good digital projector etc. The computers were quite old but was maintained well and still operational.
1stStd Tam.9B + 7G
2ndStd Tam11B + 9G
3rdStd Tam.12B + 17G
3rdStd Eng. 9B + 11G
4thStd22B + 21G
5thStd19B + 16G
PUPS Kanniyampoondi
Then Saravanan took me to the village where he lives, Kanniyampoondi (Tiruvannamalai district). Two of the candidate teachers were also from that village. I dropped them there and then went to the school there. Saravanan’s wife is also working in this school. Here are the details about this school.
No of Students: 42
Head Mistress: Ramani.
Govt Teachers: HM + 1 (Saravanan’s wife).
Building: In not in good condition. It has 2 rooms. There is a good bit of space in the back. They would ideally like a new building to be built in the back and the old one demolished. This will give the school a nice ground.
Computers: None. They would like one.
1st Std.9B + 3G
2ndStd3B + 4G
3rdStd4B + 6G
4thStd3B + 2G
5thStd6B + 2G
Clearly the number of students at the school does not justify an additional teacher. One mitigating factor is that Saravanan’s wife is pregnant and will be going on her maternity leave in July. The school will be impossible to manage with just one HM. If the government doesn’t provide a temporary replacement, we can probably provide one for that period.
Project Details and Estimates forYear June 2015 to July 2016
SNo
/Work Description
/Cost and Modification Details
/Total Cost for Asha
Common Items1 / Additional teachers (Incl travel)
Kamagaram – 1
Nallanpillaipetral – 1 + 1 more if we stop support for Kanniyampoondi.
Kanniyampoondi – 1 / 3*5000*12 + 3*3000 / Rs 189,000
2 / Educational materials
Geom. Instruments
Slates
Teachers kits
Trays
Colours
Atlases
Dictionaries / Rs 40,000
3 / Sports Materials
Plastic balls for younger children, Footballs for older children, Tennicoit rings, Skipping ropes, Snakes & Ladders, Ludo etc. board games / Rs 20,000
4 / Materials for schools – Mats, cooking materials, water drums, tumblers/plates etc. Rs 10,000 per school. Double for Nallanpillaipetral. / Rs 40,000
5 / Evaluation and other training costs – Assessments, teacher training, etc. / Rs 15,000
6 / Black board and scribble area repainting / Once / Rs 10,000
7 / Volunteers/interns travel. Miscellaneous Emergencies, Admin expenses. / Rs 20,000
8 / School day and other school functions. Rs 10,000 per school. Double for Nallanpillaipetral. May be used for other functions or excursion. / Rs 40,000
Fund Requirement/Schedule Summary
Total Project Funding RequirementApproxRs 3.34 Lakhs.