Asha Austin Meeting Minutes (April 05, 2009)

Attendees: Murali, Arvind, Ganesh, Rahul, Bharath, Gaurav

1. ARC Vote - Tsunami Proposal

• The vote is due tomorrow. Nobody at the meeting had read the proposal in detail.
• In case the vote is not extended, the chapter will abstain from voting.

2. Gramin Shiksha Kendra (GSK) - Murali

• Murali presented the budget of the schools
• Two schools are being supported by Asha and the third school is now being supported by Yatra Foundation, an Australian Foundation. They are interested in supporting the school in the long term.
• The number of children in the school has gone up from 600 to 650. The number of teachers has increased from 15 to 18 as the number of students have increased.
• Teacher salaries have gone up from an average of Rs 7300 per teacher to Rs 11,000 per teacher. This is largely driven by Yatra Foundation paying this amount to the teachers in the third school.
• A new component in the support is the community liaison officer, one for each school.
• Q. What is the cost of the teacher training for the teachers who are in school?
• Q. How much money was made by GSK for the training conducted by them - for the outside teachers?
• Q. The third school is setting the pay-scale base for all the schools. What does it mean for the salaries as we go ahead in terms of increments, etc ?
• Q. Has Rs 11,000 been offered to newer teachers being hired for the third school?
• Q. Is Yatra aware of the fact that the salary increase for the third school is affecting the first two schools?
• GSK recently got the 12A document which allows them to earn money, without having to pay taxes. - GSK is talking to Tata Trust for long term support. GSK is going to send a proposal to them.
• The third school starts this year and it is being supported by Yatra Foundation
• Vote:
Asha Austin approves the budget to support teacher salaries and the teaching and learning material to the tune of Rs 1037750.
Yes: 6 No: 0 Abstain: 0

3. Srishti Special Academy - Arvind

• Arvind presented the budget for Srishti.
• Caregivers - they are certified by the govt and know how to deal with children with special needs.
• Q. Are the caregivers like nurses? Is is emotional support or physical support? What is the certification?
• Q. Get some more details on the respite care unit.
• Q. What do the social workers do on the home visits?
• SSA is approved by the government to provide certification.
• Arvind will set up an online vote for the proposal and send out the project details and budget.