ASHA-MIT
GROUP:
VISA (Village Improvement Service Association)
PROJECT:
Non-formal LITERACY-CUM-LIFE education for high school dropouts.
LOCATION:
Villages- serikkavachan, reddikuppam, manikkamangalam
District- Tiruvannamalai-Sambuvarayar
CONTACT:
Mr. S. V. Vinayagamoorthy
President and Director
Village Improvement Service Association
Serikkavachan Village
ENDAL - 604 502
Vandavasi Taluk
T S District
Tamil Nadu
India
Mr. S. V. Vinayagamoorthy
President and Director
Village Improvement Service Association
Liason Office, Main Road, Mazhaiyur - 604 502
Vandavasi Taluk
T S District
Tamil Nadu
India
VISA Phone no. 91-4183-48025
CDDP- Phone number for Mr. Sethunarayanan - 91-44-236-4696
FUNDING:
Rs 71,000 / year
DATES:
June - 96 - June -97 in two installments
DESC:
NON-FORMAL LITERACY-CUM-LIFE EDUCATION for high school dropouts
School dropouts (boys and girls) between 10 and 17 years of age will
be targeted by this program. 30 such children will be part of the
first phase of this program for the first year. These children are
not attending school due to poverty and the need for them to work in
order to add to the family income. Children come from poor families
in the villages (eg families of labourers etc) and will have classes
at convenient times for two to three hours. Books and other necessary
material will be provided by the project. Emphasis on cultural skills
like music, drama, dance etc. in addition to necessary reading and
writing skills. The goal is to motivate the children and help them
develop their talents and interests. The children will have an
opportunity to follow this up with occupation centered education
programs. Classes will involve a lot of discussion and participation.
The syllabus and training methodologies will be prepared with these
goals in mind. An instructor and assistant instructor with a minimum
qualification of a high school degree will be selected from one of the
local villages. They will go through a month long training program
before starting. Instructor will be paid Rs 1500/month for 12 months
and the assistant will get Rs 1000/month. This is a new project.
SUMMARY:
30 children for 1 year in 3-6 villages
COMMENTS:
Good project doing effective work in reaching people in remote villages
by providing children with basic literacy and other vocational skills.
They answered the questionaire in detail and the amount of funding requested
is reasonable for the project. We waited to get a visit report to
verify the details on the project and accounts before deciding to fund them.
Some of the questions raised before the visit included -
1) Specifics on non-formal education system and how they saw it
working
2) Language of instruction
3) Evaluation of success of teaching (exams etc.)
4) Infrastructure
5) Education of teacher
6) Verification of amount asked and costs
7) Selection of children
8) What after informal school??
9) Enthusiasm of villagers
(Detailed answers can be found in the visit-report)
SOURCE:
Mr. Sethunarayanan sent Asha-MIT questionaire to VISA and we
got an initial proposal in Aug 1995
HISTORY:
Initial proposal - Aug 1995
Initial Summary - Aparna - Sept. 1995
Letter requesting clarifications - Aparna - 1995
Answer to letter - Aparna - November 1995
Visit - Premi - Jan 21 1996
Visit report - Premi - Jan 1996
Approved - Projects Group - Jan 1996
First Installment for $1500 sent - Anu R. - June 1996
*Six Monthly Review - Premi's father - Expected in Feb 1997
*Second check for $ 700 to be sent - Feb 1997
Second installment $700 sent in May 1997 with Giri
Additional check for $600 sent in July 1997 for nutrition and uniforms
STATUS :
FUNDED - Rs 71000 for 1 year in 2 installments
- First installment of $1500 sent in June 1996
- second installment $ 700 to be sent after review in
Feb 1997.
-second installment $700 sent in May 1997.
DETAILS:
1) VISA and CDDP (Center for development of disadvantaged people)
are sister projects. They work on Gandhian principles.
2) Have been supported by
-a Dutch group for a mushroom growing project.
-CAPART, Govt of India for some other projects
-Govt of India and state support for housing projects etc.
3) Non-formal education - basic literacy-cum-life education with
vocational training for high-school dropouts
4) All beneficiaries are poor and predominantly SC/ST
5) Work closely with the village panchayat.
6) All income from donations (money and books/supplies)
7) No infrastructure but plans to use a vacant house or area
in a temple.
8) Office Bearers and Village sanghas will evaluate the project
every 6 months. They plan to follow this up with an
advanced learning program through local help.
9) Mobile library for children with local resources
10) VISA team is competent and the villagers are enthusiastic
about the program.