Poorna Vidya 
Report on the progress of this project November, 2004 to July 2005

 

August 10, 2005
Questions? 
Contact Lakshmi Suryanarayanan 
surlak@vsnl.net


Recall : 

  • The project has two Asha teachers- Amudha and Dhanalakshmi E.
  • The children underwent an evaluation from asha and the competency based assessment was made on a five point scale. The asha volunteers at Chennai were happy with such an assessment pattern and wished to do similar assessments in other projects.
  • Feed back was given to the teachers and headmistress and it was recived with understanding. The headmistress immediately identified the areas that needed remediation.
  • Music classes were being conducted through Brihadwani. The school required a microphone for its classes
  • Pitts Macdonald Lodge funded the project systematically and always on time. Mr. Vijaykumar through whom the project is run promised to support the project in 2005-2006.

The happenings from November 2004- July 2005

  • The tsunami affected children of the school and their families were supported through the State Bank of India Besant nagar Branch. We have supported some of the very affected families under Asha Chennai Support-A-Family project. The headmistress and teachers were very actively involved in identifying these families.
  • Mr. Vijayakumar has maintained support for the project for the academic year 2005-2006. We thank him for that. Poorna Vidya is now funded by India International Children’s Fund.
  • The school ended the academic year on a high note. One of the students trained in sloka recitation by the Brihadwani teacher won interschool competition. This is considered a great step forward for children from their backgrounds because it breaks the myth that these children cannot sing or recite very clearly and beautifully.
  • The Corporation of Chennai extended the Activity based learning programme to Class III from June 2005. Preparation in the form of materials was given from the corporation and the school set up was modified to suit the changes by the corporation authorities. Asha Chennai has added value by providing a few more storage trays and laminating the cards so that the teachers in the school will be better facilitated. The corporation of Chennai’s approach to their schools is very positive towards child centric education. 
  • The new academic year began on June 2, 2005 as in all other schools. A small percentage of children had to leave the school due to family displacement to other areas after the Tsunami.
  • The status of the school enrollment as on Aug 1, 2005 is as follows-

Std 

Boys  Girls  Total class strength Remarks
I 24 28 52 All new children
II 21 24 45 3 new children
III 21 21 42 4 new children
IV 26 29 55 5 new children
V 18 26 44 4 new children
Total 110 128 238  

It is commendable that the school has been attracting a quite a number of new students. The improvement in the school environment seems to be well appreciated in the neighbourhood.

  • About the children who passed out from the school in April 2005
    34 (20 boys and 14 girls)have got admission and joined the neighbourhood (govt.) Arignar Anna higher Secondary School, 
    4 (2boys and 2 girls) have joined the Corporation Higher Secondary School Gandhigramam
    1 girl has joined the Avai Home School
    3 children especially talented in singing (2 boys and 1girl who won the first place in the sloka recitation competition) have joined the Kalakshetra school, where they will be able to continue improving their talents
    3 children have been admitted to schools outside the city.
    Details of about 5 children is not available
  • Dhanalakshmi E has gone on maternity leave since 9/08/05. Ms. Yashoda was appointed in mid July so that she could take over from Dhanalakshmi in time. Yashoda has done so with ease and confidence. So we have been able to maintain the continuity with our work in the school
     
    What needs to be done in Aug 2005.
  • The mics that have been arranged need to be fixed. The required wiring needs to be done. We will be completing the work in 2 week’s time.
  • The making of evaluation sheets for the next half-year is underway. Will be checked with the school teachers before implementation
  • This time it is proposed that the school teachers and the asha teachers handle the correction of papers and come up with the rating and interpretations