This is a FAQ on the Asha Stars Project for the education of the Irula children in 8 different villages in Tamil Nadu. The questions are from a collection posed by the Asha Stars to the Bharathi Trust regarding the project. Based on the project proposal submitted to the Asha Stars members and the review of the funding at the monthly Asha meeting at various Asha chapters, a range of questions regarding the project were raised. The questions listed here are faithful (hopefully) reproductions of these questions.
Siddamma:The children don't wash hands. They don't take bath regularly. In the rice mills the children don't take bath at all. Cutting nails, washing clothes, taking bath, etc. will be instructed by the teachers. Slowly the children will learn to value personal hygiene.
We take education at two steps in the centers.
I am a trained teacher myself and will work for one month training the teachers.
Siddamma : The motivational center is expressly planned to create this need. The parents are busy working for their survival. Each day it's a struggle to survive. If they don't work for one day (for eg. attend a Bharathi Trust meeting in a city), they have to borrow or starve. This is a reason why we have over the years reduced mass meetings in the cities and hold meetings in the villages during evenings. The children are too ignorant to know anything about education. Food is their only need right now.
However, we are happy to observe that unlike Chennai city slums , the Irulas of the villages do not depend on their children for earning. Child labor is not too prevelant. The parents do not depend on the children economically. But the children do take care of their younger siblings or go for cattle-grazing work.
However, the more aware members of the Irulas who are active in SVC activities definitely feel that education is a high priority for their community. This is also reflected in the fact that 5 of 20 demands they made to the District Collector were education-related.
Siddamma : We have to handle this as different groups.
For 5 to 11 years we are confident of bringing them up to government school level. We may need to put them through special tuition in some cases.
For 12 to 14 years old, if they are fast learners with cooperation from government school teachers they can cope up. Otherwise we have to make them sit for private examination. We don't have any experience yet for children writing private examination.
We have an experience with Gopi , a child labor in rice mills in Thathukar Pettai who is 14 years old. He is now studying in 6th Std in Govt. School. We have arranged tuition for him. His school teacher is helping him a lot as she knows he is very keen in studies.
We had a promising girl of 16 years of age. We got her application for writing 8th std exam. Unfortunately she got married and left to her husband's place. Girls in Irula community are married off by their parents at very early ages (out of fear that the girls will elope, as this is a common occurrence -- we are right now handling a case of a 13 year old daughter of Bharathi Trust field worker running away). So this is another issue we have to deal with -- early marriage. The solution that in each village the SVC adopt a rule that the girls of the community will not marry until they are 20 years old has been tried. This rule has been put in place in some villages but we have not found this to be effective. We now have a plan to create a direct action cell composed of women to handle such issues swiftly.
Siddamma:The Irulas and Bharathi Trust do not want the Irula children to lose touch with their culture. Mass media like commercial cinema are more likely to disturb their social fabric, not education. The Irula culture is very strong and cannot be easily broken. One example is that Irulas rarely leave their villages to work in the cities, even when qualified(eg. 10th or 12th pass).
A comparison may help. A lot of SC people (I guess something like 30 to 50%) become Christians to get benefits -- like monetary, or social mobility from SC to BC. But not one Irula has become a Christian.
Could you briefly give the current status of the project with respect to the proposal?
Siddamma: The proposal stands right now without any support. If the funds come by April/May 2000, we can start the schools for the academic year 2000-2001. The proposal should then be considered for the years 2000-2002.
Siddamma: We have no dropout(ie. of children who joined government school after studying in Bharathi Trust motivational center) except for one boy about 3 to 4 months ago. Reasons were: drunkard father and abuse by teacher. The child is not available in Thiruvallur city, as the family has moved out. We are not able to trace the family.
The success of the project was due to many reasons. We know the background of the tribals, so according to that we prepare the syllabus. Also we deal with human rights and other tribal issues and there is a interrelationship with parents and SVC. Since we focus as much on community problems as education, parents take responsibility. They look at education activity as an important community activity.
In my opinion, exclusive child focus alone wont go too far. We have to work simultaneously with parents and children in making an education programme successful. We are already working with the parents through their involvement in SVC.
Siddamma:There were totally 80 children in the first year. That is approximately Rs. 7 per child per day. All of them joined government school eventually. About 14 older children got married/settled down, etc., about 2 migrated and one died. One boy(Ramesh) is now working in a company. He wants to study but his family depends on him. We want to see how we can help him. This was four years ago.
Siddamma: Gandhigram took three years. TB Puram took three years. Thiruvallur city we are getting into third year. We expect this work also to be over in three years. So we need at least three years. We think most motivational centers will need only three years. Our request to Asha is to support our centers for at least two years as given in our proposal and based on evaluation to continue the support for the third year.
Siddamma: Firstly, within two years we want to put as many as children to government school. We may at most continue for one more year. Say about 20% children may stay back, then we will need funds for this.
Secondly, children who are not able to enroll in government school will be put into private study and we'll help them take private 8th standard exam. Our experience is that younger children invariably get into government school.
Thirdly, if a village is too remote to reach the government school, we are thinking of starting a primary school run by Bharathi trust itself. This will be a new beginning for us. We don't have detailed plan on this yet, but we are very interested in developing an appropriate curriculum and good quality teaching and eventually also getting government recognization (and later government aid) for such an endeavour. We would like to hear from Asha Stars what is there opinion on this.
(Shanmuga : Siddamma has received positive response from an RDO regarding starting motivational center. He has promised to do his bit, even try to get government recognition for the centers. All this is in discussion stage, we can't take the words of government officials too literally. There is no school close to Senchiagaram & Janganapalli villages. This is where it will be most useful if our motivational center itself becomes a school. We have to see how things progress over the next two years.)
How closely are the villages located relative to each other?
Siddamma: The villages belong to different taluks. On average the villages in different Taluks will be about 50 kms. Within a taluk the villages should be approx about 10 kms from each other.
Is it possible for clusters of villages to share a motivational center?
Siddamma: We have tried to do this as much as possible. For eg. we have combined Mullai Nagaram,Kanchivayil,Katavoor as these are very close and small groups. Similarly, Senjiagaram and Janagallapalli have been given one common center as these are in the forest area, with no road facilities and also small groups.
What sort of daily transport is most feasible/economical ?
Siddamma: A bullock cart would be the most feasible form of transport. About 40 children can be easily transported in one round.
The cost issues are as follows:
| Cart | 20,000 |
| Bulls(two) | Rs,20,000 |
| Maintenance | Rs.50 per day (mainly fodder for bulls) |
| Salary for person handling the cart and bulls | Rs.1000 per month |
| Onetime expense | Rs.40,000 |
| Recurring expense | Rs.30,000, annually |
This is possible. Since the main cut in cost due to this is building cost (Rs.40,000 to Rs.60,000), we see that there is not too much difference in costs.
But there are some issues like:
How many government elementary schools are there nearby to these villages ?
Siddamma:Distance of the nearest government schools:
| Rasapalayam | 6kms away |
| Perandoor | 2kms away |
| Kotakulam | 3kms away |
| Senjiagaram | 8kms away |
| Janagallapalli | the village is further down into the forest, but close to Senjiagaram |
| Mullai/Kanchi/Katavoor | 2 to 3kms away |
| Kothur | 1kms away |
| Ramapuram | 3kms away |
| MGR Nagar I | 1kms away |
| MGR Nagar II | 3kms away |
The purpose of the Bharathi Trust centers is to motivate the children to go to these schools. For Senjiagaram and Rasapalayam(since these are very far away from the govt schools) we have to work out with the government to see if they can approve one-teacher schools for these villages. Since the building of motivational center will be available, we need the government to only pay for the teachers salary and possibly noon-meals. We have to get moving in this direction during the two years when the motivational centers are operational.
Siddamma: Teachers will be recruited from local villages as much as possible. Our preference will be:
What is the overall teacher to student ratio and girls to boys ratio ?
Siddamma:
| Total Number for eight schools | |
|---|---|
| Students | 523 |
| Teachers | 20 |
Teacher to Student is 1 : 26.15. Center-wise, lowest is 1:32 and highest is 1:19.
Girls to Boys ratio is close to but slightly less than 1(about 1 : 1.05)
What is the expense per child per year ?
Siddamma: We spent Rs.6 per child per day for food only. Teaching expenses was Rs.2000 per year, education tour was Rs.3000 and Rs.15000 to Rs.20000 for the school building
For the current schools we have:
How many meals will be provided?
Siddamma: Here is the meals menu:
Morning (9 am):
Dates : five in number for each child
One tumbler Kanji (Porridge)
Contents of Kanji :
Milk
Sugar
Roasted and powdered grains - Ragi, Jowar, Maize, Green Gram, Groundnut,
Channa Dhal, Barley, Soya Beans, Wheat and Red Rice)
Afternoon(12:30 noon):
Unlimited amount of food. Daily Dhal, Rice, Vegatables, Oil, Salt,
Chilli Powder all cooked together. Vegetable is not cooked separately as
we notice the kids remove them.
When tomato is cheap we make tomato rice. Similarly lemon rice, green
leaves rice, curd rice,etc at appropriate times.
One hour rest after lunch.
Evening (4 pm):
One cup boiled and seasoned sundal, channa, etc. Play time after this.
Our focus is on giving nutritous and cost-effective food for the children
as we're aware that most of them are malnourished.
We plan to weigh the children before we begin the program so that we know the improvement.
Siddamma: The school building construction will start as soon as the funds come in. We will start the school even as the construction is going on (say under a tree). The construction can be easily completed in two months (one month may actually be sufficient).
The structure of the school is going to be very simple and functional. The labor will be supplied by the parents(villagers). So the work for construction will happen in parallel.
Siddamma :All villages are in need of school as all children are in need of education.But since we are geographical close we would like to start the first five schools in:
Siddamma: All live under poverty line. For agricultural laborers, in a good season they'll earn about Rs.35 per day. This will last about 10 days(approx time to harvest).
After harvest, there is the work to plough, to plant seedlings, to weed and also groundnut picking; these can all be considered as times of good seasons.
There is effectively about 5 to 6 months of work. The other 6 months they borrow from landlords at exorbitant interest rates.
Neglecting the high interest rates they pay, the average per day earning is then Rs.17 per day. Typical family size is 5 people with one earning member. Irula families are small because of high infant mortality rate.
So the per capita income is Rs.3.40 per day per person.
For the families living in the rice mills, per capita calculations are
not appropriate. They just survive within the rice mills.
What is the nature of involvement of Asha-Chennai with this project ?
Siddamma: We expect volunteers in India to be a moral support and backing for our work. We also want to work together with them to network with other groups working on education, particularly on tribal issues or using novel teaching methods.
[Up to Working With Bharathi Trust]
Has BT received support in the past from NGO's other than CRY ?
Siddamma: CRY has not supported BT as a project. It has given personal fellowship for Siddamma. Reo Foundation a group in Belgium gave us a total 6 lakhs. we got this contact from Muriel Jellet.
| Muriel: 00322-6403429 ( Residence) |
| FAX: 00322-6724595 |
[Up to Working With Bharathi Trust]
Siddamma: We would like to receive contacts of such funding agencies/NGOs from Asha. CRY India is the only group that we know in Chennai that functions as funding agency. We are a small organization with a grass roots base. writing proposal,etc is a skill that we are still developing.
[Up to Working With Bharathi Trust]
Siddamma: The non-recurring expenses would be required at the beginning of the schools (except the tour expenses which can come in anytime). The recurring expenses are needed on a monthly basis for the first 12 months. So yes, we will need the funds for the first year as indicated in our annual budget.
We would prefer the following staggering of funds in two installments. In the first installment:
Prefer to receive this as soon as possible. We will need an official approval saying 'How many schools will be supported and what amount will be given' by the appropriate Asha representative (This is needed for auditing purposes and Submissions to FCRA department - our auditor will confirm that the approved amount tallies with the checks deposited and the expenses incurred later). Please send the approval letter to our postal address.
As soon as the approval comes we would like to get started with teacher training.
[Up to Working With Bharathi Trust]
What are some other programs planned for the children ?
Siddamma: Children will be taken once a year for educational tours to Chennai, Mahabalipuram, Konai Falls,etc. For these children this will be likely the first trip on bus, first trip to a city, first trip to a beach or water falls,etc.
[Up to Working With Bharathi Trust]
Siddamma: Please send the check in favor of `Bharathi Trust': `Bharathi Trust'(Indian Bank Account no. 16638 Thiruvanmayur Branch, PIN Code : 600 041) and send to:
Bharathi Trust
184/21C Jaya nagar,
Thiruvallur -- 602 001
Ph : 04116 -- 62607
Fax :04116 -- 62607
Yes, we have FCRA clearance to receive foreign funds.
Bharathi Trust is a trust registered Under Trust Act -- Regd No : 315/90, Under FCRA - 076030248, Under Income Tax Act (donation to Bharathi Trust is tax-exempt under 80G)
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