Project : Srividyasram Nursery

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Project Srividyasram Nursery Primary School

• Charity Sri Ramani Ranganayaki Trust (India) and
  
• Society for Voluntary Aid to India (SVATI, USA)

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Outline

• Location
• Objectives
• Current Status
• (some pictures)
• expenses
• Future Plans
• School Visit- All are welcome to visit and spend
  a few days there!!

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School
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School (on the banks of Kaveri River!)
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Project Goals

•  Primary Giving modern, value-based, quality
  education at no, or negligible, cost to the poor
  children of the village.
• Associated activities Assist local villages
• Conducted an eye camp that screened 300 villagers
  and operated 75 for cataract.
• Helped provide modern toilets to about 32
  villagers.
• Been providing regular daily work to about 20
  families for the last four years, because of our
  construction program. The workers' children are
  given free education in the school.
• Old age home beside the school.

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History Statistics

• School started from June 2002.
• Currently classes from Pre-KG to Grade-V.
• Adding the higher classes one by one in June
  every year.
• Current strength is 309 children
• 181 boys and 127 girls studying in 11 sections of
  7 grades.
• Teachers15, minimum qualification graduate,
  Other staff7.
• Average distance traveled1 - 3 kms.
• The school runs two buses.
• Children are brought from 15 villages in and
  around.

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Socio-Economic Background

• Literacy rate is 60 in the local community
• Children in the age group 3 to 8.
• Parents are mostly agricultural laborers.
• Parent not employed throughout the year and get
  work only when the agricultural operations are
  on.
• Their monthly income is around Rs 1000. Many of
  them are illiterate.

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Other Services to children

•  Free Biscuits in the morning and midday meal at
  lunch time.
• New clothes at the time of Diwali.
• Have a medical practitioner who checks the
  children on arrival at the school and administers
  medicine when called for ( fever, cold, bruises
  etc.).
• We take the children out on excursions every year
  - free of cost.

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Infrastructure

• Invested over Rs. 50 lakhs (125,000) to
• build 20 class rooms
• a computer room that will accommodate 20
  computers
• an audio-visual room
• a library (under construction)
• a modern kitchen and a dining hall and a stage.
  
• a big play ground and bars, swings, slides for
  the children to play with.
• Only English Medium School of a standard that is
  not available within a radius of 15 kms.- But
  why?
• Frobel system and Montessori system adopted.

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Expenses

• Teachers salary Rs. 900-3000 (20-70)
• Paid staff Rs. 600-1200 (15-30)
• Out of 309 students, 80 are educated free, and
  the remaining pay a nominal tuition Rs 600
  (pre-KG) to Rs. 1300 (class III) per year.
• Expense per child is Rs 6200 per year.

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Expansion Plans

• Bought land to build the High School that would
  commence in June, 2008.
• Additional class rooms, labs, teachers,
  equipment/furniture etc.
• Need funds, capital and operational expenses, to
  keep the current crop of children in school right
  through Grade-10.
• else, will have no where to go and will drop out!

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Funding for Near Term Plans

• Class rooms, each costing  Rs 150,000 or 3500.
• For High School Building
• Jan-2006 foundation stone laid.
• Rs.1,000,000 per year for 3 years (For 3
  years-each 2006-072007-082008-09 )
• Or any amount will help!
• Asha donated 5000 for the 2006 academic year.

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Current Source of Funds

•  We have a list of over 180 individual donors
  who, support "sponsor a child's education"
  program.
• They have been donating every year to provide
  education to the children.
• We also have the support of the "Society for
  Voluntary Aid To India ", (SVATI, for short),
  1425, South Farmview Drive, Dover, DE 19904, USA
  and Kanchi Kamakoti Seva Foundation, 491, South
  Oyster Bay Road, lainview, NY-11803-3316.
• SVATI channelizes funds from well wishers in
  USA. With the funds collected, we have been
  putting up structures and educating children.

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Summary

• An experiment that is working!
• Go see it for yourself!
• school will host you and your family, boarding
  and lodging.
• Participate and contribute to this effort
• Spread the word need residential teachers for
  this school.
• accommodation and training will be provided

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BACK-UP
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Distinction

• On the 6th September, 2005, SRIVIDYASRAM
  received the recognition of the Education
  Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu .
• Inspection by several agencies of the
  Government.
• District Elementary Education Officer declared
  that SRIVIDYASRAM was the best school in the
  district, conforming to all the guidelines of the
  Government.

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School Management

• (i)V.Swaminathan, a senior Government of India
  Officer who belonged to the Indian Audit
  Accounts Service and held several prestigious
  positions in India and abroad at various levels
  like small, medium and large scale industries,
  banking, finance, accounts, audit, quasi judicial
  appointments, corporate and government
  governance Tel India 44-2491 2281 e-mail
  renugaswaminathan_at_vsnl.net.
• (ii)S.Natarajan , a Mathematics Professor for 18
  years, holding a Ph.D in Applied Mathematics
  from the University of Virginia, who was a Member
  of the Technical Staff of MITRE Corporation,
  Bedford, MA, USA Tel India 44-2474 7092
  e-mail raja_nat_at_yahoo.com.
• (iii)  S.Panchapakesan, a Professor of
  Mathematics, holding a Ph.D in Mathematical
  Statistics from Purdue University in West
  Lafayette, Indiana , who served as Professor for
  28 years in the Southern Illinois University.
  Tel USA 817 557 1662 e-mail
  spkesan_at_yahoo.com.
• (iv)  N.Chandramouli, a Chemical Engineer of
  repute who had worked in EID-Parry , Neyveli
  Lignite Corporation, Indian Petrochemical
  Corporation , Chennai Petroleum Corporation and
  currently occupying a very senior executive
  position in Kothari Sugars Chemicals, Chennai.
• (v)  Ms Sita Umamaheswaran, B.A (English
  Literature), B.Ed., the Director of the School,
  who is a qualified teacher with 10 years
  experience in the famous Padma Seshadri Bal
  Bhavan Higher Secondary School, Chennai, which
  was voted as the 7th best school in India after
  a survey conducted by the redoubtable India
  Today Tel India 44-2814 2930 e-mail
  sitaumesh_at_hotmail.com.
• (vi) S.Sesshadri, a well known Social Worker of
  Chennai, who manages a Free Home for nearly 60
  Destitute Senior Citizens in Pallavaram, Chennai
  Tel India 44-2247 7214 e-mail
  spmt_at_eth.net.

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Location

• Run one village school called SRIVIDYASRAM
  NURSERY PRIMARY SCHOOL .
• It is situated 300 KMs (190 miles) from Chennai,
  on the left bank of the River Cauvery in the
  village named Vadakurangaduthurai in the
  Papanasam Taluk of Thanjavur District in Tamil
  Nadu, India.

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Teaching Method

• Follows the Frobel System , popularized by Mrs.
  Ellen Sharma, a German lady, by setting up the
  Children Garden School in Chennai.
• Like the Montessori System
• teach through the 'play way' method.

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How is this school different?

• Only English Medium School of a standard that is
  not available within a radius of 15 kms.
• Infrastructure and a lot of amenities that rival
  any good school in a metropolitan town.
• The Chief Educational Officer, Thanjavur declared
  that, infrastructure-wise, this was the best
  school in the district.

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Some Statistics

• Current strength is 309 children
• 181 boys and 127 girls studying in 11 sections of
  7 grades .
• Teachers15, minimum qualification graduate,
  Other staff7.
• Average distance traveled1 - 3 kms.
• The school runs two buses.
• Children are brought from 15 villages in and
  around .