REPORT: MICRO CREDIT

 

We are happy to present a report of Micro Credit, our project to help the needy school children to pay their school fees at the beginning of the academic year with small loans. Our intention is to restrict the loan amount to Rs. 3,000/- per child. But sometimes the parents put their children in prestigious institutions even though they can’t afford it. We are trying to discourage the trend as much as possible. But, where we find that the child has been studying in such a school already, we have made some exceptions.

 

Most of the beneficiaries this time have been part of this scheme for the past 2 or 3 years and we have picked out those who paid their installments regularly. We have given them higher amounts for the higher classes and also for another child in the family.

 

These people have recommended many others and they have been put in charge of recovering the installments regularly.

 

We have completely scrapped the nominal interest we were charging so far. It was only intended to impress upon the borrowers that it is a loan and not an outright donation. Since the scheme is now familiar to most people we felt there was no need to charge the interest.

 

As usual many of them are deserted women or widows. The grand parents are looking after some of the children. Some boys and girls also regularly earn some money before and after school.

 

Last year we gave Rs.212175/-Loan as Micro Credit. We were not able to recover Rs.12240/-(Rupees Twelve Thousand Two Hundred and Forty only). We are still trying to recover some part of these loans.

 

REPORT :TUITION CENTERS

 

The tuition centers at Adyar (K R M School) and (R M School) and the corporation school in V.P.Koil Street, Mylapore all started working by mid June. These centers are now very well established and the school authorities are very keen that we should continue our service.The new centre  for elementary school children has also started working .

 

 

We meet all the teachers once a month when they assemble in our administrative office to collect their salaries.Each centre is under the super vision of one trustee. Last year two volunteers  Radhika Sasankh and Kannan  have joined us.They are organising the tuition ceters at the two corporation schools.

 

Kumararaja Muthiah  School

The school Head Mistress Ms.Janani is taking keen interest in our tuition center. She herself has selected 3 good teachers who can teach Science and Maths. Most of the students are weak in Science and Maths. From this year onwards we wish to include other useful activities also besides the school curriculum. We are engaging a Yoga Master to teach the boys Yoga exersises twice a week. We are making enquiries about ‘abacus’, an easy way to learn arithmetic. We are planning to teach Chess to every student in the center. Some senior students in the school are good players and they can teach the school boys. Another project is Spoken English.We have not yet finalised the methodology for spoken English. We want to implement these projects in all the centers.. Janani is supporting us in all these projects. The first term of the academic year is the right time for this, as the pressure of exams will come later. There are nearly 70 students. The strength will go up shortly. There are 3 teachers, each getting a salary of Rs 600. There is a Yoga Master getting a salary of Rs 500. The boys are provided a nutritious porridge.

 

Rani  Meyyammai  School

This center started as usual with a lot of enthusiasm. The school staffs, our staff and students are all very happy with the work. We have asked our teachers to devote some time every Friday evening for some other activity such as music, dance, craft etc. The teachers can teach the girls whatever skill they have. Like last year we are planning to take them for a picnic sometime after the quarterly Exam. We want the students to look for ward to the time they spend in the tuition center. It should not be painful or boring. There are 180 students, 5sections in 6^th and 4 sections in seventh std.

 

There are 9 teachers each getting a salary of Rs 500/-.One of them a senior who supervises the other teachers in addition to her work is paid 100 rupees extra..We give some biscuits to the students.

 

Corporation School

We are happy to report to you that the tuition center started last year at the Corporation school, Mylapore has expanded to include the Primary School in the same area and thus continue to thrive benefiting a large number of children.  

Earlier we were catering only to the 6^th standard children studying in the High School at V.P.Koil Street. Now in pursuant of our amended policy to shift the focus to even younger children and strengthen the foundation itself, we approached the Corporation Primary School in Bangaramman St, Mylapore.

The students in these Corporation schools come from the lowest economic and social stratas of society and it is true that we find it more difficult to instill a sense of discipline among them. More so the case of the Primary school that actually enjoys a very good strength compared to most Corporation Schools. But here, there are only 5 teachers including the Head Mistress to manage the 5 classes (Standards 1 to 5) with an average strength of about 50 children per class.

We have for the present appointed 6 teachers in the Primary School, to teach classes 3, 4 and 5 with an average of 25 children per class.

It did seem a stupendous task to even settle the children during the class hours as they have been more or less neglected with scant attention from the teachers. At present we are teaching them basics and go along with the school curriculam. The teachers are now quite well settled with their wards.

There are a few violent children in the Schools and especially one, a boy in the 3^rd std. But with focused attention from our teachers he has also settled down beautifully. Another girl aged around 13, who is still in the 5^th standard poses a problem for even the Corporation School teachers. She is unable to concentrate on her studies, has a violent streak and frequently hits out at the boys and other girls. She in fact comes from a family of convicts and small time politicians. We have taken advice in handling this child from other experienced persons and have had some rounds of gentle talk with her also. We will be happy to see this girl settled down. We have even offered her vocational training if only that would prevent her joining the family forte of rowdyism.

Though the tuition class functions within the school hours and as such there is no necessity to provide these children with food or snacks, we are nevertheless providing them with a biscuit each costing 25 paise per piece, at the end of the class. For the sixth standard children at High School we are continuing to provide a side dish like Sambar or rasam as was done last year, and the School provides the rice from the Mid Day Meal allocation.

We also wish to take up another Corporation Elementary school in St.Marys Road. However we are awaiting the written permission from the Director of Education to start the project there. We think we will be able to manage the expenses for this school from the funds provided by you already.

As written to you earlier we were able to conduct a free Art of Living Course to the High School children during the last Annual Vacation. This publicity has helped us in the sense that more people are coming forward to join us.

We shall keep you updated of the progress made in all the Schools.