ANNUAL UPDATE 2014 Prema Grandhi Mar 5 th, 2014 Vikasana Rural Center for Education

Mission To provide holistic and quality education to children of all ages from landless farmers of neighboring villages and migrated parents. Objectives of the school are Free Education Giving holistic and quality education Emphasis on Self Learning Education for Peace Bring an awareness of tree planting and maintaining ecological balance Help students to choose the career after their education Being a resources center for non-formal education

History Vikasana was started in 1977 and being run by M.C. Malathi Earlier it used to be located in Dodakallasandra off of Kanakapura road on the outskirts of Bangalore. The school used to own a two acre space there but the school decided to sell part of the land a year ago and got coaxed into selling the whole space. Now the school is located in Tataguni village 6-7 kms further away from previous place, the space is provided for free by a well-wisher. This school follows David Horsburgh’s teaching principles of learning through creative, activity based methods.

Location Vikasana is based in the Tataguni village on the outskirts of Bangalore, Karnataka Bangalore Karnataka

Last year 7 children appeared for SSLC exam and passed out and joined college. Out of them 2 completed 7 th standard the previous year and completed 10 th and passed out Saraswathi, a girl from Tataguni enrolled in 10 th Standard exam as a private candidate and the school helped her with Maths and English subjects 8 new children were admitted, all from very problematic family background General Update

Volunteers Arathi and Sarang have continued to give their voluntary services Arathi took math class for class 10 in 2012 and taught science to 7 th standard children in 2013 Two new volunteers Padmashri and Archana started last year, helping with Maths, English, Kannada with middle group New teacher Hema has joined Appointed Chandramani as watchman After moving to Tataguni, Deepa has joined as a volunteer General Update contd.

Science workshop was conducted once a week for 5 weeks by Anand and Anju, teaching about do’s and don’t about electricity, and how to make a circuit. With Plaster of paris, all children made animal mould. Children really had a lot of fun and actively participated in the workshop Visitors to Vikasana : Neelanjana, an old friend of the school came and taught one song Nora Shetty from George Washington University was doing a case study on non-formal education models in rural Karnataka. The theme was “Increasing Educational opportunities for Girls”, comparing three different non-formal education programs. The research team was looking at curriculum and classroom instruction techniques. Celebrations and outings Children celebrated Independence day with enthusiasm. They performed Kolata, Pyramids and Skits Celebrated Ganesha and Gauri Malathi akka hoisted the flag at an orphanage home Ullal on Republic day Whole school went to Bannerghatta National park A group of 8 children were taken to an Ayurvedic workshop on how to improve our memory General Update contd.

Shailesh did the site visit on Feb 1, 2014 ( new/documents/283/VikasanaSiteVisitFeb2014.pdf) 1)There are 30 children attending the school. Attendance is top-notch, and the children project confidence and seem to enjoy the learning experience and the time spent at the school. They learn both in Kannada and English. Children are encouraged to appear for the mainstream 10th standard (grade) examinations and if they wish to, the school starts helping them with the preparations two years before the exams. Several children have done so and gone on to study further. 2) There are two teachers in addition to M C Malathi. One of them is a former student of hers, and the other from the local community. There also have a watchman from the local community to watch over the children and the premises. There is a part-time helper for kitchen, cleaning and miscellaneous tasks. A few part-time volunteers also help the school with various tasks. 3) Drinking water is brought to the school from a nearby community pump for daily consumption. Site visit - Observations

1)Current school premises have been offered for use free of charge by a well-wisher. However there is no official agreement, so it is unclear how long the arrangement will last. 2) Staircase needs repairs badly (this was pointed out by the school itself). RTE compliance also requires a separate toilet for boys & girls, so either a new one needs to be built, or the second one (for staff use) needs to be assigned for use by girls. Given the school does not own the premises or have an official long-term lease, it’s not clear how it can make the much needed infrastructural improvements. 3) There is no playground on school premises. An adjacent empty parcel of land belonging to the nearby temple is currently used as a playground. However, the villagers seem to dump trash on it, requiring periodic cleaning. When I visited, there was some plastic trash scattered around the borders. 4) M C Malathi has not been keeping very good health lately and suffers from arthritis. At present there is no backup to take care of administrative tasks beyond the daily running of the school. 5) School needs to apply for its own FCRA certificate, instead of being dependent on Neel Baugh Trust. Site visit - Concerns

Conclusion: Vikasana is doing an excellent job educating the 30 or so children from the nearby communities, even with the limited resources it currently has. The children hold the school and the teachers in high regard, and love to come to learn in spite of needing to catch a bus to the new premises. The teaching methodology is very effective; the children look happy, exude confidence and can be seen learning on their own and with their peers without supervision or coercion. Recommend the school be supported fully for their operating needs, but also recommend that the chapter discuss the concerns raised with the school in detail. Site visit

Budget Vikasana Rural Center Teacher (Malathi)Rs.9, Teacher (Nagaveni)Rs.7, TeacherRs HelperRs MaintenanceRs ElectricityRs Total per month Rs Total per year Rs

Finances Asha Seattle sent Rs in Nov Asha Seattle has not sent any funds to Vikasana in 2012 This year the request is for the amount sent in 2011 – Rs % increase = INR for 2013 and INR ( %) for 2014

Process Checks ItemStatus Approved Budget$3000 Approval TypeRecurring Amount(s) disbursed last fiscal yearRs.0 Amount Utilized by the project last fiscal year n/a Last Site VisitFeb 2014 Site Visit done byShailesh Vaishnavi Site visit reporthttp:// new/documents/283/VikasanaSiteVisitFeb2014.pdf Current Primary StewardPrema Grandhi Current Secondary StewardsNone Status of the web pageupdated Status of the yahoo databasesDeprecated

History : Budget ( ) Vikasana Rural Center TeacherRs.8, TeacherRs.8, HelperRs.5, HelperRs.5, FoodRs MaterialRs MiscellaneousRs Total per monthRs.22, Total per yearRs.2,70,000

History : Budget ( ) Vikasana Rural Center MalathiRs.8, NagaveniRs.5, TeacherRs.3, HelperRs.3, ElectricityRs MaintenanceRs Total per monthRs.21, Total per yearRs.2,52,000

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