1. ANNUAL UPDATE 2015 Vish Viswanathan/ Padmanava Sen Oct 20, 2015 Vikasana Rural Center for Education

2. Mission To provide holistic and quality education to children age 14 and above 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 Provide a sanctuary for the children

3. 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.

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

5. The school has reduced enrollment from 35 children to 5 children due to government regulation which requires children under 14 to go to a regular school The school was asked by the Cluster Resource Person (C.R.P.) not to run the school or get permission. Therefore since 2011-2012, we have been trying to get recognition with the help of volunteers Gayathri, Sarang and Deepa at different stages. It went on from 2011 to 2015. Now Mr.Nagaraj and Aarati Krishna have entered the scene. Though I have co-operated and did whatever the volunteers asked, it has remained stagnant. General Update

6. Reasons for not getting recognition –Narasimhan says “No bribe” (good!) –Sarang and Gayathri say “Invest money” (!!!) –My junior is not willing to work under recognition –There are no young people to follow up the running around –I have to teach + travel up and down + Accounts + Management while dealing with my own severe health issues Given these constraints, I have sent younger students to other schools after getting certificates from other schools and now they are all going to schools. But none of us is happy in the bargain! It’s the same old story. The children are getting a raw deal – getting beaten, not cared for, harassed by peers etc etc General Update

7. What is happening today Malathy Akka is teaching Kannada, English, Social Science and Hindi. I am also doing the followup of the other children who are now in the other schools. My assistant teaches Maths and Science, takes homework and does after school activity from 7 to 9 am and 4:30 to 8 pm. A lady cooks for the children and cleans and maintains the place. A watchman guards the place for 24 hours.

8. I talked to the teachers as well. There are three teachers – Malathi Akka who is the heart and soul of the center. She has been running this center for 38 yrs. Nagaveni who was a Vikasana student later got B Ed and now teach here for last 13 years. She taught in other schools in Chittoor as well before coming back to VIkasana Aarti who comes here twice a week as volunteer to teach math. Vikasana had more volunteers 4 months back when they had 35 students in different ages but now they just have 3 teachers covering the 6 subjects – English, Hindi, Kannada, Social, Science and Math. All teachers have been teaching these 5 students for last several years. Malathi Akka explained me the background of the students and also told me how Vikasana lost its wonderful campus closer to Bangalore and how Cluster Resource person told me to send 30 students to other schools 4 months back. Her dedication and sense of belonging to Vikasana for so many years made it like a family for the students rather than a formal school. That is why the students love to come here. The current place dedicated for Vikasana used to be a rural library and computer center. So it has the infrastructure needed for a school with 2 places for taking classes and roof tops for additional classes. However, since now there are only 5 students, classes are mostly taken in the room downstairs. Then I played a soccer game with the students for 15 minutes. They gave me a wonderful bouquet made of paper. Malathi Akka also showed me the garden they have in the current campus. Then I left for my home at Bangalore Note regarding their budget: Budget: Needed from October 2015 to April 2016. (7 months till the students appear for exams) At least Rs.30,000/- per month is needed with the break up as below : Malathi (Teacher, running the center) Rs.8,000/- Nagaveni (Teacher) Rs.7,000/- Tripura Rs.6,000/- Watchman Rs.6,000/- Maintenance Rs.3,000/- (covers Electricity, Xerox, Textbooks, Stationery, identity cards, uniforms, trips etc) Site visit - Observations Visited by: Dr. Padmanava Sen (Asha Bangalore/Atlanta Volunteer and Ashawide project partner coordinator) – padmanava.sen@gmail.com Date: October 10 th, 2015 Details of the visit: I have reached the Vikasana Center off Kanakpura in the morning guided by Aarti (volunteer Math teacher in the center). Then I met Malathi Akka who has been running the center for the last 38 years. She explained the current situation where they have reduced their student strength from 35 to 5 due to a Government office instruction to teach only students above 14 years. Probably due to RTE bill, 6-14 years of students are sent to formal schools instead of this alternative center where they teach different classes together.

9. Site Visit (contd) Then I spent time with the 5 students who will appear for 10 th exam next year. They all study in English stadium and I was very impressed by their knowledge, ease of communication and answers in English to my questions. I asked them few math questions and the struggles they face etc in different subjects. They are first generation learners but Malathi Akka and other teachers have done a marvelous job. There are 3 boys and 2 girls. The boys mentioned they want to become Mechanical Engineer, Software Engineer & lawyer. One of the girls mentioned she wants to be a teacher. The other girl student mentioned she wants to be an Engineer and a part time RJ. They all know the path to reach their goals, which I liked a lot.

10. Budget Ask Budget: Needed from October 2015 to April 2016. (7 months till the students appear for exams) At least Rs.30,000/- per month is needed with the break up as below : Malathi (Teacher, running the center) Rs.8,000/- Nagaveni (Teacher) Rs.7,000/- Tripura Rs.6,000/- Watchman Rs.6,000/- Maintenance Rs.3,000/- (covers Electricity, Xerox, Textbooks, Stationery, identity cards, uniforms, trips etc)

11. Budget 2014 Vikasana Rural Center 2 Senior TeachersRs.8,000.00 (each) 1 Junior TeacherRs.4,000.00 Helper and watchmanRs.8,000.00 Maintenance (stationary, books, Xerox)Rs.2000 – 3000 Total per month Rs. 30000.00 – 31000 Total per year Rs. 3,66,000

12. Finances Request from Asha Seattle for the year 2014 : INR 3,66,000 Asha Seattle sent INR 77,043 for 2013 on 4/8/2014 Sent INR 74080 for 2012 on 4/8/2014 Sent INR71232 in Nov 2011 This year the request is for the amount is INR 366,000.

13. Process Checks ItemStatus Approved Budget$3000 Approval TypeRecurring Amount(s) disbursed last fiscal yearINR 77,043 Amount Utilized by the project last fiscal year n/a Last Site VisitFeb 2014 Site Visit done byShailesh Vaishnavi Site visit reporthttp://www.ashanet.org/projects- new/documents/283/VikasanaSiteVisitFeb2014.pdf Current Primary StewardRohit Pagariya Current Secondary StewardsNone Status of the web pageupdated Status of the yahoo databasesDeprecated

14. Budget 2012-2013 Vikasana Rural Center Teacher (Malathi)Rs.9,000.00 Teacher (Nagaveni)Rs.7,000.00 TeacherRs.400.00 HelperRs.4000.00 MaintenanceRs.2500.00 ElectricityRs.500.00 Total per month Rs. 27000.00 Total per year Rs. 324000 http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/192/Budger_2013-14.pdf

15. History : Budget (2011-2012) Vikasana Rural Center TeacherRs.8,000.00 TeacherRs.8,000.00 HelperRs.5,500.00 HelperRs.5,500.00 FoodRs.1000.00 MaterialRs.1000.00 MiscellaneousRs.500.00 Total per monthRs.22,500.00 Total per yearRs.2,70,000

16. History : Budget (2010-2011) Vikasana Rural Center MalathiRs.8,000.00 NagaveniRs.5,000.00 TeacherRs.3,000.00 HelperRs.3,000.00 ElectricityRs.1000.00 MaintenanceRs.1000.00 Total per monthRs.21,000.00 Total per yearRs.2,52,000

17. Questions?