Educate poor children in an integrated school by Amar Seva Sangam

The covid pandemic turned everything upside down and it has been very difficult to keep up with our regular targets. This pandemic had thrown various challenges out of which, conducting online classes is one. Due to their financial condition, some of our students were not able to attend online classes because they don’t have smartphones. We had come up with a plan to arrange 174 smartphones for students so that they won’t miss any of their classes. For this, with the help of Standard Chartered Bank, we have achieved our target. In the month of July, Tamil Nadu Science Forum and the Muthamil Education Movement together organized a Thirukkural writing contest in association with the Thirukural Development Organization of Tamilnadu. More than 100 students from our school participated in it and got appreciation certificates. Department of Environment, Government of Tamil Nadu conducted competitions such as Essay writing, elocution, and painting online at the state level on behalf of the National Green corps. Many students from our school have participated in this competition. Our 10th class student P. Indhu wrote an essay titled 'Let's reclaim the fertile earth' for an essay writing competition and got third place at the state level. JP Arts and Science College organized online competitions such as Essay writing on Corona Awareness, Speech, and Painting. Our school students participated and received many prizes as follows. Essay Contest First prize – Sangeetha, X standard Second Prize – Malathi, X standard Third Prize – Murugeshwari, X standard Painting competition First prize – Sivaguru Shanmugam, X standard Third Prize – Malathi, X standard With this program for the time period of January to June – 2021, we are able to cover beneficiaries from various places around our school namely Ayikudy, Kambili, Kilangadu, Sambavarvadakarai Villages in Tenkasi District, Tamil Nadu. Within the given time period, a total of 7 children were impacted by this program. All the beneficiaries who got benefited from this program come from families who are financially weak. This covid pandemic had made it worse. They were having trouble buying groceries, vegetables, medical kits, etc. They were working for daily wages and it became very hard for them to work on a daily basis. With the support from Give India, their parents are very grateful and happy that their children are not missing their education.

Due to covid pandemic and all the lockdowns, it has been very difficult to conduct classes physically. In order to help children not to waste their academic year, we were conducting online classes. Initially, it has been very difficult to teach all the students online because some students are not able to focus, some students don’t have smartphones, some students have network issues, etc. Some of the parents have lost their jobs and were not able to meet daily expenses. There were times where some students had to quit their studies and go to work. We have given counseling to all the parents and also conducted a covid awareness program via online and telephone calls. Initially, it was difficult to make them all understand the pandemic and the importance of wearing a mask, sanitizing their hands frequently, and maintaining social distance. Over the time period, with regular awareness, all our children and their parents are staying safe. For the students, who are not able to attend online classes due to lack of smartphones, we have collaborated with the Standard Chartered Bank to help them by providing android phones. Now all the students are able to attend online classes. Exams were conducted through Google sheets and survey.com. For over one year, we have faced a lot of problems teaching online but now we are happy that we are able to open our school for 9th to 12th standard from September 1st, 2021. We are thinking of reopening fully by the end of this month. We are focusing on providing quality education to all the students and also looking forward to identifying students who were having financial backlash and help them in pursuing their education without dropping out.

Impact story: Indhuja is studying in 12th standard in Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya higher secondary school. Her father works as a driver and her mother works as a Beedi roller. Indhuja’s family’s financial condition is very low and they are not able to pay fees regularly. They want to provide a good education to her so that she can have a bright future. Due to this pandemic, her father lost his job and they are not able to find jobs regularly. She is very good at her studies, topper of the class. Her favorite subject is Mathematics. In every term exam, Indhuja secures the highest marks. She is very obedient, respects all the teachers and elders, and is very good at helping nature. Apart from studies, She is very good at debate contests which are held at our school's annual day celebrations. She is also interested in sports, cultural activities and has an extraordinary talent for hosting our school functions. She has won many prizes in sports & extra-curricular activities. She also loves helping slow learners in her class and is very active.

Number of People benefitted in Primary school – 7 A total of seven children benefitted from Give India Program from May-2020 to Dec-2020.

1) Poo Esakki is a brilliant girl. Her parents are working for daily wages. She is second child among three children. She is very intelligent, authentic, and a active student. Due to this Covid pandemic, Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya Primary School is organizing online classes. Even in this lockdown period, she is very good in following instructions of teachers and is very prompt in doing homework and studying assigned by her teachers. After finishing her work given by her teachers she is taking out some time to read moral giving stories. Her parents want to provide good education to their children. Their income is not sufficient to provide education for all three children even before this Covid pandemic, and with this Pandemic it became worst.

2) Mala is studying in III STD. Her father works in Amar Seva Sangam as a helper and her mother works as a beedi roller. Mala is average in her studies, but is a very intelligent student. She is very good in reciting rhymes. She is also very obedient and disciplined. She is a very good dancer. Due to this Covid pandemic, Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya Primary School is organizing online classes and she attends classes regularly without fail. She is following all the instructions given by her teachers during online classes.

3) Sumithran is studying in III STD. His father works for daily wages and his mother works as a beedi roller. Their financial condition is very poor and they are one of the families who got affected due to Covid lockdown. Sumithran is very active, good in his studies and very shrewd. He is very good at Sports. Due to this Covid pandemic, Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya Primary School is organizing online classes. He is regularly attending online classes and doing his work promptly.

4) Usha is studying in XI STD. Her father works for daily wages. Her mother works as a beedi roller. She is very good in her studies. She also secured 494/600 in her board exams. She is one of the toppers in her class. Her aim is to become a Chartered accountant and loves helping slow learners in her class. Besides studies she is very much interested in speech competition and quiz competitions and won many prizes. Due to this Covid pandemic, Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya Hr.Sec. School is organizing online classes. This covid situation left many people jobless, especially people who are working for daily wages. 5) Muthulakshmi is studying in XII STD (Maths-Biology). Her father works for daily wages. Her mother works as a beedi roller. She is very talented and shrewd. She scored 408/600 in her XI STD public examination. Her aim is to become a Doctor. She is preparing for NEET Examination. Apart from studies she also likes singing, speech competitions and won many prizes. She also helps slow learners in her class. Due to this Covid pandemic, Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya Hr.Sec. School is organizing online classes. As everyone else in her town, her family is also affected due to this covid pandemic because her parents work for daily wages.

6) K.Sumathi is studying in XII STD. Her father works for daily wages. Her mother works as a Beedi roller. She is very good in her studies. She secured 408/600 in XI STD. Her aim is to become a Nurse by doing bachelors in Nursing. She also loves helping slow learners in her class. Besides studies she is also very much interested in speech competitions, quiz competitions and won lot of prizes. Due to this Covid pandemic, Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya Hr.Sec. School is organizing online classes. These covid lockdowns have affected financially her family also, but she is taking it as a challenge and participating in our online classes actively, so that she can achieve her goals.

7) Mariammal is studying in XII STD. Her father works for daily wages. Her mother works as a Beedi Roller. She is very good in her studies. She secured 489/600 in her XI STD board exams. Her aim is to become a Chartered accountant. She also loves helping slow learners in her class. Besides studies she is also very much interested in speech competitions, quiz competitions and won lot of prizes. Due to this Covid pandemic, Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya Primary School is organizing online classes. Covid has affected her family also regarding financially but she is focusing on her studies. Areas covered - In and around Ayikudy village (Around 4 Kms radius) Covid-19 related updates –

Amar Seva Sangam’s, Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya facilitates education for rural children from different economic and social backgrounds ranging from middle class to below poverty line. Due to this Corona lockdown situation, our community is really affected. Students families suffered financially due to unemployment. Students are unable to attend school physically. Hence we have decided to teach our students through online classes so that they won’t miss their Academic year. Since June, We are successfully running our online classes and Students joined the online classes enthusiastically. Though it is not as good as teaching directly, but still all our students are performing very well. We opened regular classes for X and XII from 19th of January -2021. As per the Govt.’s information the classes will start functioning and now 9th and 11th will be started regular shortly. We also were conducting regular weekly, monthly Termly one word, two marks and regular Exams for the students.

Malathika : unfolding the journey

The program at ASS is running successfully because of donors like you, we thank you all immensely. As a progress update of the overall program, we share with you the story of Malathika. Malathika is studying in V std. Her father works as a daily wager & mother is a home maker. She has one elder sister & her sister is also studying in our school. Malathika is a very talented girl. She is very good in her studies. In exams, she always secures in one of the top five places in her class. She is a very good listener & very active in her class. She is very obedient student as well. She is very calm & likes participating in many competitions like Thirukkural reciting competition, running race, Water filling in the bottle etc. and won many prizes. She is a good singer & participated in group singing competitions and won many prizes. She is very caring and likes helping other study. She does her homework neatly and perfectly. Though she has eye problem, she never considers that & helps her classmates by clearing their doubts. She is undergoing treatment for her eye problem. She spends maximum time reading books. She is the most intelligent girl in her class and very fluent in reading English. Her hobbies are reading books, listening to music and watching t.v. She is very much interested in science and her aim is to become a doctor. Her parents want to help her in achieving her goal. But with their financial condition they can’t afford those expenses. With the support of give India portal they are happy that their daughter will be able to achieve her dream. They render their thanks wholehartedly.

Care and support being provided

Program Update

Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya Primary School, run by Amar Seva Sangam was started in 1991 with handful of children. Now it has grown to Higher Secondary level. Qualified teachers are appointed and the classes, infrastructures, etc are provided as per ISO standards. The school Basic education is taught to the children under integrated atmosphere by way of play, movements and colouring. Students enjoy the atmosphere and are keen to attend their classes. We are conducting various competitions in drawing, Speech, Elocution etc. to encourage our children. Also our students participate in the Thirukkural competitions at many places and won prizes like, Thiruvalluvar competition.

Story from the field

Vishnu Gokul is studying in IV standard. His father works for daily wages. His mother is a Tailor. Vishnu Gokul is born with hearing and speech impairment. He is the eldest among two children. Inspite of his disability, he has lot of self confidence and perseverance. He is very good in drawing. He participated in two inter school competitions and won first prize in both of the competitions. He is disciplined, obedient and good in his studies as well. He is very active in class and has very good memory. He almost memories everything he reads. He also participated in many Elocution competitions. Chess is his favourite game. He gets only one hour to practice chess at school. He goes to home, finishes his work fast and spends most of the time by playing chess. Now he is going to participate in National level chess competition. God always gifts good talents to differently abled people. We believe that he is one of them. His parents’ income is not sufficient for running a family and medical expenses. Donations received through Give India portal are helping such children to continue their studies. We thank from our bottom of our heart for helping such children.e India portal are helping such children to continue their studies. We thank from our bottom of our heart for helping such children.

Program Update

Siva Saraswathi Vidyalaya run by Amar Seva Sangam was upgraded to Hr. Secondary School in 2015. For effective administration purpose, the school has been segregated as Primary and Higher Secondary. Qualified teachers are appointed as per ISO norms.

Apart from regular classes, the children are trained in extra curriculars including sports, athletics, painting, karate, dance, etc. Children are taken on an annual excursion. The destinations of these trips are decided so as to help in supplement their classroom learnigs.

The children are constantly encouraged to participate in interschool competitions. They recently participated in a Book Exhibition organized in a nearby town and won many prizes. The students participate in cultural events. Our students have won prizes in various categories including Thirukkural recitation, essay writing, yoga competition, singing competition of Vivekanda Kendra. They have also proved their ability in sports, athletics and chess competitions.

Recently, we celebrated Independence day, Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Shri. Kamarajar Birthday, Former President of India, Shri Abdul Kalam birthday, Teachers day in our school.

We are happy to share that recently our Scout Team has got Rajya puraskar award.

Story from the field

G.Parameshwari is studying in XII Standard (school final). She has a brother and he is also studying in the same school. Parameswari is a very talented girl.

Her father is a security guard in a temple. The economic condition of the family is very poor. Their parents are unable to afford the school fees of 2 children. They live in a joint family in a rented house.

Parameshwari scored 476 marks out of 500 in SSLC and 449 marks out of 600 in XI standard. She is interested in extra-curricular activities also. She has got many prizes in Thirukkural receitation, composition writing and sports competitions. Her ambition is to become a doctor and to serve the differently-abled community. So she is working hard in studies and she is wishes to write NEET Exam. The benefit she receives from Give India is very helpful in her studies. She renders thanks to the supporters.

Amar Seva Sangam is a premier organisation in the field of disability management which caters to the needs of the disabled community by forming a 'Valley for the Disabled' through its Institutional Based Rehabilitation and Village Based Rehabilitation. Our campus now has several projects for the disabled where we have about 250 disabled children and youth in-campus and more than 1000 day scholars in our High School, Medical Testing Unit, School for Special Children, Early Intervention Centre, IGNOU & Alagappa Higher Education Centre and various vocational training programs. The Spinal Post Acute Care Centre and Early Intervention program are our pioneering programs which are very few in our country. The demand for our services far exceeds our existing facilities but we are able to manage with fast turnaround of patients and strong village based and Home based follow-ups post discharge. Expected total number of beneficiaries in this program for FY18-19 - 600 Total Budget for the project for FY18-19 - INR 56,45,200

Ponmanickam's story Ms. M.Ponmanickam is one of our Home children. She is affected by Congenital Fibular Hemimelia, i.e. Limb shortening (Left leg). Being a bright student, she was also given good coaching, counselling to excel more in her studies. As a result, in 2016, she was the school topper in the handicapped category in 10th Standard Government Examinations.

And now, in Plus Two School final examinations she has scored 1050 out of 1200, the School Second Rank.

She excels not only in studies, but also in sports, dance and oratory. She achieved a good standing at the State level in table tennis.