Mess fees and teacher salary for October 2009

HM has paid Rs. 810 and 1020 towards the mess fees of Arani diploma student and Tuticorin BE student respectively on 3rd and 10th Nov.

HM has paid Rs. 1800 towards the teachers' salary for the Nagapattinam tuition center for November on 10th Nov 2009.

HM has also paid Rs. 1600 towards the college fees for the Avadi B.Ed student on 24th Nov as she had to pay this pending fees to get the college certificates.

Nagapattinam Tuition teachers salary

HM has paid Rs. 2400 towards the teachers' salary for the Nagapattinam tuition center for the months of September and October on 19 Sep 2009.

Update on Nagapattinam tuition class

Here is an update on the Nagapattinam tuition classes. The Head-Master who volunteered to teach, is not able to come regularly. He comes occasionally. This year, around 20 students are attending the tuition classes. It is finding it difficult to teach all the classes for a single teacher.

We have sought the help of one lady teacher working in a nearby English medium school. Mr. Ravichandran and this lady teacher are taking classes for 2 hrs each. One person covers classes up to sixth and another covers 6th to 10th std. We have paid Rs. 1200 (Rs. 600 each) towards the salary for these teachers.

The teachers are conducting tests every week, so that the students study regularly. The students requested for notebooks for these tests. The teacher has also asked for hand-writing notebooks for the students so that the students can practice writing better. There is a girl studying 11th standard, she is in need of accountancy notebook. We have provided notebooks worth Rs. 500 for the students.

Update on Nagapattinam tuition class

Here is a photo of the Nagapattinam tuition class.

Update on Nagapattinam tuition class

Here is an update on the tuition classes at Nagapattinam:

HM member Bala went and observed the tuition class last week. The teacher maintains attendance and 14 students are very regular to the classes. Remaining 8 are irregular and the teacher has taken steps to make them also come to the classes regularly.

Marks scored by the students in the half-yearly exam has been recorded. Six students have performed very bad. Their total marks in five subjects is in the range of 50-80. Others have just managed to pass. One girl in the group seems to be studying very well. The immediate goal of the teacher is to make all of them pass the annual examination.

On knowing our initiative, Mr Ramalingam, a teacher working in a nearby Government primary school has come forward to offer his services voluntarily for the primary classes. He will take classes for three days in a week for now..

Nagapattinam tuition classes

We have started regular tuition classes for the 22 ST children at Porayar in Nagapattinam District. We have engaged a trained teacher Mr. Ravichandran holding Bsc,., BEd degree to take the classes. He is working on PTA posting in a local high school. The children are studying various classes from 4th to 11th. He will take classes for four hours a day - two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.

The students of primary classes are in very bad shape - they are not able to read even simple sentences in Tamil. So, the teacher's priority for the primary classes will be to make them read and write flawlessly in Tamil. For other classes, he will guide them in lessons. He will hold tuition for each class thrice a week. On rotation all the classes 4th - 10th will be covered. All the 22 children will visit the tuition classes everyday, but will be asked to write tests on the remaining four days.

HM will pay Rs 1000 per month as salary to the teacher. The marks obtained by the students in the recent half-yearly examinations are being noted down. We will review the progress after three months and if the students show improvement, we will continue the scheme.

Renuka, a girl from the community, who is a volunteer of Safai Karamchari Andolan (organisation working to root out manual scavenging) will coordinate with the teacher and ensure that the children attend classes regularly.

The classes are now being conducted in a room at Bala's house (One of HM Members). If the classes prove successful, the teacher will find a new location later.