Greetings to the OPEN community. We are glad to bring you this update on our activities for the first half of 2016.
Chennai floods update
Flood damage to the OPEN partner schools in Chennai turned out to be more limited than we had initially estimated. Schools were also ably supported by local NGOs and by the government.
We funded the repair of benches and desks at Jaigopal Garodia School in Virugambakkam, Chennai; we also replaced the stage and assembly portico at this school, for a total cost of USD 10,600.
Post-secondary education: Ignite Scholarship Program
As a reminder, we supported 150 students last year through this scholarship program. Students are predominantly in college for B.Com., B.Sc., 3 year Polytechnic, or 4-year Engineering degrees.
We are glad to announce that 30 of the 36 final year students have graduated on time. 21 of them already have jobs or have enrolled in higher studies programs. We want to reiterate that these students come from very poor backgrounds, with average family income of Rs. 6000 (before we enroll them, we visit them at home and verify living commensurate with stated income); they have typically studied in Tamil medium high schools, and hence college graduation is a major achievement. Here are homes of two of the students that we are considering for our program this year. One is a single room home and the other is an equally humble dwelling.
Our goals for these students are first, that they graduate, and second, that they obtain jobs. We conducted career counseling and mock interview sessions for the students in Feb-March 2016. Classes were held over 6 Sundays at Ganapathy Iyer School in Gopalapuram. Though most colleges had extra weekend classes to make up flood-lost days, more than half the students attended these sessions. We plan to continue these classes this academic year as well. The children realize the importance of practical training, and several continuing students have obtained summer internships through OPEN.
We are currently in the selection process for new students. Our budget for the 2016-2017 academic year is $23,000.
The video below shows one of the children who came to our career counseling sessions in Feb-March 2016. The children were coached in resume-writing, interviewing, and public speaking, and on general career options for their particular skills.
Results-based education: Supplemental Classes by Vidyarambam
We mentioned in our last update that the founder of Vidyarambam, Mr. Ranganathan, passed away. We are happy to note that one of his sons has taken up the mantle of running the foundation, and dedicated staff are still in place to execute Mr. Ranganathan's vision.
We continue working with Vidyarambam Trust to bring their Easy Learning English and Easy Learning Mathematics supplemental programs to 6 partner schools in Chennai. Over 1700 students were coached in English (classes 6-8) and Math (classes 1-5) during academic year 2015-2016. Our budget for the 2015-2016 academic year is $27,000, for 1700 students, at an annual cost/student of $16.50.
The pre-post comparisons below show the great improvement in performance of the children from the diagnostic phase to the final test phase for 2015-16. The vast majority of children progress from C grade (red bar) to A grade (green bar).
Here are some photographs of Vidyarambam classes in action.
Results-based education: Ashraya libraries, Arts and Science Clubs
The Ashraya Foundation runs libraries and Science and Arts clubs at 9 schools in rural Karnataka. We support librarian salaries and salaries for Arts and Science teachers at 4 of these schools. The reading program is open to all students in classes 4-8, and the Arts and Science clubs are open to the best 20 students in classes 6-8 from each school. The reading level of all students is monitored, and remedial instructions are provided to the bottom 20% of each batch. The best 20 students are enrolled in a Book of the Month Club, and get to pick the best books and do book reports. Our budget for academic year 2015-2016 is $6800, and we support 700 children in 4 schools, at an annual cost/student of approx $10.
The 2015-16 chart below shows that 1/3 children improved their reading over the course of the year. Ashraya has hired a dedicated Kannada teacher to provide remedial instruction to batches of 200 students over 2 months, with the target of improving reading levels in 2 in 3 children. The video shows a profile of Art student Sahana, and the picture after that shows the landscape painting competition winners at Ashraya's Leonardo da Vinci day in Feb 2016.
Rural Education: Single Teacher Schools
We continue funding the Single Teacher program, run by the Swami Vivekananda Rural Development Society, for operating expenses for 5 schools (168 students) in Tiruvallur district in rural Tamil Nadu. One person teaches all children in the school, who study together though they may be in different grades. After completing Class 5, students are expected to continue education at regular schools.
Ongoing Projects
We continue our support of Ganapathy Iyer Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Gopalapuram, Chennai, with tuition scholarships for poor children, and operating expenses for after-school classes (chess, karate) and breakfast/evening snacks. This program benefits 170 children. All 47 girls who wrote the Class X board exam passed; 19 of the 47 scored above 400/500; and the highest mark obtained was 473.
The Turning Point Trust aims to improve life skills for the children of slum dwellers in Rotary Nagar, Chennai. A Children's parliament, personality development classes, and first aid training classes are conducted on weekends to coach children on public speaking, and help is provided to perform homework.
We are sponsoring 10 children from the Malleswaram Shishu Vihar, Bangalore, with scholarships for school; in 2015-16, all 10 passed with A grade. We are funding after-school Math tuition classes for standards 6-8 in 3 schools in Bangalore, in collaboration with the Adarsh Colony CSRFoundation. We continue to fund computer teacher salaries at Somasundaram School in rural Tamil Nadu. We continue to monitor scholarship grants for poor children at Jaigopal Garodia Rashtrotthana Vidyalaya in Bangalore.
OPEN key statistics, 2003 - June 2016
The OPEN community has supported over 25,000 students in the past 13 years. A breakdown of grants is shown in the chart above. We wish to point out that for infrastructure projects such as classrooms, only the students benefited in the year of the grant have been included in the student count. The actual student count is likely much higher, as a typical classroom can be used for 5+ years, and typical furniture for 3+ years.
OPEN Needs You
OPEN has been registered as a non-profit charitable foundation in India and in the U.S. Contributions in both countries are tax-deductible. As always, our ability to fund these projects depends on your generosity. Please use the year-end opportunity to contribute to the children of India, and save on your taxes. Checks payable to OPEN Inc. may be sent to Kumar or Rajesh at:
Kumar Thiagarajan, 25470 Gimbel Dr, South Riding, VA 20152
Rajesh Ramadoss, 38 Ocean St, Millburn, NJ 07041
Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to Sriram in India in favor of OPEN India Charitable Trust: