Season's greetings from OPEN, and a Happy New Year 2022. We hope everyone is staying safe as we go through the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Education is still unsettled in India as we progress through the pandemic. Schools were open for classes 9-12, then closed due to the heavy Tamil Nadu rains. Colleges have conducted exams in ad-hoc fashion. Some of our partners have been able to accomplish meaningful education - albeit with a smaller target population than pre-pandemic - and others have not. The OPEN web site has also been impacted with a crash that led to the loss of some of our 2020 updates, which we are in the process of recreating.
Post-secondary education: Ignite scholarship program
Students are predominantly in college for B.Com., B.Sc., 3 year Polytechnic, or 4-year Engineering degrees. Most students in this program are poor, with average family income of Rs. 8,000 per month, and we only admit new students to this program after income verification and house visits (or video calls, as appropriate in these pandemic times).
In partnership with the IRT (Institute of Road Transport) Polytechnic College, we expect to induct a fresh batch of 16 students in addition to the students who respond to our normal applications process (we already have 16 IRT students from the last year). We also inducted 15 students through the normal application process. Since we aren't able to conduct live counseling sessions, and exams are being conducted on an ad-hoc basis by the different colleges and polytechnics, it has been difficult to run this program in normal orderly fashion.
Supplemental education: English classes by Vidyarambam
We continue working with Vidyarambam Trust to bring their Easy Learning English and Math supplemental programs to partner schools in Chennai. Our budget for academic year 2021-22 is $10,500. Vidyarambam opened a learning center for students as schools were closed initially due to the pandemic and more recently due to heavy rains in Chennai, but have now trained teachers and are hoping to restart classes in Chennai soon, as government schools in Chennai reopen.
Supplemental education: Ashraya libraries, Book of the Month, Arts and Science, Computer clubs
The Ashraya Trust runs libraries and Science and Arts clubs at 9 schools in rural Karnataka. As the pandemic closed schools, Ashraya pivoted to remote learning and teaching using smartphones and Zoom classes, and eventually to lessons loaded onto YouTube and streamed to low-cost Android tablets. Our budget for academic year 2021-22 is $4800.
Keeping slum children in school: After-school center run by Turning Point Trust
The Turning Point Trust aims to keep children of slum dwellers in Kannagi Nagar, Chennai, in school. An after-school center for 60 children is being supported by OPEN. Students come to the center for help with academics.Online classes were started for improving English and Math skills at Kannagi Nagar through an NGO called ACE STEM, and in addition to staff salaries, we are also paying for data access for these classes.The centers continued to be open for children through the pandemic and were somewhat of a safe haven for these children.
K-12 Education: Ganapathy Iyer Girls’ Higher Secondary School
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. The school has been open for classes 9-12 and the HM Mrs.Sharadha Manee is looking forward to the entire school's reopening.
OPEN needs you
The OPEN community has supported over 36,000 students in the past 15 years with over $1 million in grants. As always, our ability to fund these projects depends on your generosity. OPEN is a non-profit charitable foundation in India and in the U.S. Contributions in both countries are tax-deductible.
Contributions in USD may be made online or by check.
Checks payable to OPEN Inc. may be sent to one of:
Kumar Thiagarajan, 25470 Gimbel Dr, South Riding, VA 20152
Rajesh Ramadoss, 21 South Mountain Rd, Millburn, NJ 07041
Cheques in INR may be sent in favor of:
Open India Charitable Trust # 26/91, 3rd Street, Karpagam Avenue, R.A.Puram, Chennai - 600028 Phone : +91 77086-79797.
You may also donate online in INR thru NEFT/IMPS:
Bank: Canara Bank Branch: St. Mary’s Road, Chennai Account Number: 1 2871 01 01 8901 MICR Number: 60001 5037 IFSC Code Number: CNRB0001287
Please consider investing in India's future. To delay may mean to forget.
