Greetings from OPEN.We wish everyone a happy start to the school year. We apologize for the delay in this update. It has taken us some time to collect our IGNITE scholarship program final year data, and are happy to report that the children in the program appear to be doing really well.
Post-secondary education: Ignite scholarship program
We are happy to report that 94% of the 16 final year students for the 2022-23 academic year graduated on time, and 88% found jobs or had higher studies planned at graduation.
We have 60 continuing students, have accepted 26 new college students, and expect to admit 25 students from IRT Polytechnic College. We expect our budget for this academic year to be around $30,000, benefiting about 100 children. Scholarships are capped at Rs.20,000 per year for 2 and 3 year college/polytechnic students; and are capped at Rs.30,000 per year for and 4/5 year college students.
Students are predominantly in college for B.Com., B.Sc., 2-3 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.
We are happy to share some follow-up videos from past students who are now doing well in their post-scholarship careers. Santosh continues at Zilker/Ernst&Young and Anjana is now working on her MS at Texas A&M. We wish them the very best as they make their own paths through life.
Supplemental education: English classes by Vidyarambam
We continue working with Vidyarambam Trust and delivered their Easy Learning Englishsupplemental classes to 3400 children, mainly in classes 5-8, at 9 Government schools in Chennai. Our budget for academic year 2022-23 was approx $33,000 and will remain the same for year 2023-24.
The plan is to continue classes at these schools for multiple years so that a child that starts in class 5 for academic year 2022-23 will receive 4 years of instruction in English.
Skills involved are tested for each students using about 5-7 minutes of questioning and evaluation. Letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, negative sentences, jumbled words organization into sentences - are some of the skills tested. These metrics are closely aligned with the ASER reports released by the NGO Pratham, and measure actual outcomes. The final chart shows that the children in general had decent grasp of the basics at the beginning of the year and towards the end started to do better on the more complex metrics.
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 65 children is being supported by OPEN. Students come to the center for help with academics, and are obtaining about 67% marks on average. Monthly family income averages Rs.8,500 in these blue collar families. Turning Point conducts various activities for children to increase their exposure to the world, and counseling sessions about staying out of trouble. A Public speaking training event was organized, and the children were taken on an outing to Dakshina Chitra, a living history museum in Chennai.
K-12 Education: Ganapathy Iyer Girls’ Higher Secondary School
We continue our support of Ganapathy Iyer Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Gopalapuram, Chennai, with tuition and uniforms scholarships for poor children, and operating expenses for morning breakfast. Our budget is approximately $8,500. The school recently held an interschool science exhibit competition that was covered in local media. Click here for a Facebook video from Kumudam.
OPEN needs you
The OPEN community has supported over 39,000 students in the past 18 years with over $1.15 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:
Sriram Sankaran, 7213 Lembert Hills Dr, Dublin, CA 94558
Rajesh Ramadoss, 21 S 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.
