Prepared January 15, 2013 - ishaoutreach.org · Government School Adoption Program Term II Progress Report September – December 2012 Prepared January 15, 2013

Government School Adoption Program

Term II Progress Report

September – December 2012

Prepared January 15, 2013

2 Government School Adoption Program – Term II Report Isha Outreach: September to December 2012

Prepared by Isha Outreach | Jan. 15, 2013 2

Executive Summary

Overall progress summary

Government School Adoption Program Events Summary – Ending Dec 2012

DISTRICT Coimbatore Dharmapuri Salem

Grand Total

BLOCK

Thonda- muthur

Perur Penna-garam

Nallam-palli

Panamarathupati

Schools adopted 7 7 6 6 5 31

Total students 6105 2894 5890 7275 3679 25843

Isha Teachers 11 22 59 41 16 149

Contingency staff 3 5 5 2 3 18

Remedial Students 656 237

632

459

486

2470

Yoga class beneficiaries 1208

607

2281

1649

942

6687 Students

Teachers 44 49 23 116

Schools reached 7 6 6 6 4 30

Magic English – Teachers trained

33 48 17 88

Health screening camp: - Student Attendance

103 850

953

Health awareness camp: - Student Attendance

164 823 987

Tree saplings 462 462 396 396 330 2046

Produced, Distributed/planted

8080 8550 0 0 0 16630



Term 2 Events (Sept – Dec 2012)

Teacher Recruitment & Orientation Recruited 13 additional teachers in Coimbatore and two teachers in Salem during the

reporting period. The teachers went through orientation before joining their schools.

Teacher Training Programs

Remedial Class Orientation

A training program for conducting remedial classes was held for 15 newly appointed Isha

Teachers on October 3, 2012 at Isha Outreach in Coimbatore.

Remedial Refresher Training Session

A Refresher Training Program was organized at the District level, and included the

following topics:

o i) Documentation & Reports

o ii) CCE Evaluation

o iii) Remedial teaching method and Syllabus of Tamil & Maths

o iv) School issues’ discussion with proposed solutions

Program participation was as follows:

o Coimbatore: 22 Isha Teachers participated at GHS, Madampatti on Oct. 27, 2012

o Dharmapuri: 75 Isha teachers participated at Athiyaman GHSS (Boys),

Dharmapuri on Oct. 20, 2012

o Salem: 12 Isha Teachers participated at Isha Arogya Center on Oct. 30, 2012. Rtd.

CEO Mr. Thirunavukarasu addressed and clarified doubts raised by teachers.

Training Program for Maths Remedial

A two-day Maths Remedial training program was held for Isha teachers

The training used the Singapore Learning System with the Concrete Pictorial Abstract

(CPA) technique

It was organized by Shri Ranganathan RMSA-ADPC, Salem and attended by 15 teachers

from Salem and some school Co-ordinators from the Salem and Dharmapuri districts.

It was also attended by the MD of Vageeshwari Vidhyalaya Matric School, Shri.

Balasubramanium and Administrative Officer, Shri.Suryaganthan. In the afternoon session

Smt. Maniammal, (CEO, SSA) and Shri Vasantha Kumar (SSA, ADPC) visited the training

and encouraged our teachers, while Smt.Deviga - the SSA Training Officer, came in to

address and motivate them.



Government School teachers - Shri.Muhamadh Husein, Smt. Sudha and Smt. Geetha

Priyadharsini - explained the use of 25 Simple Learning Maths (SLM) kits to the teachers

on the first day. On the second day, the teachers were given the opportunity to practice the

kits and ask questions.

Second Level training for Tamil remedial was given by Shri. Ranganathan. He reviewed

the Tamil remedial class status and gave next level training on Tamil remedial tools such

as: Nasan cards – for reinforcing Tamil learning, and "Karkum Baratham" (Learning India)

- for evaluation.

ABL methodology training for conducting remedial classes

This program was organized on Dec. 1, 2012 at GHS, Madhampatti in Coimbatore.

Shri.Sivakumar and Shri.Dhandapani - who are implementing a similar project in Pollachi -

were the resource persons. 26 teachers from 14 schools and two coordinators participated

in the program.

The following topics were covered during the day: Teaching learning methods, CCE, ABL

systems (level fixing, card colors, logos, group card arrangements, shortlisted cards in

Tamil and Maths for our students), methodology, importance and monitoring methods.

Remedial class Uniformity was established in both the Tamil and Maths remedial syllabus. Prior to this,

each teacher had their own method and content for teaching the basics. From September

2012, the following systems are being followed:

o Tamil: Tamil basics are now based on Nedumidal books and student learning is

reinforced with Nasan cards. ABL methodology has been adopted to teach this

content. Students will go through an evaluation process using Karkum Bharatham –

Learning India tools. Screening of slow learners and their progress will be

documented and monitored using the achievement chart prepared by the

Government agency and adopted for our needs.

o Maths: A new syllabus has been set to cover the teaching of basic Maths.

Teachers will adopt an ABL methodology/traditional method based on the

availability of ABL cards. The Evaluation process will be set in the next quarter.



Table 1: Students for remedial class (Overall)

District Remedial for Boys Girls Total

Coimbatore (6th to 9th) Tamil & Maths 557 336 893

Maths only 249 188 437

Tamil only 294 223 517

Dharmapuri (6th to 9th) Tamil & Maths 605 486 1091

Salem (6th to 8th) Tamil only 274 212 486

Diagram 1: Students identified for Tamil remedial class (by standard)

Students were prepared for quarterly exams in Dharmapuri and Coimbatore district.

In Salem, for quarterly exams and half-yearly exams, question papers were prepared

based on the remedial class syllabus, and separate exams were conducted for slow

learning students.

220 222245

206

282

228 236

345

106130 135

115

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

6th 7th 8th 9th

Coimbatore

Dharmapuri

Salem



Karadi Path & Magic English classes

Baseline assessment of students' status in English skills was conducted in all 31 GSAP

schools in Dharmapuri, Salem and Coimbatore districts.

Magic English training was conducted by Smt. Kalaivani, Senior Trainer & Product

specialist for the newly appointed 10 teachers of the Isha Outreach Office on Oct. 29,

2012.

Program

o Magic English classes are now conducted in nine schools in the Coimbatore district

and in all schools in the Dharmapuri and Salem districts.

o The Level 1 program has three modules - Action Path, Music Path, and Story Path,

with 72 sessions in total. There were three sessions scheduled per week for 6th and

7th standard students.

o Currently, sessions of Action Path and Music Path are being conducted through

instructions and songs. Students are learning the phonetic sounds of the English

Alphabet, along with simple commands and conversation which they can use in

their day to day life. The classes are handled by project teachers.

o Overall, the program is well received among students, teachers and Head Masters.

Even though we are not translating the commands in Tamil, students are able to

grasp the meaning through repetition and action. When students were asked

questions, they were able to respond to them correctly. Student feedback was that

prior to this, they felt English was tough to learn, but now they have the confidence

and enthusiasm to learn the language.

Table 2: Details of students benefitted Magic English Class

District # of Schools Boys Girls Total

Coimbatore 8 678 722 1400

Dharmapuri 12 1046 1082 2128

Salem 5 468 468 936

Grand Total 25 2192 2272 4464

http://karadipath.com/kp_methodology.php



Yoga Programs

In this project period, along with our 31 adopted schools, we extended Isha yoga programs

to students and teachers in the Vizhuppuram and Cuddalore districts.

Patangasana, Shisupalasana, Surya Namaskar and Isha Kriya were offered in the

program.

Table 3: Details of students benefitted through yoga program

Table 4: Beneficiary details of yoga program for teachers

District Boys Girls Total

Coimbatore 710 639 1,349

Dharmapuri 1,884 1,685 3,569

Salem 429 566 995

Vizhupuram 1,349

Cuddalore 695

Grand Total 3,023 2,890 7,957

District Regular Teachers

Project Teachers Total

Coimbatore

Dharmapuri 25 68 93

Salem 10 12 22

Vizhupuram 29

Grand Total 35 80 144

http://www.ishayoga.org/

http://www.ishafoundation.org/Ishakriya



Green School Project

Through Green School Movement, project tree sapling nurseries have been created in 12

schools in the Coimbatore district. 16,630 saplings have been produced through these

nurseries and the saplings are being distributed to the students and villagers for plantation.

Table – Saplings production & Plantation

S.NO School Name Location No of saplings

produced

1 Govt. Hr. Sec. School Alanthurai 1060

2 Govt. High School Devarayapuram 1720

3 Govt. Hr. Sec. School Kalverampalayam 1700

4 Govt. Hr. Sec. School Kuniyamuthur 1000

5 Govt. High School Madampatti 1500

6 Govt. Hr. Sec. School Mathuvarayapuram 920

7 Govt. High School Narasipuram 1700

8 Govt. High School Nathegoundanputhur 2050

9 Govt. High School Semmedu 1100

10 Govt. Hr. Sec. School Sundakkamuthur 300

11 Govt. Hr. Sec. School for Boys

Thondamuthur 1780

12 Govt. Hr. Sec. School for Girls

Thondamuthur 1800

13 Govt. High School Muttathuvayal 0

14 Govt. High School Kulathupalayam Not included in

project

Other Activities & Events

Blood Grouping Camps

Based on Head Masters' requests to include the blood groups of all students in their smart

cards, we conducted Blood Grouping Camps in three schools in the Coimbatore district.

The camps were sponsored by Isha Foundation and conducted by Isha Rural Health clinic,

Alandurai.

685 students from Nadhegoundenpudur, Semmedu and Muttathuvayal participated.



Table: Blood Grouping Camp Participants

School Name Boys Girls Total

GHS

Nathegoundenpudur

147 115 262

GTRS Muttathuvayal 71 63 134

GHS Semmedu 135 154 289

Football & Yoga Training

Week long Football & Yoga training sessions took place at the Isha Yoga center in the

third week of November. Out of 51 participants, 33 were from our adopted Government

schools in Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Salem and Vizhuppuram. Among them, 14 have

given their names to be trained in conducting yoga programs in their schools.

Table: Football & yoga details

District Overall

Participants Willing yoga

trainers

Coimbatore 1 -

Dharmapuri 7 3

Salem 8 4

Vizhupuram 17 8

Isha Vidhya 8 6

PGH 10 -

Total 51 21

Health Camps

Participants and volunteers from Semmedu, Thondamuthur and Narasipuram schools

benefited from an "Arogya alai"- wave of health mega camp organized by Isha Foundation

on November 17 and 18 in Alandurai School. 6000 rural people were screened for various

health issues and treated. 33 NSS students from GHSS, Alandurai volunteered for the

camp.

http://www.ishayoga.org/



Diwali Sweets for Teachers

For Diwali, we distributed sweets to all the Isha Teachers in the Coimbatore, Salem and

Dhrampuri districts, thanks to the help of local volunteers.

Special visits

Ms. Latha, JD, visited Adiyamankottai School to learn about our project implementation.

She was impressed by our teachers’ dedication, and encouraged them and complimented

them for their work.

In Dec. 2012, she also visited 4 adopted schools in Coimbatore where she reviewed our

programs with Head Masters and encouraged them to make use of Isha programs for

students' well-being as much as possible. She also appreciated our teachers' contributions

for slow learning students.

Reporting and Monitoring

Collected the 'School Profile document' which has school records for 3 years with

complete requirements, and the Student attendance details to monitor the absenteeism for

the Dharmapuri and Salem districts.

A monthly review meeting at block level has been organized in all five blocks by School

Coordinators where teachers can participate and provide their reports.



Issues & Solutions

Remedial classes are taking place in schools and a few schools have students that have

been mainstreamed. We are working to increase it to more children. The challenge is that

that we have an interrupted availability and focus of project teachers for remedial classes.

Sometimes they are allocated to other tasks such as office administration and covering

regular subjects in the absence of government teachers. We are currently working with the

school Headmasters to solve this.

There was a delay in starting the Magic English classes in each school because of

infrastructure requirements: dedicated separate classrooms and audio devices. With the

support of Head Masters, we made the necessary arrangements to electrify the classroom.

We started conducting the classes using school audio devices (DVD players and computer

speakers) when EB supply was available and we supplied a few schools with new audio

devices. We also decided to use the same 6th and 7th Standard classrooms to conduct the

classes instead of allotting separate ones.



Plans for Term (Sept – Nov 2012)

Remedial classes

o Introduce Nasan cards to assist in teaching Tamil

o Introduce Maths kits in Salem schools

Improvement of SSLC exam (10th Standard) passing percentage at school level

o Prepare extra study materials for all five subjects that students are tested in to help

them achieve better marks; at least to pass the exams

o Provide extra support to slow-learning students in the 10th Standard.

Magic English

o Ensure we hold three sessions a week on a regular basis

Yoga and health-care Programs

o Follow-up on regular yoga practices in all the schools

Other Activities

o Conduct Career Guidance sessions and workshops in all 31 schools

o Organize summer camps



Student & Volunteer Sharings

Slow-learning students

“Before this class, I didn’t know how to read. Here, the teacher taught me letters first, then how to read a words. I also learned the difference between Kuril and Nedil letters in Tamil. Now I have learned to read words and also have the enthusiasm to learn. I also feel happy about how our teacher is teaching us individually.

P. Surya, Government Hr. Sec School (Boys), Adhiyamankottai, Dharmapuri

“I know numbers, but I didn’t know how to do addition and subtraction initially. The teacher

taught them to me in a very simple and easy way. I am now practicing Math Tables during any

leisure time I get in school and at home. Now I have learnt simple addition and subtraction

and I have learnt how to do sums with carry over.”

Priyadharshini, 6th

Standard, Madhvarayapuram, Coimbatore

Magic English class students

“I like Magic English, I’m always very eager to attend and run into the classroom when

sessions start. Earlier, I used to get bored during class, now I feel so joyful learning English

through this method. It also seems like physical exercise. When the teacher says a command

like "Sit", "Standup", "Turn right", "Turn left", etc. - we do the actions he says. The teachers

are also happy that we are learning so well. This motivates me more and brings me joy.”

M. Jamuna, 7th

Standard, Dharmapuri

“Before, when we had English class, I always worried that we needed to take notes, write

exams, etc. Nowadays, I am so happy that we can do the Magic English program. When I

practice the commands at home, my mother proudly says, "Great, even my daughter speaks

English". This makes me so happy. I used to practice the commands and songs with my

friends. Now they are also speaking well in English. Thanks for giving us this program.”

V. Sathya, 7th Standard, Dharmapuri

Isha Yoga Program participants

“Our teachers used to say, 'be calm' but I wouldn't listen to them. In Isha Yoga class they

didn’t tell us how to be peaceful and calm. But when I entered the yoga class, I just became

naturally calm within myself. I came to learn about Sadhguru during the program. I was very

happy during the three days of the program. I have never attended any class with this kind of



enthusiasm and peace before. I will continue my practices for the next 48 days, twice a day.

My sincere gratitude to Sadhguru, and to the teacher for offering this class to us.”

Udhayabanu, 12th

Standard, GHSS (Girls), Vizhupuram, Thiruvandarkoil

“I came to the yoga class without any expectations. But I feel very mentally peaceful now. I

never liked to be at home because my mother would scold me and I wouldn’t listen to her. But

after the class I have decided not to be angry with my mother or with anybody else. I have

trust in Sadhguru, I now have hope that I can manage any situation in my life. Thanks for

teaching us these yoga practices.”

S. Vijaylakshmi, 12th Standard, GHSS (Girls), Vizhupuram, Gogaipadi

Football & Yoga training program volunteer

“During the entire week, participants learned many games using footballs, and by the end of

the week learned how to teach them to others. This is the objective of the training program - to

train coaches since most of them are PT teachers.

During the first day so many of them hesitated to speak out during the sessions and to get into

the grounds or participate in the games. But gradually, we were able to see their interests

increase. This morning (last day) we had a match where a 50-year old teacher - who had

hesitated to play all week because he recently had heart surgery - became a goal keeper and

played really well.”

Marie Rischmann, Volunteer - Project GreenHands



News clippings

Kalaikathir – Tamil News article about our GSAP and Maths remedial – teacher training in Salem

Dinakaran – Tamil News article about Maths remedial – teacher training in Salem



Photos

Training on Remedial classes for Maths in Salem: Shri Ranganathan RMSA-ADPC addressing GSAP teachers

Training on conducting Remedial classes for Maths in Salem



ABL methodology training conducted by Shri. Shivakumar in Coimbatore

ABL internal training for new teachers in Isha Outreach head office



Football & Yoga Training at Isha Yoga Center



Diwali sweets distibution in Dharmapuri – shared by volunteers with project teachers

Diwali sweets distibution in Salem



Diwali sweets distibution in Coimbatore

(Teachers sharing their experience)

Magic English Training by Smt. Kalaivani.

Magic English Class conducted by Isha Teacher – P.Ranganayagi GHS.

Nathegoundenpudur.



Smt. Latha, JD looking at Magic English materials and discussing with our teachers in

GHSS, Sundakamuthur

Documents

Prepared January 15, 2013 - ishaoutreach.org · Government School Adoption Program Term II Progress Report September – December 2012 Prepared January 15, 2013