education & employment

Schools will be the heart and children will be the life blood of our villages. Highest level of importance will be given to children's health, development, and overall well being.

The Problem

Government school system is rapidly deteriorating in Tamil Nadu due to inadequate infrastructure and in some cases sheer neglect. In Ambalapattu, school going children and their parents are seeing private schools as the only possible option for quality education. This has put serious financial strain on many families, who in some cases spending a vast portion of their monthly income for their children's education. As a consequence, the student population in government schools have dropped significantly, in the case of Illupaithoppu Higher Secondary School in Ambalapattu, the drop is 85% in the last 20 years. This is further propagating the cycle of neglect and investment in government schools.

The Solution

Make government schools a center of educational excellence. In addition to teaching children the regular school curriculum ensure they are able to read, write, and speak with confidence in both Tamil (their native tongue) and English. The focus will also be on developing physical fitness and grooming talents in sports, arts and crafts.

Our Story So Far

On April 06th 2019, the volunteer group conducted a day long counseling event for 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students in Ambalapattu village, Thanjavur District. 6 moderators and 23 panelists from all over Tamil Nadu shared their experience and wisdom with the students on a range of topics including Engineering, Vocational Training, Medicine, Civil Service, Agriculture, Entrepreneurship, State and Central Government jobs, and career paths like Veterinary, Geology, Law Enforcement, Professional Sports, Teaching, etc . The event was attended by over 500 students from 32 villages.

More information can be found under "Vetripathai 2019" in the projects section.

Since 2019, volunteers from the group along with several villagers are actively working towards renovating infrastructure, improving standard of education, and increasing student population in Ilupaithoppu Higher Secondary School in Ambalapattu.

What are we planning to do in the future?

We intend to make all 8 government schools in Ambalapattu a center of excellence for education, sports, and arts by

• Ensuring no child is left behind and all children are equipped with skills, ability, and confidence to be successful in their chosen path
• Enabling students to become highly competent in both Tamil (native tongue) and English
• Exposing students to the following areas and based on their interest and ability gradually help them gain stronger expertise in their area of interest and competency
  • Academics
  • Sports
  • Music
  • Arts & Crafts
  • Vocational Training
  • Miscellaneous
• Providing a strong foundation in math and science. Additional support will be provided for
  • 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students to prepare for public exams
  • Those who are appearing for standardized tests like NEET, JEE and public services exams. The objective is to enable those who are academically inclined to get into IIT, REC, IIM, Medical schools, and become Charted Accountants, IAS, IPS, and IFS officers of repute.
• Sports will play a central role in child development. Kids will be trained in a range of sports including track and field sports, cricket, soccer, basket ball, volley ball, table tennis, badminton, swimming, Kabaddi, and chess.
• Music: Children will be exposed to and will have the opportunity to choose between vocal and instrumental music. They will also be exposed to and will have the opportunity to choose between Carnatic, Hindustani, and Western genres of music. In addition, special efforts will be made to grow talents and nurture ethnic genres like nattu pura padalgal.
• Arts & Crafts: Revive native arts and crafts including stone carving and specialized paintings. One day, the world should actively seek and showcase arts and crafts from our villages (starting with the works of Ambalapattu craftsmen)
• Vocational Training: Not all kids will be academically inclined or be gifted in sports or music. Help these kids master alternate vocation that will allow them to be gainfully employed.
• All children will be taught in the following areas to provide them a solid foundation
  • Self: personal hygiene, time management, personal finance, and self defense
  • Society: etiquette, treating everyone with respect and equality (irrespective of one's religion, caste, creed, place of birth/domicile, color, etc.)
  • Nature: understanding and living in harmony with nature including effective waste management
• The schools will adopt an approach, which will not be "cookie cutter" but customized to the needs and ability of each child. Learning will be made fun from age 3 to high school graduation. Our schools will become the happiest place for the kids where they learn and grow in every sense.