Gift an education...Make a life !

Dear Patrons of Isha Vidhya,

With great joy and gratitude, I would like to share that the recent funding from donors like you through Global Giving, has enabled Isha Vidhya to :

• Construct two class rooms at the Isha Vidhya Erode school (40 students each)
• Build a compound wall for Isha Vidhya Salem school
• A school bus for the Isha Vidhya Salem school to ferry children to and from the school from the nearby villages

With these infrastructure enablements, we have utilized funds of INR 2,170,478 this academic year. 1,311 students, put together in these two schools are benefitting from these additions!

Breakup of utilization

S.No    Particulars                                                                    Amount (Rs)

1          Two Classrooms in Erode School                                      1,398,344

2          Compound Wall (partial funding) in Salem                           563,062

3          50 Seater Bus for Salem school (partial funding)                 209,072

Utilization Total                                                                            2,170,478

These are very significant and much needed additions to the infrastructure to the Isha Vidhya schools, as we share the benefits that the children get because of these infrastructure below.

Benefits

Classrooms in Erode school:

For every additional classroom built, 40 children can be educated every year. The well ventilated and spacious classrooms are so designed that the children would love to come and teachers feel happy to teach in. Over a 40 year life of a building this two class room would mean 3200 children get educated.

Compound wall in Salem school:

Compound wall provides safety for the school equipment by preventing trespassers and reducing chances of theft. During rainy season, it also prevents snakes from the neighboring fields entering the school compound causing a threat to the children.

School bus for Salem school:

Our children come from a radius of up to 20 km around the schools. Most of these children depend on transportation arranged by the school to commute daily to the school. Thus own school buses provide solutions to many problems and ensure a safe commute for the children.

• Avoid children dropping out because of their parents being unable to afford expensive hired private transport. Avoid children relying on public transport which is neither adequate nor convenient.
• Transportation is provided at a lower cost and travel time is reduced by optimizing routes.
• Children travel in relative comfort and safety compared to the public transport and can reach the school on time.
• Most of the children are picked up at their doorstep, thus ensuring their safety.
• Teachers too are willing to join our school as significant time is saved in their commute to and from the school. This allows them to balance the time needs of their families with that of the school.

Impact stories:

Pravin's journey to Isha Vidhya:

A.Pravin, studying 4^th Std, hails from a poor family. His father, A.Anbalagan is a contract labourer and he was struggling to send him to school. Pravin was offered scholarship at Isha Vidhya. His village is located about 18 kms from school. Since he had to walk 5 kilometers daily to reach the bus stop and take public transport, his father almost decided to pull Pravin out of the school and put him in a school close to his house. Pravin has now started using our school bus, which is great relief for him and his parents, as it provides both comfort & safety to the child.

Isha Vidhya 10th standard students achievements in Tamilnadu State board exams 2014-15

We are very happy to announce that the students from the first batch of Std. X of IshaVidhya achieved a 100% pass result and the aggregate score of all the students is a whopping 89.6%. This is a remarkable achievement as a majority of the students are first generation school-goers and some even have learning difficulties.

For students like Kavitha S. from Isha Vidhya Erode, who scored 492/500 with centums in Science and Social Science, it was the scholarship that helped her continue her education. As her mother remarked, “If Isha Vidhya wasn’t there, my daughter would not even have reached Std. X. By now, she’d be working as a coolie in a village. Her teachers took care of her like their own daughter. They even shared their breakfast with her every day because I was unable to provide it. I never imagined a school like this. I am forever grateful to Sadhguru and Isha Vidhya"

Please view details about the results at Control + Click here  to view a sharing of an Isha Vidhya teacher visit Control + Click here 

We thank you once again for your involvement and helping change these children’s lives.


Sharing from Shri. Vinod Hari, Project Director of Isha Vidhya:

"At Isha Vidhya, we are very keen that our kids actually learn, and love to learn, in school. The focus is not on exams and marks. The classroom and transportation are therefore the key aspects of achieving this objective. Our kids enjoy science and mathematics a lot because it is fun and practical, and because their intelligence is nurtured through understanding which makes them ask more questions and dig deeper, thus enjoying the whole process of learning as an exploration or quest. The support of our donors in making all this happen for our children is deeply appreciated."

About Isha Vidhya

Isha Vidhya rural schools have been started in villages (under the umbrella of Isha Education, established in 2005) to provide high quality school education to underprivileged rural children who cannot otherwise access or afford it. The holistic, activity-based approach nurtures children’s development beyond just academics, ensuring that students realize their full potential and learn in a joyful manner.

• Today there are 9 rural schools in the districts of Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Erode, Nagercoil, Salem, Tuticorin, and Villupuram in Tamil Nadu and in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh.
• The schools have clean and spacious classrooms, adequate toilet facilities, science, maths and computer labs, digital classrooms, a library, a playground and play equipment. No compromise is made in the quality of the facilities provided to the students.
• The school infrastructure is funded by individual and corporate donations.
• The schools have 5820 students. Many are first-generation learners from under-privileged families. Parents are mostly daily wagers engaged in agriculture, construction, small trades, rice mills, brick kilns and such-like, or who travel to the cities for their daily livelihood.
• About 59% of these children are supported on full scholarships while the remaining pays a nominal fee. The scholarships cover tuition, notebooks and textbooks. Most children come from economically weak family backgrounds. The scholarship support provided to needy students has enabled them to access such quality education.
• The schools use several methodologies, activity-based learning tools & digital content to teach English and other subjects, augmenting the regular curriculum.
• All-round development is emphasized through sports, yoga, arts & crafts, environmental awareness, health & hygiene.
  
  

Student strength & scholarship details (2014-15)

Total in TN          Strength          Scholarship

Total Girls                2534                   1446

Total Boys               2855                   1699

Total                       5389                    3145

% Girls                     47%                     46%

Staff details (2014-15)

                                    CBE  ERD  NGR TTC  VLP CDL  SLM  DHR  Total

Teachers                        35    34      35     34     34    32      32     26      262

Non-teaching Staff         24    22      18     22     21    25       21    11      164

Government School Adoption Program

Isha Vidhya also carries out critical interventions in 55 rural Government schools to improve the quality of education in these schools by conducting remedial classes, English language programs and also focusing on extra-curricular activities.


Summary and appeal

We are attaching the pictures of children benefitted because of these infrastructure additions in the two schools for your viewing!

We appeal that you support Isha Vidhya by future donations, recurring as well as one-time, through campaigns like bonus days

There is a Partner bonus day coming up on July 15th, whose timings and details are available at:

http://tools.blog.globalgiving.org/category/globalgiving-fundraising-tips/globalgiving-campaigns/

We request you to make use of opportunities like these to donate to Isha Vidhya. We also request you to spread the awesome work that your project is doing with all your contacts by sharing this report with them through email, and encouraging them to donate, and in turn spread the word!

We thank you for all the support that you have given in enabling India rural education through Isha Vidhya, and we look forward to your continuing engagement!

Best Regards.