7/31/2019 ECC Newsletter May 2012

1/2

Littles Does Lots!

Rajaram shares the experience of volunteers from Littles Trust, Madurai

who conducted the learning audit in 3 villages of Madurai District.

When Gowri from Eureka Child told us about the campaign on a phone

call, we were excited about getting involved in something so crucial to

improving the plight of poor students. The Every Child Can team visited

Madurai the following week, and conducted an hour-long introduction

about the objectives of the campaign. We then split into three teams of 6-7

people each, and visited the villages Acchampathu, Karadippatti and

Melakkuyilkkudi in Tirupparangundram block.

The learning quality in these villages was a lot worse than we expected.

Out of 56 children evaluated, only 18 could read a simple sentence in

Tamil, and only 36 could subtract, despite the fact that some of thesechildren were going to private schools.

When we discussed the results in the community, angry parents expressed

a range of opinions from we should change schools to salary paid to

teachers is a waste. However, many also wanted to talk to the school

teachers about solving the problem. In Karadippatti village, the Panchayat

discussed the results with the school HM, and recently, when the school

reopened after vacations, he met the HM again to focus on learning

quality! Our volunteers are now making plans to visit their own villages and

motivate parents to demand quality education for their children.

EVERY CHILD CANA Campaign to ensure basic reading and arithmetic skills for all chil

Newsletter Issue 2, May 2012

Inside this issue

Littles does lots! P1

Tweeting for Change P1

Seminar in Vellore on

education quality P2

Surprising find by

Cognizant volunteers P2

Tweeting for Change

Selva introduces the world

Tamil Tweeters to the chan

they can make.

On May 13th the first worldwi

Tamil Tweeters- TN mega tweet

was held. Selva Ganapathy w

invited by the group to prese

about the campaign in Tamil to t

more than 150 people who we

present at the meet.

Selvas presentation had maTweeters expressing an interest

contributing to the cause

writing about the campaign

their blogs. The press, includi

Zee News channel, Anan

Vigadan and Pudhiya Thalaimu

were enthusiastic in supporti

the initiative as a result. Anan

Vikatan also published a detail

article about the efforts in t

Enn Vikatan magazine!

7/31/2019 ECC Newsletter May 2012

2/2

More information about the campaign at

http://www.everychildcan.in

Selva Ganapathy: 97909 51652

Gowri : 98405 60521

Above: Left: Speakers at the Vellore seminar. Right: Members of the

audience.

Vellore Seminar on Quality Education

To highlight the importance of quality education, a seminar was organized

in Vellore on April 28, 2012. The event was attended by over 120 people

from Colleges, NGOs and other fields, with an interest in education.

Ravishankar from Eureka Child Foundation talked about the goal of the

campaign and the steps that NGOs and colleges could take in their villages.

Mr.K.S.Ramamurthy (founder, SODEWS NGO), Dr.G.Viswanathan

(Chancellor, VIT, Vellore), Mr.M.Karunanidhi (Principal, Vani College,

Vellore) and Mr.R.Chandrasekar (Director, Udhavum Ullangal) spoke about

the importance of quality.

Surprising find by Cognizant Volunteers

Recently, 12 volunteers from Cognizant technoglogy solutions travelled to Eechangaadu and Rajiv Gandhi Naga

villages in Tiruporur distric. When they conducted the learning audit and collated the results, the volunteers made a

surprising discovery. They found that while learning levels were low in both villages, children who went to private

schools had fared much worse on the evaluation than children who studied in the free Panchayat Union Schools(Government schools). Parents who were told were equally shocked and disheartened by the findings and have

taken u the matter with the school authorities.

After the talks, the floor was open to audience members. The president of Ruhsa NGO talked about the

importance of parental awareness regarding education quality. Ms. Thilagavathi, Secretary, ICCW said that their

group would take up the campaign in the 17 villages that ICCW runs Balwadi programs. Many college faculty have

promised to involve their NSS students. Special thanks to Project Manager Mr. Kumaran and Mr.Velmurugan, who

planned the event, and ensured that it was a great success!