Call with Manoj (05/10/2009) – Sumit Kumar

Manoj is doing well. His dad has been suffering from late stage cancer. With the help of medications, his pain is under control. Manoj will be taking him to Mumbai in the near future.

I discussed 5 specific points about the project:

  1. What is the current situation at Gonwara?
  2. The school is still under construction. It will be completed by the end of May.
  3. The classes are planned to begin from July because of the unbearable heat of May and June.
  4. Parents have started contacting Manoj and his team for admissions already – majority of them belong to backward classes
  5. Around 25-30 students have been enrolled for the session beginning in July.
  6. The cost estimates set before still hold true. Manoj and his team help in the construction thereby reducing the costs incurred partly.
  7. The school will comprise of 8-9 small rooms (Nursery, LKG, UKG, 1-5 and a teacher’s room). Older constructions on the land have been assimilated into the newer construction.
  8. There is a lack of consensus on the maximum permissible class strength. It is planned to range between 30-50 students.
  9. The school will occupy an area of 500*40 sq. feet
  10. Rs. 50/student/month will be charged as fees. Manoj believes that parents in the area will be able to afford it. If they are too poor to pay even this amount, the fees will be waived.
  11. 7 young men have volunteered to teach in this school. They belong to the local community
  12. Jeevatch Kumar Ram (BA second year)
  13. Santosh Kumar (Expecting his 10th standard results)
  14. Sanjay Kumar (BA second year)
  15. Rajesh Kumar (Intermediate 2nd year)
  16. Kanhaiyya Kumar (Intermediate)
  17. Santosh Kumar (Inter 1st year)
  18. Arjun Kumar (Expecting his 10th standard results)
  1. How is the sewing center progressing?
  2. Akli Devi is the instructor at the center. Rs 6000 had been allocated as a lump sum for her salary last year. She is paid a monthly salary from it. The money will run till end of July.
  3. There are 3 sewing machines in the center. 2 provided by Asha, 1 belongs to the teacher.
  4. Out of the 5 students, 2 have gotten married and have left temporarily/ permanently
  5. 2 new students have sought admission
  6. There is no fixed timing for classes. Since the no. of students is low, a mutually convenient time is decided for the class everyday
  7. The students work on clothes from nearby households and earn money for the work they do. The money does not come to the center at present.
  1. What are plans for the next health camp?
  2. No discussions yet
  3. Updates after July
  1. What is the current state at Gonwara?
  2. There are 60 students in the school currently
  3. Registers have been introduced to monitor the attendance of students
  4. The two teachers are – Manish and Vishwanath (replacement of Rajesh)
  5. The current school session will end in July
  6. Eklavya and Bihar Board teaching materials are used as textbooks. However, Bihar Board textbooks are not easily available this year. Ironically, they have been made free (marked ‘not for sale’) for use by govt. schools which makes it illegal for NFEs such as ours to purchase them.
  7. The children range from classes 1 to 3. The attendance is haphazard since the interest of parents and children goes up and down with time. Due to this inconsistency, it is difficult to put in place a concrete system (such as exams) to judge progress. Currently, the aim is to teach all the children skills in Hindi, English and Maths progressively
  1. What is the current state at Gonwara?
  2. There are around 82 students in the school currently
  3. Registers have been introduced to monitor the attendance of students
  4. The two teachers are – Sikandar and Choti Kumari (she passed out of 5th grade and has joined back as a teacher)
  5. Since Sikandar lives locally, he regularly motivated parents and children to attend school
  6. Children of different classes sit in different groups.
  7. Currently the school teaches children from the 1st to the 4th standard.
  8. Exams are held on a regular basis to judge progress and as a qualifier for moving to the next grade.
  9. The school materials being used are – Eklavya and Bihar Board materials