Single teacher schools herald change in villages

CHENNAI: Three girls from a village in Thiruvallur district took to the stage, introducing themselves with élan and singing songs with gusto. Their confidence belied the fact that this is their first time in front of an audience. All three are students of the Single Teacher School centre (STS) in their village. Taking up Swami Vivekananda’s saying, “If children can’t go to school, why not bring the school to children,” the Swami Vivekananda Rural Development Society (SVRDS) launched STS in 2006, covering Thiruvallur, Kan- cheepuram and Vellore districts. The premise consists of identifying the best-educated youth from the village and motivating and training them to become teachers.   A convenient location is chosen and the teacher enrols not less than 30 students. Classes for standard one to five are conducted six days a week, from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm. The syllabus covers Tamil, English, arithmetic and basic sciences, apart from elementary yoga, discipline and hygiene.At the sixth anniversary celebrations here on Friday, the teachers shared success stories in their villages. S Rajeshwari, a teacher, said, “We are most happy to see the discipline which has appeared in these children. Even parents appreciate it.”More than 15,000 students have benefited from the project, which has currently established 657 schools. The SVRDS plans to expand the program to cover up to 35,000 students in three more districts.Speaking at the celebrations, President of SVRDS R  Nataraj said, “The children learn enthusiastically as many of their hardships have been removed. They no longer need to worry about travelling or study environment, as the school is in their own village.” There has also been positive feedback from teachers of government schools, says Nataraj.Fund raising is in progress, and R P Krishnamachari, chairman of Tex Biosciences donated `10 lakh towards the project. Several other donations ranging from `5000 to `1.5 lakh were handed over. Others present at the function were Justice S Rajes waran, managing trustee of VHVK S Vedantamji, philanthropist Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti and editor of Kumudam Jothidam A M Rajagopalan.