Educating poor rural children in Goa

Thank you for supporting this project. The project has now come to the end of its funding cycle so this will be the last report that we send to you.

I am pleased to report that project has been able to deliver key successes in the following areas:

• School drop out for under 10s (5th standard) was 20% at the start of the village study classes and 36% for those aged 13-16 years old (8th to 10th standard). There is now no children dropping out of school in the 10 villages we have worked, and the children and their parents have changed their attitude towards education
• 60 students have graduated from the girls and boys hostels with their School Completion Certificate and are continuing into further and higher education
• More students are choosing to continue their further education in the science stream, which is less common for children from marginalised communities due to fears around costs and its difficulty
• 5 students who had failed at 9th standard were supported to continue with their education and passed their SCC
• Two ex- students have been elected at Panchayat level (village council) in their respective ward.

To achieve this goal, we have run different activities through our two residential hostels and village primary study classes. Our goal was not only to complete or reach the outcome but that the impact of our work should be sustainable. Activities like career guidance,visits from role models, parents meeting, village visits and technical training have helped parents and their children change their mentality around education.

The next phase of the project is to upgrade the building facilities for the boys and girls hostel. We are delighted that our local partner has been able to raise this money locally from individuals and companies in Goa, strengthening the long term sustainability of the project.

We would like to thank you once again for your generous support of this project.

In February, the boys at our hostel in Goa have been busy getting creative with decorating the hostel with inspirational quotes and images. They came up with this idea after a visit from another NGO who shared their experiences on the importance of having a positive environment and the role that murals can have in inspiring others. The boys asked a donor to sponsor the paint, then they got together to come up with this lovely design. They had a great time using their creative skills. 

Activities like this are part of the additional support that the hostel provides its students, enabling them to use other talents and develop skills like team work, communication and leadership. It is very important to us that the beneficiaries of our projects have the opportunity to get involved in shaping the work. At Goa, the boys elect their own Student Ministry who take responsibility for different elements of day-to-day life. They work closely with the wardens and give feedback about what improvements they would like to see in the hostel. For example, the Food Minister conducts regular reviews with his fellow students about the menu. He then will discuss and negotiate with the cooks to adjust the menu. All the students get together on a monthly basis to discuss any issues they may have and work with the wardens to bring about positive change. In this way, the boys are developing vital life skills that will prepare them for professional work. They also have ownership and take greater pride in the hostel, as seen by their wonderful decoration!

I am also excited to share some very positive developments regarding improvements to the buildings for both the boys and girls hostels. These improvements will facilitate a greater learning experience for the students and provide more space for all the other activities we provide - such as a computer lab, sports classes and a library.  The boys hostel have recently received a considerable donation from a local company which will enable them to build an extension to the current building. This new space will include an additional multi purpose hall, more bedrooms and a special study space for the older students. The hostel is waiting for the final planning consent and we are hoping that the works will start during the summer vacation.

There's also positive news for the girls hostel who for a long time have dreamed about having their own purpose-built building. They are now at the final stages of buying some land close to the boys hostel to construct a new building on. We're hoping that this will start towards the end of 2018.

Ritika is 13 years old and lives in a small village in Goa. She has been attending our study class for the last 6 years. She lives with parents and her brother and sister. Her mum is a housewife and her father does farm labouring jobs in the nearby area as and when they are available. The family has a very limited income but her parents have always been committed to getting their children a good education.

When we started the study class in this village, it was hard for our teacher to engage the children and parents.  By combining more academic study in key subjects with weekly fun classes, the classes soon became popular with children.  Once other parents saw the development in the children attending, they also wanted their children to attend regularly.  

When  Ritika joined the class, she didn’t know the basic languages, like Marathi alphabet, English alphabets. She found it hard to recognise words or numbers. School teachers also complained to her mother regularly about her study, but her mother was not able to support her as she was illiterate. 

Our study class teacher gave extra time to her. She used natural resources to help the children understand Maths, such as stones, small sticks, paper and encouraged the children to play educational games like shopkeeper, numbers games etc.  This helped Ritika to start to improve her basic level of writing, recognising and reading. By giving her small example in Maths she increased her mathematical development. 

Ritika is now regularly going to school, does her homework, passes with good marks in her class and participates school activities very happily.

When her school teacher noted her improvement, she asked about this and after knowing the facts, she was very happy and offer school building class for study class.  

Ritika has now become a very smart girl. She is studying now in VIIIth class.  She is confidently involved in school activities, class activities, regular in school and class. She wants to become a good teacher. She helps other children in their study. She always comes to class very neat and clean. Her mother is very happy to see her progress. She improved her grades in school exams.  We are confident that a positive future lies ahead for her.

Our project in Goa is ably led by Project Co-ordinator Anil. He's a passionate advocate for the transforming potential of education as well as being an excellent accountant!

Anil comes from a rural community close to the border with Maharashtra state. It's a quiet, peaceful village where his extended family also live. Chickens roam around and villagers gather in the evenings around the banyan tree. He lives in this village with his wife and two girls. His oldest daughter is in 9th standard and aspires to be a psychotherapist. His younger daughter has just started school.

Anil's dedication to providing educational support is rooted in his own childhood experiences. Anil was one of the first batch of students to join the hostel in 1997. The hostel provided a place for him to concentrate on his education and complete his studies. It also provided the foundation for life-long friendships, and he remains close friends with many of the first batch of students, some of whom you met in our last report.

Because of his experience at the hostel, he decided to dedicate his life to social work. He has gained university-level qualifications, including his accountancy qualifications whilst working at the hostel  for the past 17 years,rising up through the ranks to become Project Co-ordinator 2 years ago.

When I visited the project in January, I was delighted to meet many former beneficiaries from the project who have come together to form an alumni association aimed at helping children currently benefitting from the project.  The association supports the project by raising funds locally and also by acting as mentors to current beneficiaries, to encourage them to reach for their dreams. They also provide scholarships for students who come top in their end of year exams to encourage them to get good marks and develop their confidence.

 I will be sharing some of the alumni stories over the coming year, I hope you will find them as inspiring as I do!

Nitin is the president of the alumni association and participated in the project back in 1991 as part of the first batch of students attending the boys hostel.

Nitin's parents were illiterate and unaware of the value of education. His father dropped out of education when he was 9 years old and his mother when she was just 7 years old. This is not uncommon in India, where over half of Dalit children drop out of education before the age of 14. They worked as agricultural labourers earning daily wages. Nitin has 3 brothers and it was a big struggle for the family economically when he was growing up to cover their basic needs. Nitin's parents were encouraged to enrol Nitin and his brother into the hostel. 

Thanks to the support of the hostel, Nitin was able to be the first person in his family to pass the School Completion Certificate. He continued with his education completing a bachelors degree and post-graduate diploma and now works as a pharmacist. Nitin told me that if he had not attended the hostel he would have been forced to drop out before reaching 10th standard. He now has a good professional job.  His brother also was able to complete his education to a high level achieving a post-graduate diploma in geophysics and now is working as a teacher.

Nitin now gives 10% of his salary every month to the project to express his gratitude for how it has changed its life. He aspires to grow the alumni association so that they can help the current beneficiaries more.