What is the value of a rupee? A lot, if you ask Hari Narayanan, project coordinator of the Lions Club of Central Madras.
When he read an article on how the Municipal Corporation of Thane checked the dropout rate in municipal schools in the region by distributing Re. 1 to every student every day, Narayanan was immediately attracted to the idea. He thought of replicating the method in Chennai Schools.
“The Thane Municipality was my inspiration and when I put forth the idea to other members of Lions Club of Central Madras, they were more than happy to start the project,” he says. However, getting the go-ahead from the Corporation, they knew, would be almost impossible. Therefore, they selected a primary school run by the Gopalapuram Educational Society for poor children. At the Brinda Primary School, this initiative has been going on for seven years now.
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“Most of these children are sons and daughters of maids, daily wage earners and others engaged in menial jobs. Through this small incentive, it has been ensured that these children attend school regularly,” says Malarvizhi, the school principal, who is is going to retire this year, after 32 years in service. To start with, the programme was aimed at only girl students. “Though these children were given free uniforms and book and nourishing meals, they were hardly interested in coming to school. Also girls were held back for taking care of chores at home on most days. When we announced the project, parents ensured they sent their daughters to school every day. We have a fall in the dropout rate as well as absenteeism,” says Narayanan.
Though intake of students has been quite low in this school in Class 1, the management is happy that it is able to carry on with minimum dropouts.
“We want the school to survive for those who can’t afford English education and we want students to continue finishing their primary schooling here. That is the idea behind the initiative,” he says.
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Regular attendance has also meant improvement in studies for these children. “Under the ABL method, they are assessed every day. Since they take fewer days off they are able to score better and learn more. Our teachers are totally dedicated as well. They have gone from door to door asking parents to send their wards to this school and benefit from the initiative,” says Malarvizhi.
Seeing the popularity of the initiative, parents of boys also approached the Lions Club asking them to give their sons a similar incentive. “For four years now, even boys in the school are getting the amount for attendance,” says Narayanan.
Depending on the number of days they come to school, the accumulated amount is presented to the students at the end of the year in a grand function where parents are also invited. The club has also invested in some infrastructural development of the school such as laying new pavements, creating toilets and installing an RO plant for safe drinking water.