Chennai: Single Teacher Schools (STS), an idea started 12 years ago, has now emerged as one of the most successful attempts to take education to villages.
STS honorary secretary R P Krishnammachari, spoke to ‘News Today‘ about how STS came into fruition and where it is headed to. He is also the managing director of Tex Biosciences (P) Limited.
“STS, a unit of Swami Vivekananda Rural Development Society, was started under the guidance of Swami Dayanand Saraswati to help children from tough backgrounds, mainly dropouts,” said Krishnammachari. When STS was launched, the team scouted for villages and found 40 in need of reforms.
According to Krishnammachari, mid-day meals in schools are the biggest draw for students in villages. Statistics say about 24 per cent drop out after class 8.
“In Tamilnadu, there is a very peculiar situation wherein students do not face main exams until class 8. When a student enters class 9, things get complicated. The situation today is that many such students do not even know how to sign their name. Most students do not cross class 10 and drop out from school,” he said.
Today, STS covers around 680 villages and 24,000 students in four districts: Coimbatore, Kanchipuram, Nagapattinam and Tiruvallur. The project targets students who do not attend school during the day due to various reasons and provides them basic education until class 5.
The STS management keeps tabs on children even after they grow up, and provided proof that many have entered graduation. Some even pursue post-graduation.
Classes start at 6 pm and run for three hours. “The important part is that we do not spend too much on infrastructure. We use the community hall or temples or rent places. However, we provide infrastructure to the students. To combat powercuts, we have provided solar lamps. Many noted organisations have chipped in, too, providing benches and other materials,” said Krishnammachari.
The scheme is not about helping only students. “We make sure that women from the village are selected as teachers. Over 300 from the total 650 teachers are postgraduates who, for some reason, did not want to leave their village. The best thing is that they get recognition and women get elated,” he said with justifiable pride.
Kirshnammachari and team have developed an app in-house to get live feed about the schools’ progress. “Over 200 staff members are involved in the process,” he said. Teachers are also periodically assessed by an expert group at a training centre in Tiruvallur every 15 days.
The group also works for the development of the villages by conducting health camps and handing over newly-constructed restrooms that cost Rs 50,000 each as part of Swachh Bharat Mission.
The chemical engineer who hails from Kumbakonam stated that their idea is to inculcate education in children and not let them go astray.
“This generation is enslaved by mobiles, Internet and movies. If you leave them alone, there will be no turning around. Due to lack of education, students go the wrong way. It is important to get to the grassroots,” said Krishnammachari.
When asked what led him to charity work, the industrialist, nudging 68, said, “I do not think that it is something extraordinary. After fulfilling their needs, people need to give back to society. There is no bigger happiness than giving.”
| WINNING WAYS |
| Working like a corporate, STS honorary secretary Krishnammachari, states that they are transparent in their work. “A total of 900 people work with us. Fifteen big companies are funding us because we are very transparent,” he explained. The group spends around Rs 5.5 crore per year for STS and they would have to have more cash reserves and manpower to cover more ground. |