Children Development
The Children Development Department aims at the holistic development of children in different aspects so as to excel in this competitive world with social commitment. They should grow to able citizens in the country without the feeling that economic status is the criteria for acquiring higher and professional education. Children development programmes have been proposed and implemented focusing on the following basic objectives:
- To create social awareness among the children and to equip and enable them to express their social commitment and concern.
- To inculcate value oriented life style which is the need and demand of present generation.
- To promote and expose their talents and help themselves acquire better positions in their career through quality education.
In order to accomplish the aforesaid objectives, the Children Development Department functions under different programmes / sub sectors which are as follows:
A.Poomottukal (Children’s Groups)
Poomottukal (meaning “Flower Bud”) are the Self Help Groups of Children where they perform mutual support and sharing to grow to able citizens. At present, KIDS is facilitating around 475 children’s SHGs with a total strength of 8632 children. 35 trained promoters are working in the grass root level for the welfare and promotion of these Children groups.
The major activities implemented under the Poomottukal are as follows:
- Regular meeting of the Children SHGs where they perform micro savings out of their pocket money.
- Vacation camps were conducted for children incorporating Personality Development Sessions, Talent Search Programmes and so on. 2000 children were covered under 34 such programmes.
- 1050 High School students were given classes on Communicative English and English Grammar which equipped them with better knowledge and flair in the language. This positively helped them to improve their academic performance.
- Participatory health and hygiene campaigns were conducted in 8 panchayats, where children themselves led classes on Community Health, Monsoon Diseases, Chickun Guinea, Conservation of Water Resources and Personal Health & Hygiene.
- Mass campaigns were organized by the children groups in 15 panchayats against the increasing use of Pan Masala and tobacco products, especially among the youth.
- Life skill trainings were provided to 40 SHGs of Children on Ornamental Fish rearing, Organic Farming and Vermi Compost. These groups are performing these activities which served as a motivation to other children groups also.
- Regular sponsorship is provided to 165 studious children from the poor families based upon their academic performance. Educational loans are provided to the eligible students for professional courses through bank linkages.
B.SMART KIDS Programme
The prime objective of the SMART KIDS programme is to promote academic and other extracurricular excellence. Through this programme, the children are expected to attain higher positions in their life with social commitment, utilizing the existing facilities. The programme focus on intensive training to the selected students by a team of committed and trained teachers from within the community. The participants for the SMART KIDS programme have been selected from the Poomottukal after grading the children with regard to their academic and interpersonal skills and talents. At present, this programme is implemented in selected 10 villages, which will be widened to other places also.
- Regular trainings are provided to the children on the topics like Basic English, Basic Mathematics, Basic Hindi, Goal Setting, Leadership, Communication skills, Personality Development, Public Speaking, Career Guidance, General Knowledge, Learning Techniques and Other Soft Skills.
Apart from these regular trainings, some of the major activities conducted are as follows:
- Scholarships were given to students who secured more than 80% of marks in their annual examinations.
- Career guidance seminars conducted for the high school and Plus two students, guiding them on the opportunities for higher studies and placements.
At present, very less number of students from our operational area appears for entrance and other qualifying exams, mainly because of lack of facilities and economic conditions. KIDS look forward to mould a filtered group of students each year to confidently appear in such examinations and develop a prosperous career for themselves.
C.Educational Sector
As a result of the study conducted in the operational area of KIDS focusing on the educational status of the people, it was found out that only around 5% of the people could continue their education to higher levels.In order to provide value based education in job oriented courses, KIDS is running a professional college named Jnana Deepa Vidya Peetham, which is affiliated to M.G. University and an Industrial Training Centre. The major courses offered in these institutions are MBA, MCA, BBA, BCA and B.Com with Computer applications; and Electronic, Mechanic and Electrician courses affiliated with NCVT, Govt. of India.
The enchanting students coming from the Self Help Groups are provided with eligible fee concession to study in these institutions. Students from SHG families having above 80 percentages of marks are eligible for 50 percentage of fee concession in this college. Apart from the usual academic syllabus, much priority is given to the extracurricular and personal development of the students to excel in their career. The results of these colleges since inception are highly remarkable.
