Ankur Vidyalaya - Reach Out Literacy Programme

The vision of our school is to reach out to the needy and the deprived. We have therefore kept our resources available to the poorest of the poor. Ankur Vidyalaya, which is an offshoot of Loreto Convent and an integral part of it, is our response to this vision. It all began with a street play on 14.5.1991, by the LTS girls designed to arouse the interest of the rest of the school in a Literacy Programme, which they hoped to begin. They felt that the benefits of being in a good regular school should be shared with their less fortunate sisters and brothers. This was followed by a survey in the slum area of Chelidanga by the Principal and some teachers.

On the 10th July 1991, the first pupils were admitted, under the supervision of the SUPW Literacy Project Co-ordinator. Today Loreto Convent, with the help of the staff and students, runs a flourishing and full - fledged Literacy Programme under the name of Ankur Vidyalaya, within the premises of our school building, with poor children on roll. The pupils aged 5 years upward, girls, are admitted irrespective of caste or creed. The medium of instruction is Hindi. Every student from Class VI to Class X gets an opportunity to share her knowledge on a one-to-one basis with an Ankur Vidyalaya child, at least once a week, so that each child goes at his/her own pace, without pressure. These lessons, though conducted by the students, are supervised by three trained teachers and a co-ordinator from the regular school. Classes are held from 8.00 a.m. to 12.15 p.m.

Once a week a different class brings extra lunch and all sit down together with the Ankur Vidyalaya children and share their food. Since 1997 a few candidates have been prepared for the Board Examination of the National Open School. The expenditure to keep this worth-while programme running is very high as it includes maintenance of an old building, hiring three trained teachers, supplying a hot substantial meal daily to each child, sports uniform, gifts at Diwali and Christmas and other incidentals. All these expenses have to be met from the school funds, which are inadequate. Inspite of the problem of funds, service to these less fortunate children remains a priority and we want at all cost to keep Ankur Vidyalaya going, as our contribution to serve the neighbourhood better.