Tips on communication for Yashodhan students

Last week, the Future Smiles team met with the Class 10 students of Yashodhan School for another session in their career and education guidance programme. (See post about previous meeting here).

This time, the topic of discussion was 'Communication' with the team talking to the students about how to communicate better.

They discussed various aspects of communication, including:

1) Maintaining eye contact
2) Good body language
3) Language skills
4) Clarity in communication
5) Presentation

It was an interesting session with a lot of practical advice that we hope will help the young students in the future.

Future Smiles spends the day at Yashodhan school -- Part II

Yesterday, we told you about Friday's interaction between Mumbai Smiles and Yashodhan school to take the Future Smiles project further into the, well, future.

Continuing from where we left off, after the students of Class 10 were gifted folders, the interaction moved inside one of the classrooms with a smaller group of people. From among themselves, the parents selected a bunch of representatives to meet with the Future Smiles team; these parents are responsible for passing on all information and news to the larger parent body. The interaction naturally included the Class 10 students, as they are the direct beneficiaries of the project.

Nilratan of the Projects department at Mumbai Smiles addressed the parents, students and teachers, telling them in detail about the Future Smiles programme and its intention, which is basically to help students pursue higher studies. This will be done in different ways, by providing information, guidance, career counselling, monetary support, infrastructural support, anything that a young student might need.

And Chandrakant (centre), who is the counsellor in the team, had an interactive discussion with the gathering to figure out how students will be selected for Future Smiles' scholarship schemes. The point was to ask the parents and students for their opinions and take note of their requirements and problems.

Together it was decided that these are some of the factors to be considered while selecting students: socio-economic background, nature of parents' work, home situation, disabilities, number of dependents, single parents, facilities available for studies, minority groups. 

The last session of the day was with the students only. We spoke to each student individually, asking them their marks and their plans for junior college (Class 11 and 12). This helped us gauge how much they know about college courses, the admission process and why they make these choices.

 

It was also important to know what their interests are, their parents' and siblings' education and the atmosphere at home. Based on their responses, each student was given information or a specific task; the Future Smiles team will also tailor counselling sessions for each student. 

For instance, Vikram here told the team his plan to do a diploma in engineering. So, at their next meeting, the team will present him with options and also the discuss the pros and cons of diplomas and degrees.

Akshata is interested in studying Science, and so the team will meet her next with information on courses and cut-off marks.

The next meeting with the students will take place this week. And you can be sure you will get detailed updates on this blog :)

Future Smiles spends the day at Yashodhan school -- Part I

Last Friday was a big day in the life of Future Smiles. The Future Smiles team and Mumbai Smiles spent the day at Yashodhan school meeting with parents and students to discuss the programme and how to make it work.
The day started with a felicitation programme at which members of Mumbai Smiles and Yashodhan school addressed the parents and introduced the Future Smiles project.

 Here are the principals of the English and Marathi medium schools.

One of the trustees of the school introduces Mumbai Smiles to the gathering. Seen here are Chandrakant, counsellor with Future Smiles, Nilratan Shende and Monica Grau of the Projects Department at Mumbai Smiles, and the General Director of Mumbai Smiles.

Nilratan speaks to the parents about the Future Smiles programme.

Followed by the General Director of Mumbai Smiles.

And even though it was a rainy day, there was a big turnout of parents.

Especially mothers, who managed to squeeze time away from their work.  

At the event, the students of Class 10, who have just cleared their board exams and will be starting junior college, were presented with folders. The idea behind this was to give them a gift that would encourage them to fill their folders with a record of their academic achievements. A folder full of certificates and good marks would make anyone happy, right? 

The General Director presents one of the students with a folder.

This felicitation was followed by intensive discussions and sessions between the Future Smiles team and the parents and students that lasted most of the day. Read the blog tomorrow to know how what transpired.

The first beneficiaries

Our Future Smiles project is progressing so well that we can barely keep up with all that's happening. The latest is that, last week, the team gave out the first set of cheques to students in need. This money is meant to pay for the students' tuition classes (which supplements their classes at school), thereby giving them a better chance at a quality education.

Here are members of the Future Smiles team -- Chandrakant Sasane (centre), an experienced counsellor and teacher and social worker Sagar Bhandare (right) -- talking to students.

Sitting on the left is Jitesh, a Class 10 student who lives in Malad. And the boy on the right is Hemant, a very bright Class 12 student. He is a Commerce student at Matruchhaya college in Dahisar.

Hemant and Jitesh accept the cheques with joy as this is the means for them to build a better future.

And here's the third beneficiary, Geeta, a class X student who lives in Vasai.

In the coming months, we will tell you more about these students and the others we are helping, and how we are helping them. For now, join us in wishing them all the best. Study hard, kids!

Future Smiles makes its first visit

Last week, the newly formed Future Smiles team made its first visit to Yashodhan school. The purpose was to meet the headmistress and the teachers and take a look around the school to get an idea of its functioning, curriculum, facilities, etc. (Read about the Future Smiles project here: Future Smiles)

We had introduced you to the Future Smiles team members last week (see Welcome). So, here you can see them making a round of the school...

Talking to the headmistress of the Marathi medium section...

Looks like things are off to a promising start :)

Open House

Here at Mumbai Smiles, we believe that it's not enough to be involved in just one aspect of a child's education. Change trickles in from all directions, and that's why we have become a member of Open House, a network of NGOs and individuals, all working in the field of education and child rights.

Open House provides a platform for all these groups to exchange information and ideas, learn from each other and present a united stand on children’s issues. It pools the resources and strengthens the strategies of various NGOs with the aim of being a bigger influence to bring about change.

Every month, representatives of all the members of this network meet to discuss and tackle issues, in various ways. One of these was the rally organised in April to protest against the new Right to Education Act, which Mumbai Smiles was also a part of (rally). Mumbai Smiles will continue to contribute to this meaningful network and will tell you all about it here.

The more of us that fight together, the more change we can hope to see.

Welcome to the Future Smiles team!

Monday saw new additions to the Mumbai Smiles band of helpers :)

The first members of the Future Smiles team began work yesterday, discussing and planning work for the coming academic year. We have already drawn up a list of students from Karuna orphanage (Mumbai Smiles's first project) and Yashodhan school, who will be the first beneficiaries of the Future Smiles project. In case you missed our earlier post about this project, you can read about it here: Future Smiles

And, here's a quick introduction to our newest colleagues:

Sitting on the left is Sagar Bhandare. He has a Master's degree in Social Work and has worked with the National Domestic Workers Movement, International Institute of Population Science and Salaam Bombay Foundation. He will assess students in need, design development plans, and manage all the information for the programme.

In the centre is Sachin Ingle, who is the office assistant, and will help the other members of the team execute their tasks.

On the right is Chandrakant Sasane, also a post-graduate in Social Work, who has joined the team as a counsellor. Chandrakant has extensive experience as a counsellor (providing career guidance, psychological counselling, conducting motivational and confidence-building sessions, training modules, etc) and lecturer. He has worked with ICRW (International Centre for Research on Women), SATHI (Social Advancement Through Health Initiative), Sidharth College, Acharya College, among others. He is responsible for evaluating and assessing students, preparing development plans, providing counselling and career planning, and more.

With this team of smart and talented individuals, Future Smiles is off to a great start!

Yashodhan in 2010-2011

With Yashodhan school shut for the summer holidays, this is the best time for us to plan the next academic year with the school's management. The school has submitted its proposal for the academic year from June 2010 to April 2011, with budgets for salaries, books, expansion, maintenance, etc.

Our projects department will be going over this proposal with the financial counsellor and chairman of Mumbai Smiles and, after discussing details with the school, we will go ahead with our plans for the year. 

Starting this year, we will take our association further with the Future Smiles project that we told you about a few days ago (http://mumbaismiles.blogspot.com/2010/05/future-smiles.html).

Our collaboration with Yashodhan has been fruitful for so many years and we are happy to continue with it.

Future Smiles

Bright and early on this Monday morning, we have some happy news and want to tell you more about our plans for our NGO and our kids.
Future Smiles -- As the name hints at, this is a project that aims to secure better futures for the many, many children we support. In collaboration with Saprem, an NGO that has been working in various issues -- from education to sanitation to rights of the disabled --  the programme is meant for the students of Yashodhan school (a school in Thane that we support) and the students of Karuna orphanage (an orphanage that we supported for many years and still engage with).

Future Smiles will include arranging counselling, scholarships, job opportunities, legal advice, follow-ups on their home life, a space to study -- anything that would encourage the young students to pursue their studies, find good jobs and build a more dignified life for themselves. Sometimes it's not enough to make sure kids get a good education, they also need to have the right opportunities so they can have a shot at a brighter future.

First look at Sangati kits

Last month, we told you about Project Sangati, a collaboration between Mumbai Smiles and Avehi-Abacus to improve how children learn in municipal schools (Read about it here: http://mumbaismiles.blogspot.com/2010/04/better-learning-with-project-sangati.html)

We are thrilled to give you a first glimpse of the kits, which will be used as teaching material for the Sangati programme, which will be implemented in over 900 municipal schools, when the new academic year begins in June.

The project will tackle not just what children learn, but how they learn, through the use of interactive teaching methods, visual aids and other workshops and activities.

We take another step towards making a better future for Mumbai's children.

Kids demand their rights

April 30, Friday, was Anti-Child Labour Day in India. To mark the occasion, organisations that work to improve the lives of children organised different activities all over the country, and in Mumbai.
This was the sight outside Bandra railway station, where the organisations Childline and Yuva had come together for a rally.



Children from a nearby community formed a chain outside the station holding up placards that protested against child labour and demanded equal rights and education for children. Their efforts created quite a buzz with many people stopping to find out more.



Since Mumbai Smiles works closely with children and are engaged in providing them opportunities and fighting for their rights, we thought it was important to share this with you. We were with these children in spirit.

Better learning with Project Sangati

As you know, the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act came into force on April 1. We told you yesterday that though this new Act has made education a fundamental right for children aged 6 to 14 years (and also requires 25% seats in private schools to be reserved for children from poor families), there has been criticism against it.
For one, the Act excludes children under the age of six and over the age of 14, and, two, it does not address the issue of providing a uniform standard of education to all.


Universal access to education continues to be one of our main goals here at Mumbai Smiles. We understand the issues and believe that it is necessary to work within the system. Our approach, laid out in our strategic plan for the next five years, will be to:
• Protect and provide education to the age groups that the new Act excludes
• Work with public schools to provide a fair and quality education to kids in the 6-14 years age group



We plan to do this by collaborating with other organisations and municipal corporations throughout the city as combining our resources will strengthen our efforts. Just last week, we signed on with Avehi-Abacus, an NGO that works in education, to be a part of Project Sangati.

Project Sangati includes a series of six books and interactive teaching and learning, aimed at teachers and children in government schools and non-formal education centres. Sangati’s emphasis is on links between specific topics rather than isolated fragments of information, offering children a different perspective to understand and analyse the world around them.


The methodology includes group work and discussions to develop communication skills, critical analysis, problem solving and decision-making. Activities such as drawing, colouring, writing, singing and drama help children explore and express their creativity.


An integral part of the Sangati methodology is the use of a wide variety of visual aids: flip charts, posters, stories and games to act as a springboard for discussion and other classroom activities.

From June 2006, Sangati has been introduced in all 923 schools (including 18 special schools) run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. And we hope our involvement will give it a fresh impetus.

Fight for an equal education

While the whole country was celebrating the enforcement of the Right to Education Act on Thursday, hundreds of people in Mumbai went on a march to protest against the same Act and the state of education in our country.
What most of us don’t realise is that the new Act – by making education a fundamental right for kids aged 6 years to 14 years – has now excluded education for children under the age of six, a provision that has been in the Constitution for the past 60 years.



Members of about 40 organisations and prominent citizens were also protesting against the government’s increasing privatisation of education, and the fact that the number of private schools is growing, while the number of government schools is decreasing alarmingly. Their contention is that this the Act will only increase disparities in the education system.



The procession moved from Dadar all the way to Bandra, and included a depiction of the constitution chained by the Act.


Mumbai Smiles also took part in the procession, and here you can see our Neelratan (second from right) from our Projects Department joining the march.



The march ended at the Chaityabhoomi with a pledge to bring in a legislation based on social justice and equity.



Tomorrow, we will tell you more about our involvement in the city's drive to provide an equal and quality education for children.