Grace Trust has partnered with a few schools, institutions and open-education centres in the greater Chennai area which have been identified after careful scrutiny.
These schools are not-for-profit, service-minded and serve financially weak sections of society who cannot afford quality education. The schools provide subsidized and in some cases free education.
The Management and Staff are highly committed, having sacrificed a lot and accepted nominal compensation. The children are predominantly from disturbed backgrounds, orphaned, single parent, broken and poor families.
Presented here are few examples of such schools and institutions the trust has adopted for assistance.
Navabharath Matric School, T.Nagar, Chennai
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This school is a recognized but unaided educational institution having classes from KG to Std X. It is not eligible for Government aid or material such as Books, Uniforms, Noon Meals and Laptops.
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Several pot maker families reside in the area. The students are first generation school goers drawn from families of such artisans, daily wage earners, sanitary workers and domestic helps.
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The school has minimum infrastructural facilities but is run on high ideals with wholistic education imparted inculcating social awareness, developing scientific outlook, values and include extra curricular opportunities. The Founder Correspondent of the school is a man of high ideals who doesn't draw a penny from the School! He believes that Quality English medium education should be accessible to the underprivileged. The School is run in charity mode by charging nominal fees, collection of even which falls short!
Advent High School, Injambakkam, Chennai
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This school on ECR is a Tamil Medium school catering to the needy and disadvantaged sections of society. It has a primary section (upto Class 5) and a Middle/High School section (Classes 6 to 10). The high school is recognized but unaided, hence not eligible for Government aid or benefits.
Students of this school are first generation school goers from the local area, wards of settlers from outside the city, many of them daily wage labourers and fisherfolk. Most of them are from broken families and affected by addictions. The school is not-for-profit and runs purely with service motive. The school's infrastructure is minimal.
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The Headmasters and Teachers are extremely dedicated and working for minimum compensation. Despite financial and other difficulties, they do a commendable job teaching and motivating these children and imparting moral values. With single minded devotion, they are on their mission day in and out - that of imparting quality education and removing inequality.
CSI School for Speech and Hearing, Santhome, Chennai
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CSI School for the Deaf at Santhome Chennai was started in the year 1912 with just 7 children. Now it has around 200 children with about 50% hostelers. They come from poor background, many of whom are orphans and were financially supported by philanthropists. But due to recent Government policy, external support was cut off and they were struggling to maintain the hostel. Grace Trust stepped in and we are supporting many hearing/speech impaired students.
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The vocational training centre was destroyed by 2015 Chennai floods and further hit by the Vardha storm a year later. The school also provides coaching in tailoring and basic carpentry work. Creative activities like Art Work, Wood Work and Needle Work are taught.
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The management believes in overall development of the students by balancing academics, extracurricular activities, and sports. The school offers playgrounds for many sports within the campus.
Grace Trust Learning Centre, Ezhil Nagar, Chennai
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From humble beginnings of the balcony and pathway of our volunteers home at Ezhil Nagar, we setup 2 formal classrooms at our free evening study centre at Ezhil Nagar which along with Kannagi Nagar is Asia's largest slum resettlement.
About 25 students of different age groups attend daily classes helping with classwork, homework and exams. They are provided with a conducive environment, support and guidance lacking at home.
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In addition to academics, they are also taught Spoken English and imparted Social Values. The boys attend football coaching sessions in the mornings. The volunteers are a highly dedicated service minded couple with genuine interest in community development, proving that all it takes is a kind heart and dedicated efforts!
To encourage the kids, snacks, educational and stationery items are provided, clothes are distributed on occasions.
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To motivate them and to engage their time productively keeping away from social ills, we conduct activities including sports, art work, tree planting, cultural activities and motivation sessions.
