80G finally

After 2 years of service, the NGO was finally awarded the 80G, which allows donors a 50% tax exemption on their donations.

From the Sikkim Express

Class X results declared Sikkim students perform better this time

Staff Reporter GANGTOK, May 29: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced the results of Class X examinations. As per the information received from the principal of Tashi Namgyal High Secondary School, the results this year was relatively satisfactory than the previous year. Out of the total of 99 students, 51 passed, 43 got compartments, four failed and one was absent. Dawa Tamang topped the school with 70 percent marks. In Kendra Vidyalaya School, all the 60 students who had appeared for the Class X exams got through with Tanya Banerjee scoring the highest 90.6 percent. Reports coming in from Pakyong inform that Yojana Sharma of Dikling Senior Secondary School has topped the school by scoring 74.2 % in Class X CBSE examination. A total of 121 students had appeared for the examination out of which 90 have passed while 31 students got compartments. At least 33 students have scored second division and only five students including Yojana Sharma have secured first division. Despite not getting History books by 40 students in the school throughout the session, all the students have passed the subject and the same has been credited to the hard work of both the students and teachers. “Same mistakes of non-provision of books from the department should not be repeated,” the students, who passed the exams, said today. The students have also conveyed their gratitude to a local NGO, “Ashirwad” who had provided them with free coaching to the underprivileged students during the winter holidays. On the contrary, Tadong Senior Secondary had a poor output this year. Out of the total of 91 students, who appeared for the exams, only 29 passed and 44 got compartments. Deorali Girls School performed better than last year. From the total of 113 students, 56 students passed, 49 got compartments and eight failed. Similarly, West Point School recorded seven failures and 20 compartments out of 89 students. Modern school figured 112 students in total out of which 24 failed and 48 got compartments. In Holy Cross, Tadong, three got compartments out of 116 students. Out of the 81 students, who appeared in the exams from Kyi De Khang School, seven got compartments. 12 got compartments out of 95 students in Paljor Namgyal Girls Senior Secondary School. Ranipool Senior Secondary School had nine failures and 38 compartments out of 87 students. (With inputs from our Pakyong correspondent).

Visiting card for our NGO

Intensive coaching begins..

The 16th of December 2008 marks the start of yet another intensive coaching classes by Ashirwad. Over 300 students are expected to take part in it. The core subjects which will be touched upon are Maths, Science, English and general studies .

A number of post graduate teachers have been hired on contract by Ashirwad. This coaching will be over a period of 3 months.

NGO Registration details

Ashirwad highlights Pakyong roads...

Though Ashirwad is a NGO devoted to child eduction, it took it upon itself to highlight the problem regarding bad roads en route from Ranipool to Pakyong. A letter was sent to Sikkim Express which duly published it. Another one was sent to the BRO Chief Engineer, and the third to the Surface transport Minister in India.

All this evoked quick reaction from BRO. Hope to see the improving now...

New News

A lot has happened since i last updated news on this NGO. The number of branches has gone upto 5 (more details in the next blog), and FINALLY after nearly 18 months of selfless service, the NGO is now recognized by the govt. Hopefully this registration will give us access to funds, which is now becoming a major factor in the sustainance of the NGO.

Samsing...

The new branch at Samsing, which was supposed to open on the 21st of January, will be inaugurated today(31st Jan 2008) by the President of Ashirwad Pariwar - Mrs. Rita Chettri.

Again, this new unit will cater to 25 students.

With this the number of students have gone up to 170.

Just in.

Another branch for the NGO will open at Samsing, Pakyong. The new branch will be operational from the 21st of January.

Head Count

Jan 08 2008 -

Namchepong Branch: 115
Andheri: 30

145 students - that's the total number of students enrolled at Ashirwad.

New Branch

I am a bit late to share this news, but ashirwad pariwar has just opened its first branch. On the first day itself 25 students were enrolled. Amazing isn't it. Well this happened on the 1st of Jan.

Surprisingly, the very next day a group of people representing another village met the founders of Ashirwad to convince them to start another branch in their village. Hope this materializes into something real.

In this small phase of growth we should not forget what we set out to do initially - provide quality education.

Physiotherapy Session

Ashirwad organized a physiotherapy session with the help of 25 doctors and interns from the Manipal Medical College, Sikkim. The event was a huge success and was covered by the local media as well.

Ashirwad would like to thank everyone without whose help this event would not have been possible.

X And XII

With the board exams looming around the corner, Ashirwad has started to provide concentrated coaching for students of class X and XII

Thanks To..

19/Nov/2007 Vikram Enterprises Gangtok for donating a whiteboard for the classroom.

20/Dec/2007 Doctors and Interns from Manipal Medical College Sikkim, for conducting free physiotherapy session.

Ashirwad in the Papers

A local newspaper commends the efforts of the founders of the NGO

Moral Lessons at Ashirwad conducted by a spiritual Guru

New Year Celebrations ( Cultural programs by Ashirwad students)

Student Counseling

Health Camp Organized by Ashirwad

... More clippings available on request.

Expansion Plans

Due to the hilly terrain and heavy rainfall in the region, younger students find it extremely difficult to attend basic tuition classes. This has led to students not attending tuition classes for long periods (depending on the weather).

To counter this, we have decided to open small tuition centers (1 per village).

At the current setup in Namcheypong, we would like to provide the students with facilities such as music lessons, indoor games etc. Such activities would ensure that time is well spent, and not wasted on picking up bad habits.

We also plan for a library for the students. We hope to achieve this by collecting second hand books from our donors.

Events Organized

1. Community New Year Celebration with sports and cultural events organized by us, with under privileged students and their guardians

2. Seven days Yoga camp, with Ashirwad students and their guardians by Mr. LP Adhikari – Head Master of Namchepong Govt. High School. Yoga classes are conducted every Thursday

3. Three days Meditation camp conducted by Mr. R Telang IAS, Secretary Agriculture Govt. of Sikkim

4. Health Camp in association with Doctors from Manipal Institute of Health and Medical Sciences

5. A career-counseling program for the students of class XII at the St.Xaviers School Auditorium

6. Coordinated with the Govt. of Sikkim and eligible students in the process of free capacity building program, where 8 students were sent for training in different institution for various faculties. They are as follows:

a. 2 candidates were sent for Civil Service Coaching in Delhi

b. 3 candidates for Air Hostess training in AHA – Kolkota

c. 1 candidate for Web designing in Noida

d. 2 candidates for Travel and Tourism Management in Noida

7. Arranged a grand felicitation for Professor (Dr.) Mahendra P Lama for being the first and youngest Vice Chancellor of Central University of Sikkim on 16 September, where Ministers in-charge HRDD, Minister in-charge Agriculture, area MLA, Principals, and Head Masters, Teachers and students and local gentries attended. This event was covered by National and local media.

The NGO is also trying to rope in working/retired professionals to share their life's experiences with the children at Ashirwad, so that it helps them to see the real picture of life and understand its value.

Present Setup

1. One classroom measuring 25’X15’ with 22 sets of attached table and benches accommodating two students in each, bookracks, black board, charts and other required amenities of classroom.

2. One toilet and bathroom with wash basins outside.

3. Electrification added with solar tube light for emergency.

4. One big community Centre type temporary structure measuring 40X25 with electrification to conduct counseling of students, moral discourse, guardian meetings, Yoga camps, Health camps, Cultural activities and general entertainments. It also is serves as an additional classroom.

5. Forty-one students attending tutorial class with two TTI trained teachers from class IV to VIII.

6. Thirty students (which will surely increase to more than a hundred students) of class X and XII, will be taking special coaching classes for their board exams, especially in Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry. Two qualified teachers will be taking up this activity. They will be housed in the NGO campus for the next few months starting November.

Social Background of the Beneficiaries

The underprivileged class of the society includes people who are daily wage earners, farmhands, and class IV government staff. Their children attend government run schools, which provide free education. A close study has revealed that most of the children going to these schools never get time to study at home.

This is because their parents return home in the evening after a hard days work and expect their children to do all the household chores. Most of these student’s parents do not encourage them to study as they think helping at home is more important. This leads to them failing in their exams, repeatedly, until they reach that age after which they are capable enough to go with their parents and become an earning member of the family.

About Ashirwad

A dream to do something for the underprivileged people of Pakyong lay dormant in the minds of the founders of Ashirwad for quite a while. This vision did not take shape for a long time, because of the magnitude of the challenge and a lack of funds.

The spark was provided when the founders decided to send a letter to the then President of India – His Excellency, The Honorable Dr. Abdul Kalam, it was a pleasant surprise when the President showed his willingness to meet the ‘would be’ founders. This provided the impetus to forge ahead and start Ashirwad. With the blessings of the President, Ashirwad dug its roots. Despite all the hurdles Ashirwad has faced, it has slowly but surely moved ahead.

Though Ashirwad is still not funded by any private donor or the Government(it is still not recognized by the govt.), it still continues to work for the betterment of the society.