English Skills Training
SRS Sarvodaya Girls Hostel, a unit of Harijan Sevak Sangh, has children who mostly come from rural areas. There are more than 90 girls staying in the Hostel pursuing their education in various schools near by the hostel.
Deepa Jagan, Advisor of Vaishnavi Trust identified during one of her visits to the Hostel that most of the students wanted to learn English language. Vaishnavi Trust decided to sponsor the project, so that these children will get the opportunity to improve their English language skills through this initiative.
The Project was assigned to Mr. Ravikumar, a freelance Hospitality & Communication Trainer – A Member of the “International association of teachers of English as a Foreign Language ( IATEFL, UK ). Mr. Ravi, headed the project with 3 Trainers assisting him in the delivery of the Training. All the 3 Trainers namely Mr. Kulandaisamy, Ms. Uma and Ms. Deepika contributed in the training process with their unique teaching experience.
Students were pre-assessed to identify their communicative needs. Based on the assessment, Curriculum was developed with focus on the Speaking and Reading skills. 26 students in the age group of 14-19 enrolled for the 90 day English Skills Program.
Program commenced on 1 Dec 2016 with a fun filled and exciting training session by Ms Taarinee Kumaresh, a very well known corporate Trainer and Director of Raydiance Training Solutions, Chennai.
The objective of the Program was to help the students learn English as a” functional skill for work and life”, so the emphasis was on Communicative approach to teaching.Training was delivered using interactive and interesting classroom activities such as communication games, group work, Skit, Songs/ Rhymes, group discussions etc.
Continuous assessments and feedback on learners to measure student progress was an integral part of the teaching process. Most students progressed well in their speaking skills and were able to express themselves in basic simple English. On completion of the Program, all students were awarded with Course Completion certificates. Two students Indumathi and Lavanya got award for 100% attendance.
19 year old Indumathi says, “the course was very interesting and has helped us in learning basic English. Overall it has given more Confidence. All Trainers were good and the program was enjoyable.”
Indumathi was awarded the star Performer of the batch. With the help of this training and her efforts, she was able to deliver a speech in English during the annual day function at the SRS Sarvodaya Hostel in front of many renowned guests.
Going forward, we would like to associate with other NGO’s and CSR foundations to take this initiative to benefit large number of students through “Train the Trainer model” for the English Skills Training, says Ravi – Project coordinator.