Siragu Montessori School is a school in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was started on June, 2003 to provide

free education Free education is education funded through government spending or charitable organizations rather than tuition funding. Many models of free higher education have been proposed. Primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is fr ...

for

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

and under-privileged children

Early history

Siragu Montessori School is a unit of Suyam started in June 2003. It was started for

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

of the

Nomadic Tribes A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

(

pavement dwellers Pavement dwellers refers to informal housing built on the footpaths/pavements of city streets. The structures use the walls or fences which separate properties from the pavement and street outside. Materials include cloth, corrugated iron, cardboa ...

and

mendicants A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many ins ...

). Traditionally carrying on the practice of

begging Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public place ...

, this community never had any real opportunities for breaking out of their situation. Siragu was started with the objective of providing

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

to first

generation A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and gr ...

learners. SIRAGU started not only for street children but also for children from brick chambers. The school began in locally rented premises. The condition of the building was quite poor (eighty years old, poor upkeep, no roof, vermin infested) but

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

assistance garnered by Suyam helped make it habitable. There are now 400 children, 105 of which are inmates of Siragu home. The school has adopted the

Montessori The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

method of

. The school has 13 teaching staff and 9 non-teaching staff.

Nadaipathai Pookkal Program (Flowers of the Pavement)

This program is for families having settlements in Palavedu Pettai,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency but residing in pavements around

Kilpauk Kilpauk is a semi residential area located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The distance from Chennai's city to Kilpauk is about 6 km. The region is situated off the Poonamallee High Road in the west. Adjacent areas of Kilpauk include Chetp ...

Water Tank for around 30 years. These families are involved in begging. Since 1999, Siragu adopted these families (initially 50 families) and has provided the community in

and Palavedu Pettai with

medical facilities A health facility is, in general, any location where healthcare is provided. Health facilities range from small clinics and doctor's offices to urgent care centers and large hospitals with elaborate emergency rooms and trauma centers. The nu ...

(including

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...

counselling), counselling for de-addiction,

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

, and resolution of family problems. Siragu has set up employment schemes and self-help groups.

Impact

The school has nearly stopped

among children in the Nadaipathai Pookkal community. There are 82 first

learners, including those from Nadaipathai Pookkal program. The school provides a six-month bridge course for 50 children from 10 brick

kilns A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

in Palavedu Panchayat. The school motivates them to learn, and to join mainstream

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

in their

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

. Parents started keeping track of their child's

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

, and interacted with school staff and management to address child related issues.

School A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

has become a priority for the parents, even above their rituals and ceremonies, and the levels of absenteeism has come down. Siragu provides an

for

who had minimal access to schooling. Siragu as a school for the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

, has enabled five families to be

self-employed Self-employment is the state of working for oneself rather than an employer. Tax authorities will generally view a person as self-employed if the person chooses to be recognised as such or if the person is generating income for which a tax return n ...

and move away from

Teachers and teachings

Teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

are selected from the Palavedu

Panchayath The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical ment ...

, and then trained. They meet in the school every Saturday for

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or Physical fitness, fitness that relate to specific practicality, useful Competence (human resources), competencies. Training has specific goals of improving on ...

where they go through

reference Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''name'' ...

books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...

(on subjects, activities,

child development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, developmental psychology, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. Childhood is divided into 3 stages o ...

etc.), and prepare for the next week's activities.

Administration

* Dr. Uma Venkatachalam, Secretary, is in charge of all academic activities. * Mr. R. N. Muthuram, Administrative Director, is in charge of the school administration and accounts.

Documentary films

* Nadaipathai Pookal -

Documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

by Uma and Muthuram, founders of Siragu * Wings Of Evolution -

made 2007

Notes

External links

Official school website Suyam Charitable TrustBlog by Siragu School kidsProjects and developments in Siragu
{{Education in Tamil Nadu Montessori schools in India Private schools in Chennai Educational institutions established in 2003 2003 establishments in Tamil Nadu