Site Visit Tomorrow's Foundation, Kolkata Dec 18, 2007 Present from TF : Anita Banerjee, Rita Mitra and Mrs. Ghosh Present from Asha: Satarupa Bose, Rajiv Iyer Report prepared by : Satarupa Bose I visited the premises of Dharamdas Model Trust School where evening coaching classes are held by Tomorrow's Foundation for their students. The Trust School is a government school that TF has permission to use during non-school hours. The children who attend are those that TF supports and belong to nearby slums and red light districts of Kolkata. Classes are held starting from pre-school all the way to 12th graders. Salient Points ***************** o The premises are large enough to accomodate students. On any given day an estimated 300 students attend the evening classes. At most two grades (say grades 5 and 6) are accomodated in one room. o Classes start at 6.30pm. Both teachers and students were punctual. There is a daily timetable of subjects to be taught for every grade. Attendance is taken daily and recorded. o Teachers were engaging students and appeared to be taking their responsibility seriously. o Record keeping appeared to be meticulous. o An evening snack is provided and the nutrition is charted out by doctors. This day's snack include bread and eggs. I toured each of the classes and found students to be paying attention. The answer to which subject was most difficult was typically - English. o These students attend formal government schools during the day. TF maintains records. o Beyond class 12, TF places students in colleges, vocational training courses like nursing school, carpentry etc. Some of them are placed in residential colleges. It is my understanding that these students do not come to the evening classes. TF visits them weekly and obtains progress reports. I met some students who had graduated and were now employed as teachers with a part-time stipend at the evening coaching classes. They were enthusiastic and optimistic about their future. o In addition to Asha sponsored students, TF has well organized teams or cells for: - Vocational Training - Medical Care and nutrition planning - Home Visits Points raised by TF *********************** o TF is worried about discontinuation of funds for college and vocational training bound students who they have committed to for 3-4 years. o TF would like to raise local awarenes and funds. Apart from Asha, their other major funding agency is an Irish organization. o TF is concerned about students that drop out and would like to work with Asha to further tighten the criteria for selection of students into the SAC program. o They would like to expand to the SAC program to more students. Points raised by Asha *************************** o Since TF seems to have the resources, it would be good to have someone from their team (maybe one of the graduates) learn how to upload progress reports online and help with the workload if we wish to expand the program. o Need more sync points with TF to obtian the latest updates. Some records at SV appeared to be out of date.