School-based English language programme for the underprivileged
Why is learning English essential?
Lack of English language proficiency has always been a concern for academicians and employers across India. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER-2019) by the non-government organisation "Pratham" revealed the fundamental issues connected with this problem.
The report indicates that among government schools, only 16% of the children in Class 1 can read the text at the prescribed level and 40% of children cannot even recognise letters, while among private schools, only about 42% of the children can. The gap is further intensified by a gender divide.
Research indicates that children who struggle to read in the early years of education continue to perform below an average level all through their academic careers and later in their careers. The poor quality of the learning levels is likely to have an adverse impact on India’s future workforce.
What is our milestone so far?
We at SIP Academy India Pvt. Ltd. have been successfully providing solutions to schools to impart and develop reading skills among children since 2005.
Our phonics-based English language program, "Mikids," has benefited 190000+ kindergarten and primary-level students across 7 states. 75% of the children who had gone through our programme were able to attain a fluency level of reading 35 words per minute.
Encouraged by the result, we came up with the idea of supporting underprivileged children through SIP in 2021.
With the support of donors, we have made a good beginning. SIP Academy is supporting seven schools and over one thousand students through the SIP Foundation starting in the academic year 2022-23. These are spread over three cities in Tamil Nadu, viz., Chennai, Sivakasi, and Sirkazhi.
What is our mission through this programme ?
SIP academy wants to take this programme to children, who are studying in economically weaker private schools in the rural & urban areas, by joining hands with corporates, educational foundations and individual donors in their CSR initiative. We believe this will be a small initiative to build quality human resources for the future.
How we support
Periodic training / retraining for teachers
SIP Foundation provides extensive training to the teachers to sensitize them on teaching methods and provide them easy steps to handle the classes.
Software & lesson plans
Provides interactive language learning software to help the children learn the language in a fun and play way. The software further ensures that the children learn proper pronunciation thus avoiding mother tongue influence.
Course materials for the children
Provide course material – a set of 3 books, which are exclusively designed in alignment with the software.
Periodic monitoring of classroom delivery
Trainers will conduct class observations and random assessment among children to monitor the progress and provide suggestions to the teachers. The team will also recommend corrective steps and conduct re-training is required.
Online support
Will provide on-line support to clear teacher’s doubts as and when required.
Reporting the progress to the management from time to time.
Foundation will share the ClassRoom Observation report (CRO-Report) to the schools management and sponsor.