Sita SchoolSilvapura, Bangalore District

About

Sita School is located in Silvapura, North Bangalore (28km from Bangalore)

It is located on an acre of land Started in 1975 by Jane Sahi Focus is on alternative education for kids who

don’t go to mainstream school they dropped-out or economic consideration

Children are from poor socio-economic background

Campus (pics 1-8)

Sita School is structured in a way that children can enter at any level and are encouraged to learn at their own pace without pressure of exams or fear of failure and disapproval

Children of Sita School

38 children (18 boys and 20 girls) attend Sita school

Age group: 4 – 15 years Syllabus till class 7 are taught to kids Children give class 7 exams and graduate to

mainstream schools Children come from surrounding villages of

Silvepura, Fatimapura, Thimalapura and Hurulichikanahall (not more than 2km from the school)

Teaching philosophy

Build on every child’s experience and knowledge of the environment and community.

Emphasis on practical work, observation, experimentation and mindful learning

Method has evolved over time, and has particularly benefited from high teacher retention at the school

Method of teaching Teaching at Sita School is largely clustered around

themes. Children are encouraged to plan, explore,

experiment and evaluate topics in a variety of ways that cut across traditional subject boundaries.

A theme is usually explored for between one to three months

Topics include: Our Homes, Our Clothes, Our Village, Buildings Around Us, the Agricultural Cycle, the Town, Sight, Air, Earth, Ancient India, Man and Animals and so on

What is taught?

language study, practical math, social studies and science

clay work, tailoring, needlework, printing, first aid, food, health and home remedies, kitchen gardening

Jane Sahi believes that poetry, drama, stories, puppetry, painting, making models involve children in understanding a subject in a way that abstract learning cannot

Teaching medium is Kannada. English and Hindi are taught as additional languages.

Learning at Sita School

Learning happens everywhere at Sita School

Learning is fun! Learning tools include flash cards, toys,

enacting plays, story telling, activities such as drawing, gardening, etc

(pics 9 – 19)

Activities

Children maintain a kitchen garden, they grow various things here (till pic 22)

Art is a big part of the curriculum (till pic 30) English class pics 52 and 53. Dance drama and play on Dec 25th 2008.

Children’s parents were invited and children performed. Pictures of preparation and reharsal for the big (pics 54 – 57)

Calendar

Calendar making is one of the activities of the school.

Children were doing story boards as part of their activities.

Jane and rest of teachers thought making calendars with the story board.

This became an activity for children.

Sharing and respect… Cooperation, sharing and respect for the other is consciously fostered. Many opportunities are created to share responsibilities in small

groups like making wall charts, murals, even their own books. Older children help the younger ones with class work and children of

different abilities and ages work together in groups Groups are:

Karuna (4-8 year olds), Sadhana (8-12 year olds), Vasantha (12-14 year olds), Sangeetha (13-14 year olds) and Gulabi (children appearing for the Karnataka State Seventh Standard

Board exams).

Teachers and their training Divya, Sarojini, Kamala, Rebecca and Jane Divya has been teaching at Sita School since

1980. She teaches Kannada, Hindi, Social Studies and Maths

Sarojini has been teaching since 1989, she teaches Social Studies

Kamala is teaching at Sita school since 1995, she teaches Maths and Science

Rebecca is an alumini of the school, she teaches the younger kids

Graduated students

A number of its ex-students have become teachers, gone in for art training, nursing, joined the seminary, undertaken vocational training and have worked their way towards acquiring college degrees.

Benefitting the overall community

Jane Sahi has been the main driving force in introducing art as part of the curriculum in Chamrajnagar, Karnataka

She has authored English text books which is used by Maharashtra government schools.

She has authored several resource books for teachers on language

2009-2010 BudgetSalaries : One teacher @ Rs.6000 per month      72,000

      Two teachers @ Rs.5000 per month      1,20,000

One teacher @ Rs.4000 per month 48,000

      One teacher @ Rs.3500 per month       42,000

Educational Materials: Stationery and Craft       12,000

     Books and Periodicals       3,000

Children’s Welfare : Food 60,000

      Health 5,000

Excursion and celebration 5,000

Administration and Establishment  

      Repairs and Maintenance       15,000

      Accounting and Auditing       18,000

      Post and Communication       1500

      Contribution to SEE       2,500

           

            TOTAL (Rs.)     4,04,000