The AKIN School of EnglishUpdate: October 2009
Our dear friend, Niranjani, has worked as a teacher, guidance counsellor and a lifeline for many of the children in Telawatta, Sri Lanka. She acted as an interpreter for AKIN, among many other things. She headed up the community centre, which was pulled down as a result of the Danish Charity stopping the funding.
Nirajani approached AKIN to start up an English school. AKIN has secured funds to rent the centre for one year. At present, we are almost at the end of our year's lease. Rental is due at the end of October. At present, AKIN is trying to raise at least 48,000 Sri Lankan Rupees (approximately GB£ 260.00) to cover the yearly rental. AKIN will work to raise funds to continue supporting the school.
In addition, AKIN is looking to support Niranjani with an additional 25,000 Sri Lankan Rupees per month (approximately GB£ 135.00) to cover her salary and the purchase of text books and basic supplies for the children.
AKIN donated a digital camera to Niranjani to get visual updates of the children. In our latest contact with Niranjani, classes are going very well. They recently hosted a parents-teachers meeting. The key issue was working with children who have a poor command of English. Out of the 53 children attending the school, 15 of them had low marks and the majority scored average. The current syllabus that Niranjani is using is of the same standard that the Sri Lankan schools are using. The parents expressed further interest in helping children study harder to improve their results.
AKIN hopes to continue supporting Niranjani both financially and by providing other resources to her school.
