ASHA-MIT
Project Summary: Construction of one Classroom for Gollaprolu School
GROUP:
School Committee, Dr. MVR Memorial MPP Prathamika Patasala.
The school is coeducational, has students in grades 1-5 (ages 6-12),
and the medium of instruction is Telugu language. School has 352
students from grade 1-5. School run by local government
(Mandal Praja Parishat). Founded 1986.
Mission- " The school committee and the teachers plan to make this school
as a model school and also the best school in the state of A.P."
Note- School is govt. school managed by headmaster. School committee is
helping out on the side.
PROJECT:
Construction of One Classroom for Gollaprolu School
ADDRESS:
Dr. M.V.R. Memorial MPP Prathamika Patasala,
Gollaprolu -533 445, East Godavari District
Andra Pradesh, India.
LOCATION:
Gollaprolu is a village located on the rail line between Madras and
Calcutta, only passenger trains, but not express or mail trains stop
here. Nearest town (14 miles) is kakinada, Nearest (9 miles) Mail
train stop is Samarlakota (also called Samalkot), Nearest (45 miles)
air strip is Rajahmundhry. Nearest airport (100 miles) is
Visakhapatnam (Vizag).
The villagers of Gollaprolu are mainly agricultural landless laborers
whose annual income is less than $200 (Rs 7000) per year. There are
some weavers of white cloth. They remain poor as there is no demand
for hand woven coarse cloth. A handful are traders and skilled
laborers like masons, carpenters, potters, barbers, washermen.
They have a steady source of income as they are employed throughout
the year.
CONTACT:
US-
Dr. Satyanarayana Gavarasana
146 Plymouth Drive, # 2-C
Norwood, MA 02062-5482, USA
Ph 617-769-0060
Fax 617-769-0060 (call before sending fax)
email gavarasana@mem.po.com
India-
Sri Koppart Subbarao
Retired Head Master
Gandhinagaram, Gollaprolu 533445
Andhra Pradesh, India
Sri Kusumanchi PadmaRao, Merchant,
Vice-President, School Committee,
Gandhi Nagaram, Gollaprolu-533445
Andhra Pradesh, India
Sri Adapa Veerabhadra Rao, Merchant & Mill owner
Member, School Committee,
Gandhi Nagaram, Gollaprolu-533445
Andhra Pradesh, India
FUNDING:
Total request from ASHA-MIT, $1597.00
Total cost of project, $2640.00
Sources of Funds,
$ 343.00 (Corpus Fund)
$ 500.00 (Pledge by Dr. Gavarsana)
$ 200.00 (expected contributions from
Friends of Gollaprolu School
Abroad)
$ 1597.00 (Requested funds from ASHA-MIT)
--------
$ 2640.00
Building Costs:
$ 880.00 (initially, for earth/foundation work)
$ 880.00 (3 months, for Super Structure/Wood Work)
$ 880.00 (6 months, Roofing)
--------
$ 2640.00
DATES:
One year to implement project.
Review by Asha = 2 mo.
Construction = 10 mo.
(each stage = 3 mo)
DESCRIPTION:
From the proposal,
"The aim of the school committee is to make this school a model
school with a view to prepare the students for the 21st
century. The plan for construction of an additional building
is to accomodate one class of students. The building, a
permanent structure with sandstone foundation, brick walls,
and RCC roof will have a plinth area of 440 Square feet. As the
village is prone to cyclones during monsoons and is also subject
to floods, a permanent structutre with sandstone foundation, brick
walls and a RCC roof is required."
Note- RCC stands for Reinforced Cement Concrete
Although there are five classes in the school, there are three existing
classrooms of the same size as the schematic below. Three classes
are held in the classrooms, while the remaining two are held
inconveniently in the verandahs (porch) of these classrooms. Classes
in the verandah and the room tend to interfere with eachother
due to their close proximity. So there is a need for two more
classrooms.
The construction, if approved will be supervised by the school
committee which also supervised the construction of other buildings.
Accounts will be kept of all the building costs and funds can
be released from ASHA-MIT in three stages, after confirming that
each stage has been completed successfully (by photographs).
chematic of the proposed plan for the school (copied from proposal)
(dimensions in feet)
----------------20'-----------------------
| |W| |W| |W| |W| |
| | Classroom 20'x16'
| | Verandah 20'x6'
| | Window (W) 3'x4'
| | Door (D) 6'6''x3'
| Classroom (20'x16') 16'
| | Plinth area 440 sq. ft.
| | Sandstone Foundation
| | Brick Superstructure
| | RCC slab Roofing
| |
| |
| |D| |D| |D| |D| |
-----------------------------------------
| |
| Verandah (20'x6') 6'
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------
SUMMARY:
Request for partial funding for the construction of one classroom which
will serve to conduct classes for the school children
COMMENTS:
1) (Sri) -
History- This proposal is in response to our rejection of an
earlier proposal that Dr. Gavarsana submitted. The reasons for
rejection included the amount of funding requested, to the tune of
$15,000. There were also some questions as to the relevance of
the project and how well the resources would be used. (see the
earlier (summary)
Aparna noted that there is a shortage of rooms (only a three for
352 students (grades 1-5). So she suggested that we would
consider a proposal for consruction of a classroom in the
range of $1000-1500.
2) (Sri) -
Here are several interesting points about the school and the proposal,
(a) The students and teachers have shown initaitive and held a
science contest which was reported in a newspaper article in the
Eenadu Telugu Daily on February 10, 1997. More than 250 projects
and 20 charts were displayed in this contest by the students. Some
projects include a low-cost refrigirator made from flower pots and
sand, a water purifier. The students also explored topics like
blood circurlation. Dr. Gavarsana gave us a translation of the article
along with a color photo-copy of the students.
(b) Copies of audit reports by a certified public accountant for the
93-94, 94-95, 95-96 financial years are in the file.
They presumably testify that the school is legitimate and runs
roperly.
(c) The school currently has five teachers, paid by the Government of
Andhra Pradesh. There are no other salaried employees to carry out
administrative, planning, and organizational functions. These functions
are carried out by committe members, who are mostly merchants, farmers,
and head masters.
Overall, there are 207 boys and 145 girls enrolled.
Some detailed statistics from the enrollment in the Gollaprolu school
are provided below.
Class Scheduled Scheduled Backward Other Total
(grade) Castes Tribes Castes Castes
I 5M + 7F 0+1 28+11 19+14 52+33
II 2+0 - 28+14 18+9 48+23
III 3+2 1+1 9+11 24+18 37+32
IV 2+0 - 16+11 23+14 41+25
V 1+0 - 16+14 12+18 29+32
Note that there is a significant enrollment of girls, however is is
roughly 25% less than that of boys. Also the number of students
decreases as we go from class I to class V. This is similar to
national trends.
The school's income is derived from a "corpus fund" (to be in fixed
deposit forever) created by the school committee. The
interest earned off the Rupees 100,000 in the account is used for the
school expenses. The 1995-96 annual budget was Rupees 18,185.
3) (Sri) - We would be funding infrastructure, and not teachers salaries
or teaching materials directly in this project. However, considering
that Dr. Gavarsana is putting his time and money into the project,
and acting as our liason, we would be able to ensure that the money
is put to good use. I like the fact that the kids demonstrated their
enthusiasm and abilities by having the science fair. It indicates that
things are working well.
4) (Sri) - I like this project since it will be providing much needed
classroom facilities to a well-functioning school. Dr. Gavarsana
has lent us a file regarding the school which includes the accounts
of the school for the past few years as well as photographs of
the school children and the school buildings. Fortunately or
unfortunately, I can't find a single objection to this project!
5) (Aparna) Projects Meeting 4/21/97
Everyone present voted for funding the project.
It is reliable organization doing good work.
Proposal was reasonable and focused
Tangible results expected that we can easily evaluate.
It is for building a basic classroom which the kids need since
they currently have only 2 rooms for 5 grades (500 kids).
We can monitor the progress of the project at regular intervals.
SOURCE:
Premi (Asha-MIT; premi@mit.edu) met Dr Gavarasana at the TAGB Diwali show-1996.
HISTORY:
12 Dec 96, Premi recd information from Dr. Gavarasana by fax and email
in last three weeks. Summary by premi (premi@mit.edu)
23 Dec 96, Premi met with Dr. Gavarasana. We have pictures etc.
11 March 97, Projects meeting discussion
26 March 97, New proposal submitted by Dr. Gavarsana
26 March - 11 April 97, several communications with Dr. Gavarsana
20 April 97, summary by Srikrishna <tenali@mit.edu>
21 April 97, approved for funding at Projects meeting
STATUS:
First proposal Shelved.
Second (this) proposal up for consideration
Approved for funding.
Sri mailed check in May 1997 for $880.
18 Sept 97 Sri mailed second installment ($880) today by registered post.
LATEST NEWS:
30 June 97 from Dr. Gavarasana - Gollaprolu School Committe Recieved Check.
Ther have sent it to the bank to be cashed and have performed the groudbreaking
ceremony (Shankusthapana).
18 Sept 97 several photos were recieved showing the progress in construction as
well as the relation of the building to the rest of the school. The progress
appeared good. They are available on the web at
http://pappu.www.media.mit.edu/people/pappu/schoolpics.html
FUNDING APPROVED:
$1600 for 1 classroom (1 year project).
3 installments of $880. First installment sent in May 1997
DETAILS:
More info,
- No religious or political affiliations. Regd. as a society.
- School teachers appointed by government. School teachers
and head master responsible for day-to-day mgmt.
School commitee,
- Development of the school undertaken by committee presided
by a retired Head Master. (See contact above)
- Annual budget of committe = Rs 18000.
- Number of full employees = none. All volunteers.
Past efforts,
- compound wall around school, construction of classrooms
Current efforts,
- Annual science projects exhibition.
- Awards to best out-going student (one special one to encourage girls.)
- Annual Sports competition.
- Elocution, drama, painting competition.
- parent-teacher meetings