Wonderful achievement!

Today 10^th  standard results are out.  All the 5 children from ‘Sphoorthi’ group, who had appeared for this important exam from ‘Kaliyuva Mane’, have emerged with flying colours, one in first class and two in second class. Each one has crossed domestic/social/economic/educational/emotional hurdles successfully and reached the goal.  All children have cleared the exam in English medium.  Congratulations! 

Brief profile of each student is presented below :

Hemanth Kumar J. ( Age : 16⁺ )    

Hemanth belongs to a lower middle class family.  His father works in a private firm.  Mother is a housewife.  His father has passed PUC and the mother has studied up to SSLC.  Hemanth’s parents knew the worth of education.  So they sent him to an English medium private reputed school.  But unfortunately, the boy could not cope up with the rigid structure of the school.   The constant failure in academics shattered young boy’s confidence. Concerned father took the boy to All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore for assessment.   The boy was on the threshold of 8^th standard then, but his academic level was found to be equivalent to that of a beginner of 3^rd standard, though his IQ was age appropriate.  A copy of the report is attached. The boy was found to have ‘learning disability’.  So, Hemanth’s disappointed father brought Hemanth to Kaliyuva Mane.

He was educated as per the guidelines of the clinical psychologist, which were being practised at Kaliyuva Mane already.  He was exempted from studying two additional subjects.  Hemanth regained the interest in studies and started cooperating with the faculty members.  Now Hemanth has cleared 10^th standard examination in second class. (51.75%)  He is very happy.  His achievement has made his family members and teaching faculty of Kaliyuva mane happy and proud.

He is practicing snake catching.  He is fond of animals, wild life photography and agriculture.  He wants to continue in the same field.    

Hemanth Kumar Y.  (Age : 15⁺)

Hemanth hails from a village in Andhra Pradesh.  Hemanth had a turbulent childhood, having lost his father in a vehicle accident during his early childhood.  His mother even now works as an attender in a school in Andhra Pradesh. After the accident, Hemanth migrated to Mysore.  Hemanth’s maternal uncle started taking care of the boy.  His maternal uncle works as an electrician.  He came across an article on Kaliyuva Mane in ‘Andolana’ paper.   Two years ago, Hemanth’s maternal uncle brought Hemanth to Kaliyuva mane.  The boy joined Kaliyuva Mane as a resident scholar.   He is studious and works hard.  Having passed 10^th standard in first class, (75.2%) he is very happy now.  He wants to pursue Diploma course in Engineering. 

Manu H.  (Age : 15⁺)

Manu is from a rural ‘below poverty line’ family.  His father works as a security guard in a  private company.  Both the parents are illiterates.  Manu was studying in a Government Kannada medium school.   Parents came to know about Kaliyuva Mane.   So his parents brought him to Kaliyuva Mane five years ago. Though  his academic level at the time of joining Kaliyuva Mane was below par, he gained enthusiasm for studies. Now he has passed SSLC.  Everyone at his home and at Kaliyuva Mane is happy about his achievement.  He wants to become an actor. 

Shankara : ( Age: 16+)

Shankar hails from Mellahalli village on the outskirts of Mysore city.  He too had a turbulent childhood.  He lost his mother quite early in his life.  His father has remarried and lives in a separate house.  His father is an illiterate and does some odd jobs like selling vegetables, painting etc.   Shankar used to stay with his grandmother.  He was going to the Government Kannada medium school there.

Two school dropouts had passed 10^th standard examination from Kaliyuva mane earlier.  So one resident of Mellahalli village brought Shankar to Kaliyuva Mane and he became a part of Kaliyuva Mane family

He instantly liked the child friendly atmosphere prevailing at Kaliyuva Mane.  He started evincing keen interest in studies.  Now he has passed SSLC in second class. (58.4%). He wants to pursue Diploma in engineering course.

Srikrishna A. (Age : 16⁺)

Shrikrishna’s parents are educated.  Inspired by the ideals of Sri Aurobindo and Swami Vivekananda, they were conducting supplementary classes for rural school going kids mornings and evenings free of cost staying in a village on the outskirts of Mysore since 1992.  Conceptualization of ‘Kaliyuva Mane’ took place, based on this grassroots level experience.   Due to paucity of resources, they could not start the school and were forced to send their son to a mainstream school.  After Kindergarten, the boy joined 1^st standard in a mainstream school.  Initially he was happy.  But later on, he developed an aversion to the school and refused to go to the school.   With no other options, parents forced him to go to the school.  The boy, out of compulsions started attending classes submissively.    Eventually parents withdrew him from the school.

He was taken for counseling.  Counselor suggested an informal school for him. There was no such school in Mysore.  Even when Kaliyuva Mane was started he refused to learn there.   Gradually since 4 or 5 years, he has started attending classes regularly.   He is very intelligent.  But due to his traumatic childhood, he is poor in social skills.  Now he has passed 10th standard.    We hope, this result will give him enough confidence to face life.  He wants to become a successful businessman.