Thursday 2 October 2008

Teacher training

This current academic year, which started in India on the 1st June, we have 5 new teachers at our Mettupalayam School. I am delighted that we currently have 3 male teachers, as often in the past we have mainly employed female teachers. All 5 new teachers are Government trained, but for various reasons, have been unable to get a post in a Government school. Venkat will train them and provide experience and at some stage in the future they will move on, earning a much higher salary than we can pay. At first sight, this high teacher turnover may seem wasteful and inefficient, but as Venkat explains, many of these newly qualified teachers are either of the wrong caste or are unable to pay a bribe to get into a Government school, and we are able to give them an opportunity that would otherwise be unavailable, and it doesn't affect the quality of the education provided- just the opposite in fact, as they are very motivated.
Student numbers have increased to 148 on the role, with a regular daily attendance of around 125.

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