I am pleased to introduce myself as Mrs. N. Parameswary of Kottagoda, Springvalley. I run a Pre-School called the “Malaiyagam Malargal Pre–School of Kottagoda“. I am conducting this Pre – School since 1999. Initially we started with having only 08 children where I temporarily started it in a shed at the Sri Kathir Velautha Swami Kovil, Kottagoda, Springvalley, with the support of Mr. Yoganathan, Mr. Sivasubraminiyam (school teacher) and Principal Mr. Sagayam. On the 12th of June 2002 the pre – school was shifted to an unused ‘Community Development Center’ from the temporary shed.
In the second year we designed a uniform to our children with colors of Blue and White. The progress of the children drew the attention of other parents and as a result our children’s body grew from 08 to 21. As we were unable to cater to the fundamental needs of our children as a preschool, we decided to give it a try with our first communication link with the society – the parents. We arranged a parents meeting where our main agenda was to make the parents aware of the crucial role a pre -school would play in enhancing the motor skills of a child. With these motivating factors in hand I was able to convince the parents to pay Rs. 30/- for each child and thus I earn approximately Rs. 600 for a month. On the other hand I would like to conclude saying that I thoroughly enjoy spending my time with the children irrespective of the financial gain.
On the 8 of August 2003 Miss. S. Bawani joined me as an assistant where she was trained for a period of one year under me (Mrs.Parameswary). From the 28th of October 2004 she completely took over the Pre – School administration as I (Mrs. N. Parameswary) went on 03 months maternity leave. I took over on the 10th of March 2005. Thus, both of us are working together in order to achieve an acceptable standard.
Whatever the hardships were, with time, effort, and support we purchased some indoor games equipments out of the monthly contributions of the parents. On December 2005 we participated in the Training Program conducted by the Social Aid Foundation (SAF) supported by the North-East Pre School Education Development Center. Therefore we organized a gathering for the children those who are leaving the Pre-School at BD/Kottagoda Tamil Vidyalayam, where the SAF Volunteers pointed out many key points on Pre School education. Thus, this led to a situation where the parents & well wishers requested SAF to take over the management of ‘Malargal Nursery’. On the 1st of January 2006 our nursery joined SAF where they formed a committee for our nursery and now it operates in the name of “Malayagam Malargal Pre-School” successfully.
SAF pointed out to the parents on the importance of education for a child by having regular meetings with the parents or their respective guardians. Most of the meetings are carried out in the form of presentations for easy understanding. These types of creative activities are being supportive to liberate and think broad mindedly which paves the way to be a more realistic and independent human being who will be accepted by any society.
According to the instructions given by SAF we are using many guide books as learning materials. Parents are eagerly willing to buy these essential equipments for their child’s education. We believe with these activities parents will become more interested in their child’s education & thus the unnecessary spending on non essential goods will reduce.
We clustered a year to three terms. Basically, we have scheduled to have outdoor tour on the 1st term with parents which will be a good change for the parents rather than children. SAF’s workshops improve the general knowledge of the parents also where most of them were not even aware of the capital of the country they live in. This is simply because of them being unaware of their environment ant not committed to knowing what is around them. As SAF strongly believes that knowledge and behavior mostly cascades from parents to children, they concentrate a great deal in our children’s parent’s personal standards escalation, as these will eventually lead them to a betterment of their livings.
The following photographs depict some of the books used in the nursery.
The talents of these children are brought to light in the form of concerts at least once in a year. The photographs below show a sample of the children of the nursery and their performances during the concert.
At the end of every academic year a record book and a progress report along with a certificate is produced by the SAF. This helps us to rectify and improve ourselves; conversely it also helps SAF to know the progress of the nursery.
SAF does not support in the management solely but also financially where it has decided to help us in the building of an outdoor play park, where the land space allocated by the estate management of Kottogoda, Spring Valley. The picture above shows the land allocated.
In wrapping up I am pleased to state that the association with SAF has given me and my nursery immense strength where its support and guidance has led us to betterment in the society.
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