Thirukkural recitation competition @ Allinagaram Govt High school - Nov 2011

For the second consecutive year, a Thirukkural recitation competition was organized for students of the Allinagaram Govt. High School on November 29, 2011 by Parasuram Salammal Trust, in association with the Inner Wheel Club of Theni. The number of students participating in the competition increased to 37, which included 20 students who participated for the first time this year. In order to encourage the first-timers, prizes were awarded to any student who recited more than 50 kurals (couplets). The teachers of the school were also present to encourage the students.

Ms. M.Karthika and Ms. M.Rajeswari, who bagged the first and second prize last year, won the competition this year also, while Master Ananthprakash came third. Inner Wheel President Ms. Abirami, while distributing the prizes expressed happiness that the competition has increased the interest in Thirukkural, one of the most revered ancient works in the Tamil language, among the school students. Headmaster Mr. Malaiyarasan in his speech encouraged the students to learn and recite more kurals for the next year’s competition.  Ms. Dhanalakshmi Asokan, PST trustee delivered the vote of thanks.

Free Medical camps Oonjampatty and Allinagaram schools - July-Aug 2011

Every year PST conducts medical camps for the students of several rural schools in the Theni District. These camps are conducted under the able guidance of Dr. A Anburajan, PST Trustee and a leading pediatrician in the Theni District. 

This year two such camps were conducted by the Trust:

1. Oonjampaaty middle school together with the Inner Wheel Club of Theni in July 

2. Allinagaram Govt. School - in association with Rotary Club of  Theni in August 

More than 500 students benefited from these free medical camps organised by the Trust. We sincerely thank Dr. G Vijay Kumar MBBS., DA, Dr. R Anjana Rekha MBBS and Dr. B Shanmuga Priya MBBS for devoting their valuable time for the betterment of the health of the poor students of the district.

Independence Day speech competitions in Allianagaram Govt. School - August 2011

PST celebrated India's 64^th Independence Day in a unique way by organizing speech competitions for the students of the Allinagaram Govt. School under the following topics:

1.         Naan Pirathamar Aanal (If I were the Prime Minister of India)

2.         Naan Muthal Amaichar Aanal (If I were the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu)

3.         Naan Vigyani Aanal (If I were a scientist)

The above topics were selected in order to cultivate the vision of “future India” in the minds of the young students. Many students participated enthusiastically. Prizes were distributed by Mr.Abdul Jappar, Headmaster of the school. 

Providing long-size note books to needy rural students - July 2011

At the request of the school management, PST donated 100 long-size fullscape notebooks to poor rural students of Koduvilarpatty high school.

Supporting a student (2011) : N. Surulivel

Master. N Surulivel from the Govt. school of Allinagaram, who secured first rank in the special model exam conducted by PST in January 2011, approached the Trust seeking financial assistance of Rs. 5000/- which had to be deposited for attending the Engineering counselling conducted by the Anna University for a seat in one of its affiliated Engineering colleges. Master Surulivel also excelled in the XII Std Board examinations by securing 1086/1200 marks. 

Apart from providing Mr. Surulivel a sum of Rs. 5000 for the counselling, the Trust also guided him about the prominent engineering colleges in the District before the date of counselling. He is currently pursuing his B.E in the Anna University campus in Dindigul. 

Spoken English course - May 2011

The first spoken English course conducted for the students of Allinagaram Govt. School by PST was a huge success. Out of the 32 students who volunteered, 24 students attended the course regularly and reaped the benefits of this course. 

During the closing ceremony, the Headmaster of the school Mr. Abduljappar thanked the Trust and Dr. Parasuraman for their efforts in improving the standard of English of his school students. He requested the Trust to organise such courses for interested students (only students from X & XI attended the course this year) from the school every year, so that more number of students will get benefited. 

Selvi. Suganthi, a participant in the course, narrated her experiences during the course in her feedback (Click here for the detailed feedback of the participants). She stated that the dedication of Dr. Parasuraman inspired the students to attend the classes regularly (even on Sundays). She also thanked Mr. Asokan, Director of the Trust, for the interest and care he showed to ensure that the students utilized the opportunity to the fullest extent possible. All the students were issued certificates of proficiency during the closing ceremony.

Spoken English course - Inauguration April 2011

In order to bridge the communication gap among students from rural schools, Parasuram Salammal Trust has started a new “Spoken English” course this year. This program will involve a full month of spoken English training to the students from Allinagaram Govt. School. The twin objectives of the program are:

• Help the students to improve their communication skills in English
• Boost the confidence of the students while using English as their communication medium

The Inaugural function of the course was held on April 8, 2011 at the school premises. This function was primarily organized so that Dr. Parasuraman, who is the course co-coordinator and tutor could spend some time with the students and understand their expectations from the course. He also broadly outlined the program of the course and stated that he deliberately did not want to organize the course in the school as this would give the students a “boring” atmosphere. The month-long course will be conducted in Dr. Parasuraman’s house.

The Headmaster of the school Mr. Abduljappar in his speech thanked the Trust for choosing their school students for this program. While praising the efforts of the Trust, he advised the students to make full-use of this golden opportunity. Dr. Anburajan, a member of the Trust, spoke about the importance of English and recollected memories of his school days, when his principal insisted on the importance of English as a communication tool. He said that he greatly benefited from her advice and requested the students to continue practicing what they learnt in the course after its completion also. 

Selvi. Dhanalakshmi, who spoke on the behalf of the students, thanked the school and the Trust for organizing the course free of cost for the students. A total of 32 students (from Std X & XI) from the school have volunteered and benefit from this course, which is done on a trial-basis this year. The course would start from the first week of May.

Special Model Exams - Jan 2011

Model exams are conducted with the objective of helping the students to brush up their knowledge when they are preparing for their XII std Board exams. Students from private schools have the privilege of preparing themselves thoroughly through several such examinations conducted by their schools. In order to provide the students from rural schools also with the same examination experience, Parasuram Salammal Trust organised special model exams last year for students from 3 government schools. This year the same program was expanded to benefit XII std students from 5 Govt schools around Theni district. A total of 331 students enthusiastically took the special model exams in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics in January 2011. The answer sheets were evaluated by experienced teachers, who  gave detailed comments on how to improve the performance of the students. There was excellent support and co-operation from the Principals and staff members of the schools in conducting the model exams. They remarked that such model exams motivated the students to perform better in the final Board examinations. They requested the Director of the Trust, Mr. Asokan to continue these efforts in future too.

School	No. of students	Name of Principal
Allinagaram	91 students	Mr. R Abduljappar
Koduvilarpatti	35 students	Mrs. Chellapappu
Lakshmipuram	95 students	Mr. Vasudevan
Gandamanoor	77 students	Mr. Maharajan
Veerapandi	33 students	Mr. Vairusamy

Rather than being just a simulation exercise, the Trust went a step further and awarded prizes to the students who secured the first three ranks in the respective schools, as we believe that when students are awarded for their excellence, their confidence boosts up.

School	1st Rank	2nd Rank	3rd Rank
Allinagaram	N. Surulivel	M.Gopinath	P.Nivetha
Koduvilarpatti	A.Arun Kumar	L.Prabakaran	G.Thirumani
Lakshmipuram	G.Abinaya	S.Anupriya	M.Nalla Jeeva
Gandamanoor	S.Sridevi	P.Satheesh Kumar	A.Saravanan
Veerapandi	R.Dhanalakshmi	R.Sivasakthi	T.Ranjith Kumar

As a part of the awards-presentation ceremony, the Trust, along with the Rotary Club of Theni, organised a motivation-cum-career guidance program for XII std students on January 22, 2011. Prof R. Mohanasundaram from C.P.A college, Bodinayakanur gave a 90-minute speech to the XII students about the ways and means of preparing for the examination in a  better way. He gave a few tips to the students as to how to plan their future careers and what courses they should opt for. He also took an IQ test to kindle the interest among the students. It received an excellent response from the students, which pleasantly surprised the teachers also. The Headmaster of the Allinagaram Govt. school, Mr. Abduljappar commented that he had never seen his students participate in a motivational session with so much of interest and enthusiasm and looked forward to more such activities not just for XII students, but for the rest of the students of the school also. He also hoped that with the support of the Rotary Club and the PST more such projects will be organised for the students of the school. 

Our sincere thanks to Mr. Dhanam, Ms. Amirtham and Mr. Pannerselvam for evaluating the Maths, Physics and Chemistry exam papers of the students.

Computer Courses for students - May 2011

Knowledge of computers has become an essential requirement in today's technology-driven world, irrespective of one's career or field of work. With the objective of introducing the world of computers to the students from the rural Govt. schools, PST arranged computer courses for 5 deserving students in VET Centre @ Theni.

S.No	Name of the Student	Computer Course	Remarks
1	S. Padmanaban	Senior DCA	Secured 1st Mark in X Std Exam, Konduraja School
2	N. Surulivel	Senior DCA	Secured 1st Rank in PST XII Std Model Exam, Govt School Allinagaram
3	M. Gopinath	Summer DCP	Secured 2nd Rank in PST XII Std Model Exam, Govt School Allinagaram
4	N.  Balamurugan	DTP	Secured 2nd Rank in PST XII Std Model Exam, Govt. School Koduvilarpatti
5	L. Prabakaran	Senior DCA	Secured 1st Rank in PST XII Std Model Exam, Govt. School Koduvilarpatti

The courses were selected based on the students' proficiency with computers and also their interest. These courses, which normally cost Rs. 1100, were offered at a subsidised rate of Rs. 200, as they were referred by the Trust. The fees of Rs. 200 for the course was also sponsored by PST for all the students. The students, who underwent these courses during the months of summer vacation (April-May) have found them extremely useful. Master Gopinath remarked that the course gave him  much needed exposure to computers, which he has never seen before.