Alamelu Vidyashram School

The Alamelu Vidyashram School was started more than twenty five years ago.  Until then, public schools were far from the compound and ashram children had been treated badly there. The first year there was an LKG (Lower Kindergarten – age 4/5) housed in an open thatched building, then each subsequent year a new grade was added.  Now the school goes to twelfth Standard (equivalent to grade twelve in Canada).  Children write state examinations for 10th and 12th standards.   About half the150 children at the Sri Kanyakumari Gurukula Ashram attend and the rest of the students are made up of children from surrounding villages. There are about 350 children in all, and the classes are mixed – girls and boys together.

Village children pay a very nominal fee and are picked up each day by a small bus owned by SKGA or are dropped off by parents. The teachers are young college graduates and arrive by public bus from Nagarcoil, a city about 30 minutes away.  The teachers are not paid high salaries but the school gives young graduates the experience they will need when looking for future work. In the public system, teaching jobs are bought, often at quite a high premium.

The school is an English medium school. Most of the subjects are taught in English.