On the outskirts of south Chennai, in a village called Thoraipakkam, the tiny seed of a silent but strong and steady revolution was sown by an enthusiastic educationist. This has taken shape beautifully, gradually blossoming into a growing institution.
As children’s education, and especially that of the girl child, is still a distant dream, it was only the presence in a village of a good school with qualified teachers,that prompted the mothers and fathers of the surrounding areas to send their daughters, to Akshara Matriculation School. They found it almost impossible to believe that a large and competent English medium school was being established in their children into this its classes without any reservations or rules and conditions. The fee amount was nominal and well within the means of the village folk. And the most unusual feature of admission was the fact that preference was given to the children of poor and illiterate parents! This latter condition, still unheard of in competent schools in cities and towns, marks the main difference in encouraging rural child education.
As emphasised by Mahatma Gandhi, as well as other eminent leaders of India, the imparting of basic education to the rural poor stands high on the list of priorities for the progress of the nation. Self-Confidence and courage as well as determination to face the challenges of life are instilled in girls with education. In remote rural areas, girls are automatically taught to slip into a homemaker’s role, without any education. Even if she is employed anywhere, the small sum she earns is kept aside for her jewellery and dowry at the time of marriage. But in case the marriage fails or the husband dies, the poor girl is left high and dry in an atmosphere of unhappiness with nothing with which to face the realities of life. Often the distressed young girl takes her life, rather than return to her parents.
It was for this purpose that Akshara was started! All the more to be appreciated is the fact that all these ideals have been put into practice effectively as the school has grace to learn new languages, handicrafts, games and sports, yoga, meditation and art. A spacious playground and the proximity of the temple tank for swimming have also helped.
Mrs. Nalini Unni is the brain and spirit behind this unusually oriented educational institution. She considers teaching a ‘divine’ profession. She has several degrees providing her varied professional knowledge, but teaching and this school have become an obsession with her. And the best part of it is that she was able enough to put her dreams into practice by starting this school in memory of her parents who were responsible for instilling in her the concept of selfless social service for the needy.
With the help of willing friends and acquaintance and with her own resources Nalini was successful in starting her school in 1993 at Thoraipakkam.
Today, Akshara is a full-fledged school with classes upto XII (Plus Two level). The first batch of students appeared for the Std. X Matric Board exams in April 1998 and the result were excellent. One hundred per cent pass with fifty percent I Class. Those results led to permission being given to add classes XI and XII.
Though the fees are nominal and within the means of village parents, scholarships have been awarded to several students. Exnora Women’s Guild,Adyar,and Meenambakkam Inner Wheel Club have also given scholarships to two very poor students.
As the upliftment of women was the primary aim of the school and as the base of family is the mother, Nalini made concerted efforts to lure the women of the area for adult literacy classes. Now, most of the mothers of the students can read and write, know about environmental problems and the happenings around them, preventing them from being exploited by others. Both students and parents are taught the necessity to keep not only the home but also the surroundings clean for the sake of good health.
A well-equipped laboratory at Akshara provides adequate facilities for the departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. A well-stocked library serves to improve knowledge as well as encourage a recreational reading habit among the students, Yoga and meditation have been added to the curriculum to offer the children the same extra curricular activities as their counterparts in the city. Computer classes are conducted on a vocational basis. The teaching of languages like Hindi, as well as arts ad crafts and tailoring, provide the necessary basic training for their future in case some of them wish to take up jobs after class X. Philosophy and talks on art and culture and on the heritage of India as well as the chanting of slokas with the correct intonations, all form part of the student’s curriculum. All these additions to the syllabus are due to Nalini Unni’s foresightedness and her determination,that rural children such as Akshara’s should not be left behind.
Meenakshikutty Amma and Narayana Panicker instilled in their daughter Nalini and their other children all the right Indian traditional values which they practiced themselves. Helping those in need was one of the traditional values.
As a child, fifty or so years ago, Nalini used to roam the lush green countryside of Pykara, Moyar, Masinagudi and Glemorgan around Ooty where her father’s job took them. Rabbits, deer and peacocks were her playments in those forest settings. As there were no schools in those areas, her father would teach the children of the neighbourhood while her mother taught her all the subjects, needed to gave a solid educational foundation.
When she finally joined a regular school, St. Mary’s Mettur Dam, she topped her class in all the subjects in spite of not having had any formal school education
She went to Palghat with her parents and had her college education there. As a college student, she started a new routine for the children of the locality. She would get them together and they would all work in the garden for an hour or so, there would then be a prayer session at dusk followed by the study hour when she would help out all the children with their studies. Her parents supplemented her efforts in giving paddy to needy families and money for fees to girls whose parents were hard pressed for funds.
After her B.Sc., Nalini got through the all—India Medical exam, but her ambition of becoming a doctor was not realized as their financial, position did not make use of her law degree, but took up the slightly less stressful job of teaching, as managing a home taking care of her small son and further studies pre-occupied her. She did a B.Ed., a Diploma in Educational Pshchology and an M.A. in English. She was determined to continue with her education, along with her teaching assignments, a second child-a daughter –and family responsibilities.
When her husband got a good assignment in Malawi, she accompanied him and there her simple methods of teaching attracted the attention of the Government of Malawi. She was appointed an officer in the Educational Department of Malawi and got an opportunity to improve the standard of education of African students.
On their return to India, she continued with her teaching but also set her sights on building up her own home, a small temple and now the school, Akshara . Now that her children are grown-up-her son is a marine engineer and is married, her daughter has completed her M.phil-and her husband has retried, Nalini devotes all her time and energy to Akshara.