Greetings! 
Enrolment time again
 
The enrolment of new children is a very rigorous and time consuming process in order to give all applicants a fair chance of selection.  Initially the community workers advertise that registration is open.  They visit villages and homes and do an initial check to ensure that, as far as possible, all children of the right age in our catchment area are aware of the enrolment day for their local Mala school. 
 
The number of applicants seems to increase each year and this year was no exception, with almost five children applying for every available place.  Also, in recent years, many children were already enrolled at a school, so it is hard to distinguish between a bright child who has had no teaching and an average child who has been taught some basics.  The initial process for the first selection is a non-verbal reasoning test, which gives us a basis to work from and enables us to justify the heart-breaking task of turning away those who are not able enough to benefit from our accelerated primary programme.
 
At middle and secondary level we offer opportunities to external children.  It
Monu in class - January 2016
is hard for them to gain entry, as standards of education in most other local schools are poor, so the non-verbal reasoning test allows us to make a judgement.  Last year, Anne gave a place in our middle school to Monu, an external child who failed the academic test but was at genius level in the IQ test.  He is holding his own in the class and we will be interested to see his end of year exam results.
 
This year we also had an increased number of children who came without an adult.  In most cases they had been sent by their parents, but some had made the decision to apply themselves.  It is well known that we give priority to children who come from the poorest families, therefore, some parents play down the assets they have.  Because of this, this year our social workers will visit their homes to check the information before a place is awarded.
  
Each child is given an equal chance to win a place

If you know anyone who might be interested in this newsletter please send it on.

Robin Garland
Project Mala
www.projectmala.org.uk
(44) 1904 341004