Kalaimathi M, a 12th-grade student from Wallajabad, Angambakkam, lives in a large household with nine family members, including her grandparents, parents, siblings, aunt, and cousin. Her father works as a coolie, and the family is coping with significant financial difficulties, which impact their daily lives and Kalaimathi’s educational opportunities. Her father runs the large family with the meagre income that he brings home, working as a coolie.
Kalaimathi has actively participated in the Puthri program, attending both classes that were conducted. Kalaimathi’s primary challenge is her family’s financial instability. Despite this, she remains determined to pursue her education and career goals. Project Puthri has played a significant role in boosting her confidence and concentration, helping her to stay focused on her aspirations to become a doctor. The Puthri sessions have reinforced her determination to pursue this career goal. Her journey with Project Puthri underscores the importance of educational support for underprivileged students. Despite her challenging family situation, she has worked hard to educate herself and make progress towards her goals.
Kalaimathi’s progress is not a mere anecdote; she testifies for the impact of India’s first development project, Project Puthri implemented by Avtar Human Capital Trust. The project covers girls studying in government run and corporation schools in Tamil Nadu, Puduchery and Bengaluru.
The Big Impact
As per the Impact report for the Academic year 2023-2024, at least 2753 Puthri scholars (95%) reported an improvement in their academic scores due to their participation in Puthri sessions. These sessions, whether directly or indirectly, contributed to their ability to achieve higher marks in exams.
Consistent engagement in Puthri sessions fostered a commitment towards academic pursuits, instilled a drive to excel, and cultivated the confidence and motivation to strive for top grades to pursue better career opportunities. The study-building techniques imparted during school sessions provided valuable strategies for effective learning. Separate sessions for approaching exams and building their confidence level were conducted in schools A majority of Puthri scholars experiencing an enhancement in academic performance can be attributed to these factors.
Career Guidance
In the case of Kalai, an introvert, she found it difficult to open up to others was molded by Puthri program to be more confident in her abilities. However, she still lacks the confidence to address or speak to a group of people independently. Kalaimathi has developed skills in dance, music, and speech through opportunities provided by Puthri. Kalai showed notable improvement in her studies. Her concentration and confidence, enhanced by the Puthri program, have helped her achieve better marks. She scored 427 marks in 11th grade, and in 12th grade her scores improved to 441/600 especially in subjects like Biology. The resources provided by Puthri, including Career guidance hand book with information about courses and groups in institutions, have been helpful to her. This was provided to her during the Puthri Career Choice Assessment program.
Supplementing academic efforts, Project Puthri extended its support by providing advanced career intentionality and employability skills though the Puthri Career Pathing (PCP) Program. Sessions on communicative English, personality grooming, approaching competitive exams, group discussions, mock personal interviews, financial acumen, leader’ talk and role model sessions were conducted for the Puthri scholars who studied in colleges .84 such sessions (including regular PCP and communicative English sessions) were conducted.
