ASHA EVENT CALENDAR 2025-26 | |
JUNE 2025 | |
 | Students and teachers are back to school. Between school vacation and reopening, Asha conducted its 5-day teacher training program Rightstart in May 2025. New teachers were hired and trained for the new academic year. Schools reopened on 2 June, 2025. |
 | Asha Chennai undertakes an annual planning exercise from April to July to define the scope of all its projects and allocate the necessary funds accordingly |
 | Project Sugadharam – Renovation of toilets at GHS Thirupatchur was taken up during school break. Toilets were inaugurated by Asha volunteer, Mr.Rajaraman on 5 June, 2025. |
 | Asha Impressions at Thoothukudi (Project Pearl) was conducted on 14 June, 2025. Out of 300 projects submitted by students, 17 projects were selected under Digital Literacy, and 10 projects were chosen for Scratch Programming. |
 | KaradiPath program continues into the new year. In 2024-25 we supported 58. We are expanding that to 75 schools. This includes 10 schools where we have completed all the 3 levels. Asha is implementing the KaradiPath program in schools in Thiruvallur, Chengalpet, Villupuram, Thiruvannamalai, Thoothukudi and Thirunelveli districts. |
 | ACE Training – New batch of government teachers to be included in the ACE program while most of the existing 105 school will continue. ACE to be forked into 3 streams from this year: ACE Digital Literacy, ACE Programming through Asha curriculum and ACE Programming through Code.org’s CSF-Express curriculum. |
 | Asha Computer Education (ACE) – Batch 2, ACE Impressions was held on 21 June, 2025 in Amazon’s office at the World Trade Centre, Perungudi. The competition was funded and hosted by Amazon under their Amazon Future Engineer program. |
 | Start of uniform distribution at all Asha supported schools in Thiruvallur, Thoothukudi, Thiruvarur, Villupuram, Thiruvanamalai, and Chennai. Asha voulnteers, project coordinators and teachers will distribute new uniforms to students from class 1-8. |
JULY 2025 | |
 | Amazon TIS Makerspace workshop: 50 of our children and 10 of our teachers travelled to Bengaluru to attend a 3 workshop on Robotics, 3-D printing and embedded systems training at the Amazon TIS Makerspace in Bengaluru. |
| The audit of both our Asha Trust and Asha South India accounts to be completed. Previous years’ audit reports can be found on the About Us page. | |
 | Amazon has promised us 500 laptops for supporting our programs. Distribution of these 500 laptops will take place in July. The laptops will be checked at our project offices, installed with required software and distributed to Asha teachers, Asha RTCs and Asha supported schools for our various programs. |
 | Procurement and distribution of stationery supplies. Each year, Asha provides essential materials to both schools and students — including items such as charts, plain paper, and floor mats for classroom use, along with notebooks, pens, geometry boxes, and other student essentials. |
 | Procurement and distribution of uniform kits for teachers. Each academic year, Asha provides two sets of uniforms to all our teachers. |
AUGUST 2024 | |
 | RTC Impressions – IITM Pravartak and Asha jointly operate twelve Rural Technology Centers (RTCs), where student learn computer courses for free. Project work forms a vital part of the curriculum. Students engage in hands-on, in-depth projects aligned with their coursework and are given the opportunity to present their work before a distinguished panel of judges at RTC Impressions. |
 | Scholarship disbursement – Invite applications from underprivileged students aiming to fund the school/college fees, cost of uniform and books from elementary to college. |
 | Procurement and distribution of stationery supplies at our projects continue. |
 | Asha’s 13th RTC will be inaugurated in August at Kottur, Thiruvarur. The event will be attended by Asha’s project coordinators, volunteers, teachers and students. |
SEPTEMBER 2024 | |
 | End of Term I – As examinations take priority, our computer and KaradiPath teachers scale back their school visits and focus instead on content development and training activities at the project offices. |
 | With schools temporarily closed, Asha teachers use this time to unwind and recharge, often heading out on group excursions. Last year our teachers visited Hyderabad for the annual teacher excursion. This year we hope to go to Coorg. |
OCTOBER 2024 | |
 | Asha conducts Math and Science training sessions across all its projects to enhance subject-specific teaching methods. The Math sessions are led by Mrs. Meena Suresh, while Science instruction is overseen by Mrs. Purva Bhattar. |
NOVEMBER 2025 | |
 | Oral assessments are conducted annually around October–November at all Asha-supported schools in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. These evaluations aim to gauge the foundational learning levels of students in primary and high schools. Over the years, we have systematically gathered this data to track educational progress and assess the impact of Asha’s various initiatives. |
 | Launch of a year-end fund-raising campaign. |
DECEMBER 2024 | |
 | Computer Science training at Thiruvallur — All Asha Chennai computer instructors from Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh gathered in Thiruvallur for a three-day training program. You may read the report here. |
 | End of Term II – As children get busy with exams, our teachers reduce their visits to the school and take up content work and other training activities. |
JANUARY 2026 | |
 | Student excursions across all projects begin— Last year, Asha facilitated outings for over 2,300 children from nearly 94 schools. These excursions, typically held on weekends to avoid disrupting government school schedules, are organized in close coordination with both school staff and the education department. |
 | Semester completion at RTCs — As students conclude their coursework for the term, they are required to submit a final project and complete an assessment to mark the end of the semester. Around January, students start preparing for the same. |
 | Government teacher training – Under Asha’s ACE program, the government teacher training sessions will continue to be held at periodic intervals throughout the academic year. |
 | Blackboard painting – To remain usable, the blackboards in schools require a fresh coat of paint at least once a year. We undertake the initiative of painting the blackboards in our supported schools. |
FEBRUARY 2026 | |
 | Student excursions remain ongoing across all projects — Children from our projects in Thiruvallur, Thoothukudi, Thiruvannamalai, Thiruvarur, and Chennai continue to participate in these outings. |
 | Written assessments— These large-scale evaluations, spanning over 180 schools and involving more than 15,000 students, help us identify learning gaps and shape our strategies for addressing them. |
 | The second RTC Impressions for the year is held in February. At Asha Rural Technology Centers, our terms run from Feb to July and Aug to Jan. Once the Aug to Jan term is completed, the best projects are featured at the RTC Impressions event. |
 | The Asha India Conference 2025 was held in Tamulpur, Assam. This year it is planned to be hosted by Asha Chennai or Kanpur. This annual gathering brings together representatives from all Asha chapters in India, including Assam, Mumbai, Rajatalab, Kaithi, Manipur, Kanpur, Ballia, Lucknow, Gandhiji School Pondicherry, and Chennai. |
MARCH 2026 | |
 | Annual Day celebrations across all projects — At Asha-supported schools, we provide snacks and prizes to students as part of the festivities. Our volunteers and coordinators actively participate in these events, offering encouragement and support to the children. Asha supported annual day at 150 schools last year. You may read the report here. |
 | Evaluation of written assessments — To ensure impartiality, answer papers from each project are cross-evaluated by another project. Based on the results, we generate detailed performance reports for each school. |
 | Computer Assessments – Asha teachers from a different school administer the assessments, which include both written and practical components. Each student completes the assessment individually using a computer. |
 | ACE Impressions – As part of the ACE program, students submit projects upon completing their course. From the hundreds of submissions, a select few are chosen to be presented before a panel of external judges. This curated showcase is known as ACE Impressions. |
 | RTC Student Excursion – Students from our RTCs go out for excursion after the end of their second term. |
APRIL 2026 | |
 | ACE Assessments – At the end of the term, students enrolled in the ACE program undergo both written and practical computer assessments. |
 | Submission of projects by all SPRINT schools. Correction and selection of best presentations and programs. This will happen for Asha supported schools as well as schools where we are working through the government teachers |
 | Assessment reports to all schools. Once the grading of the written tests is completed, we draw out performance report of each school and share them with the respective schools. |
 | Wrap up of the accounts for 23-24. In April-May we will wrap up our accounts for the previous year and submit these to our auditors. |
 | Asha Impressions – A celebration of creativity and innovation from Asha-supported SPRINT schools! Last year, over 800 projects were submitted by 120 schools across Thiruvallur, Thiruvarur, Thiruvanamalai, and Chennai. Shortlisted by lead teachers and volunteers, the most impactful projects will be showcased in front of an esteemed panel of external judges. |
 | End of Term III – With the academic year coming to an end, the teachers get busy with content work and other training activities. |
MAY 2026 | |
 | Proposals for upcoming year. Start the process of planning for every project and for Asha Chennai as a whole for the year 2025-26. |
 | Recruitment of new teachers takes place after the academic year concludes. All new hires are encouraged to attend RightStart, Asha’s annual teacher training program. Entrance exams for prospective teachers are conducted across all project locations in May. |
 | RightStart – Annual Teacher Training – Each year, as the academic term concludes and summer vacation begins, Asha conducts its flagship teacher training program, RightStart, in May. For over two decades—excluding a two-year pause during the COVID period—Asha teachers have come together for this 5-day event. Led by expert external trainers, the sessions focus on core subjects such as Math, English, and Science. |
