Asha Chennai has been running about 60 mini-schools spread across Tamilnadu for the last one and a half years. With the primary and middle schools (for classes 1 to 8) finally opening all over Tamilnadu on Nov 1st, the mini-schools are winding down. In the midst of the bleak scenario for education in Tamilnadu, the mini-schools were a beacon for good education and happy children. It was with a heavy heart that we were closing down the mini-schools. Not all the children who came to the mini-schools will be going to an Asha supported school. So this was an emotional time for the Asha teachers and the rest of us as well as we were parting ways.

The mini-schools also provided us an opportunity to visit the teachers in their own neighbourhoods and often their own homes. We got to know the teachers much better than seeing them in the school environment.

We decided to do this report as a set of profiles of some of the well-run mini-schools. It is a tribute to the dedication with which the teachers have run these schools. Here are the mini-school profiles.