TEA - Team for Education and Action

Project Brief: Supplementing the Govt. school education in 15 villages in the outskirts of Chennai. Attempting to improve the quality of elementary education to prevent children from becoming labourers.
Project Type: Working with the Government (description)
Primary Focus: children of dalits/tribals (description)

Secondary Focus: remedial education

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact: Boston
Status: completed - requirements ended
Project Steward: Bijay Kumar
Project Partner(s): R.S. Arputham
Other Contacts: Rajaraman Krishnan
Project Address: , Reddipalyam Village and Post, Athur via,,,
TAMIL NADU  603 101
Tel: 04114-464203 (office)
Stewarding Chapter: Boston
Mar 2008Work an HourUSD 6703
Dec 2007ChennaiUSD 4000
Feb 2007BostonUSD 1000
Oct 2006BostonUSD 1000
Oct 2006BostonUSD 1000
Apr 2006BostonUSD 1268
Dec 2006BostonUSD 1268
Dec 2006BostonUSD 1000
Dec 2005BostonUSD 1683
Jan 2004BostonUSD 1280
Jul 2003BostonUSD 2000
Dec 1993BerkeleyUSD 1000
Dec 1992BerkeleyUSD 2000
Dec 1991BerkeleyUSD 1000

Total = $26202

TEA Trust is planning to implement a project for ?improving the quality of elementary education to prevent children from becoming child laborers? in the working area. Initially they are planning to work in five villages with five government primary (classes 1-5) and elementary (classes 1-8) schools. In total they will be working with 644 school going children.
The aims of the project are:
- To Improve the quality of education
- To strengthen the PTA (Parents Teachers Association) and VEC (Village Education Committees) in the five villages
- To create an awareness about the child labour issues among the school teachers
- To provide Child Rights Education for children
- To organise health camps for children
- To organise science clubs and environment education programmes for children.
- To mobilize local resources for the improvement of school education.

Related Project : Little Flower School - http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=637
TEA Trust is currently working with 15 villages, one school in each village. Additional teachers are assigned to help in the running of these schools, imparting better quality education at the primary and secondarily school level. Asha is currently supporting the such an effort at 2 schools
- Kolanthanchery ? Primary School (govt. school)
- Venbakam Panchayat Union Primary School (govt. school)

Additional efforts by TEA Trust to improve the infrastructure and ensure Parents involvments are also encouraged/supported.
TEA Trust (Team for Education and Action Trust) was initiated during 1985, by a group of activists. Mr.R.S.Arputham, Managing Trustee, who had been earlier working with another voluntary organization wanted to start similar development activities in his own village Reddipallyam. Initially they started working with Dalit Youths by organizing them as youth groups, later the work was extended to children, particularly working children and women. Now they are working in 15 villages of Kattankulathur block, Kancheepuram district of Tamilnadu.

TEA Trust was initially funded by Seattle from 1990 to 1993, upon which the phase of proposal had completed.

The project proposal consisted of 15 non-formal learning centres being run in 15 villages of Kattankolathur Block in Chengalpattu, mostly for rural working children. The beneficiaries were 550 rural working harijan children.