Team_GHPS_2024
Team_GHPS_Female_Staff_2024
World over, high quality government funded public education systems are a proven bedrock for societal progress. In India, the scale of the demand poses a challenge for most governments across the country. Tranquil Charitable Foundation (TCF) was founded to try and bring an innovative approach to address this challenge. Our mission is to develop a scalable and sustainable solution to improving educational outcomes for students and alumni of publicly funded government schools through active local community participation.
Gubbalala Higher Primary School (GHPS – Bangalore South) is a typical kannada medium government school that faces the regular challenges of infrastructure, student-teacher ratio and other challenges. GHPS was formally adopted by Tranquil Charitable Foundation (TCF) through an MoU signed with the Karnataka Dept of Education, to adopt the school under the “Shale Dattu Yojana” scheme in Jan 2011.
Over the past years, TCF has partnered with the school in various ways including infrastructure support (water supply, bathroom facilities, additional lighting, etc.), student support (uniforms, stationery, medical checkups, etc.), teaching & academic support (additional teacher-aides hiring & funding, sponsorship for participation in external exams, etc.) including direct academic intervention through volunteers from our apartment complex. In recent years, we have expanded our partnership to include support for all the alumni of GHPS in pursuit of their academic desires in high school and beyond.
As we go past the TENTH anniversary of the establishment of Tranquil Charitable Foundation (TCF) and our work with GHPS, we decided to take a look back on the journey to-date and reflect on where we’ve come since that first step. In this short Youtube linked video, you will see some highlights from our initial days, all the way to today as we continue to work hard at our mission of “develop a scalable and sustainable solution to improving educational outcomes for students and alumni of publicly funded government schools through active local community participation”
Over the last ten years, we have come a long way…and we are eternally grateful to all of you – our patrons – who have walked every step of the way with us, encouraging and motivating us on this journey. Our accomplishments are your successes. Our volunteers, our teachers and most importantly our students are the real heroes of the TCF journey and we, the trustees, wish to salute and thank them for these accomplishments.
In loving memory of Sharma-ji;
To have known Sharmaji, is to have understood the meaning of “joie-de-vivre”;
To have talked with Sharmaji, is to have seen wisdom in action;
To have worked with Sharmaji, is to have experienced generosity;
To have been mentored by Sharmaji, is to have been blessed in life.
Sharma-ji, who recently received the eternal embrace of the Lord was a celebration of joy, wisdom and boundless giving. From the very initial days of TCF and life at Mantri Tranquil Apartments, he was a guiding light to all of us in so many ways. Ever ready to roll up his sleeves and get into action – as a teacher, as a volunteer, as a fundraiser, as a builder of organizations including the Tranquil Seniors Club, as a Rotarian, as election volunteer,… the list is endless. His infectious enthusiasm for life touched every soul lucky enough to know him.
For us at TCF, he was a rock and pillar of support as we established and grew the organization in its initial days. The strong foundation he helped us lay is what has enabled us to be able to support over 500 kids today. And we are sure, these 500 are just a fraction of the many lives, which today are better off, for having had the fortune of crossing paths with Sharmaji in one-way or the other.
To Ravi, Chaya & family – our deepest condolences. Thank you for sharing him with all of us. Our lives have been forever enriched through our association with him.
We are sure that there are a bunch of lucky kids running around Sharmaji, wherever he is today. May his soul rest in peace. Om Shanti !!!
Dear Friends of TCF,
We trust you are well and winding down 2023. As we close out this calendar year, we wanted to share an end of year update on the last few months of hectic activities your team has been involved in.
At GHPS (Gubbalala Govt Higher Primary School), our focus on a holistic school experience continued unchanged. After Independence Day on Aug 15, we colourfully celebrated Teachers day, Children’s day, Karnataka Rajyotsava and Diwali at the school. This year we also celebrated World Public Transportation day on Nov 10 with a visit from our regional transport office officials. Another highlight was the celebration of World Democracy day where we all once again committed to the cause, by swearing to uphold the constitution, with an oath taking ceremony on the preamble. To know our neighborhood, students were taken to the local post office to see firsthand how the postal department works.
We were able to continue our attempts at inspiring a scientific spirit by organizing a dedicated viewing party of Chandrayaan moon landing and followed that up with a visit to the planetarium for Class 6&7. Weekly Yoga classes continue and progress has been a sight to behold. Class 5,6 & 7 students also enjoyed themselves on a 2 day out-station picnic covering multiple locations.
Our kids continue to excel at co-curricular activities. At this year’s inter school cultural competition Pratibha Karenje, we again won multiple prizes at the zone, district and taluk level.
The physical environment at GHPS continues to improve with new wall decorations & paintings, installation of a sump for water storage and supply assurance & enhancements to learning tools with projectors and library improvements.
Our TCF academic director Akila continues to push boundaries, despite her full time involvement at GHPS. In the fall, she published an article in the journal Practice Connect from India’s #1 teaching university – Azim Premji University – on the topic – Innovation in Early Childhood Education.
The Alumni program continues to build momentum. Pavan Kalyan became the first GHPS student to secure admission into a PhD program. He will be pursuing a doctorate in Physics at PES University. Supriya graduated with honours from her accounting program and landed a job at a leading Bangalore firm. Sudeep secured honours in his 6th semester engineering exams. Tejaswini was awarded the school topper award with a cash prize at her high school and is currently aspiring to take the NEET exam to pursue medicine. Shivakumar secured admission to M.C.A. program at PES University. 1st batch of 5 alumni students completed their 6+ months “Computer Basics” weekend coaching conducted by TCF. Next batch has been kicked off in Oct-23.
Our hearts are filled with happiness & pride in seeing all our alumni work. We are working hard to push the boundaries of what is possible and continue to reach new heights. Under the able stewardship of Shyamala, our alumni program continues to flourish.
We are fortunate to have Akila & Shyamala as pillars of the organization moving us forward.
As we reflect on the past year and these few months in particular, we are humbled by the trust you – our patrons and donors – have placed in us. We could not have achieved what we have without your active support, guidance and encouragement. Thank you for the same.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, safe holiday season and a very happy, bright and prosperous New Year 2024.
Look forward to helping our children achieve new levels of success next year.