Personal support and mentoring
Many of our candidates and students have had to contend with great personal challenges and traumas in their lives. Some have been brought up by a struggling single parent or an individual whose ability to be a good parent is impaired by alcohol consumption, mental and/or physical health issues.
Team members make it their responsibility to observe students’ progress and have some understanding of the difficulties those young people might face. A level of realistic insight into the lives and characters of prospective students is of vital important to us, because we want to support young, gifted and engaged people who will make the best of their opportunities and make a difference for themselves and their communities. In some instances we call upon the services of a social worker.
English class
Some candidates have difficulty in communicating well in English. Their knowledge of English may actually be good but they feel too shy to express themselves as well as they might. We decided to remove this obstacle to their education by setting up English classes at three levels for them.
Elaine provides a thorough grounding course in English at higher level, but she also organizes many trips with her group, giving them a better insight into Auroville and at the same time helping them developing personally. Basic level English is taught by Anitha, one of our alumni students whose command of English is excellent.