Expressnews
Chennai, August 2022:Mr Dinesh Victor, Managing Director, made the announcement on the occasion of the 19thanniversary of SIP Academy’s operations in India.
In the event held in Chennai recently and attended by SIP Academy franchisee partners, business associates and employees, Mr Dinesh Victor mentioned that SIP Academy had also faced a big challenge with the Pandemic in 2020 and 2021. However, thanks to passionate work by all the team members across India, the organization has bounced back andis poised to grow significantly in 2022.
As SIP Academy is now doing well he also emphasised on the importance of supporting children especially those fromunderprivileged backgrounds. The Pandemic has made this challenge even more acute as the study conducted by the Azim Premji University shows.
Mr Dinesh Victor, Managing Director – SIP Academy India said, “As an organisation, involved in developing life skills in children through its programmes of SIP Abacus (India’s leading Abacus training programme), Globalart (India’s leading chain of creative art training centres) and MiKids (a unique school based English language programme), SIP Academy was in a unique position to be able to help children and schools bridge the learning gaps and instil a strong foundation in numeracy, literacy and creative abilities of children”.
Through the SIP Foundation, the organisation is supporting multiple initiatives across India for skill development in children from economically weaker sections:
1. 148 SIP students under SIP Academy programmes across India, who lost the earning parent during the pandemic are being offered fee waiver for their monthly fees for course completion of 12 months
2. 225 additional children from under privileged sectionswill be provided fee concession upto 75% for study in 45 SIP Abacus centres across India. This will be approximate costing the organization 26 Lakhs a year.
3. Through corporate tie ups, the SIP Foundation provides language and literacy skills to children in 7 schools in Chennai, Sirkazhi (Chidambaram) and Sivakasi. The foundation conducts training programmes to equip teachers of pre-primary and primary classes, in teaching English language and phonics skills. SIP Foundation supplies books to children and teaching tools, software programme and lesson plans to teachers. Through this, the children learn to read and speak English fluently. The programme covers over 1000 students studying in the 7 schools.
4. In addition he stressed on the critical aspect of climate change and its impact on the children’s futures. To build awareness and to involve the children, the SIP Foundation announced the initiative to spearhead development of Miyawaki forests across towns and cities in India. The concept pioneered by the Japanese researcher Akira Miyawaki, the method involves planting diverse native plants densely in a small area and creating a self-sustaining ‘forest’ that promotes bio-diversity and combats carbon emission.
In the first phase three projects were announced for the year ahead.
1. 3 grounds of land at Ottiambakkam village, near Navalur, Tamil Nadu, with the support of MTA Architects, Chennai.
2. 5.5 grounds of land at Tiruvallur village, Tamil Nadu, in collaboration with International NGO ‘Children Believe’ and Integrated Rural Community Development Society (IRDS)
3. Half acre land in LandorKhoriBiodiversty Heritage site, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, launched by Mr.VivekHoshing, District Conservator of Forest, Jalgaon
The SIP Foundation is also engaged in promoting rainwater conservation through its students. The SIP Rainwater Warriors programme encourages SIP students to harvest rainwater in drought prone areas by installing themselves and encouraging their communities to install rainwater harvesting systems to capture and replenish ground water. The initiative has covered over 170 lakh square feet of area in Chennai.
Speaking at the event, Mr Dinesh Victor, Managing Director – SIP Academy India Pvt Limited stressed on the urgency to also instil soft skills in children especially in their awareness and empathy for social impact initiatives.
Mr Dinesh Victor emphasised the vision of SIP Academy to make a significant impact on the mental potential of children – such that their young lives as well as adult lives are enriched by the skills they acquire through the various programmes and initiatives that they are a part of, while acquiring life skills in SIP Academy programmes.
