An individual’s initiatives can change the lives of many. Coimbatore-based NGO Inaikum Kaigal is one such case. Ask the students of Corporation High School, KK Pudur and they will tell you why.

The Corporation High School, KK Pudur was ranked last (26th) in terms of students’ performance in the Class XII board exams of 2011. Inaikum Kaigal decided to lend a helping hand to the students of the school to help them perform better in the board exams.

Thus, in 2012, an after school centre was established and all the students of the Corporation High School KK Pudur were given extra coaching after their classes, free of cost. The centre was set up in a building owned by the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation in Sai Baba Colony. Within just one year of offering extra classes, the students of this school performed well in their class XII board exams. From 26, the Corporation High School KK Pudur moved to 11th rank.

About 250 students have benefited from the after-school coaching centre. Inaikum Kaigal has five volunteers who take turns to coach the students in various subjects. We are told that the NGO also sponsors the education of five college students. Two of them visit the after-school coaching centre and teach the students. Currently, Inaikum Kaigal offers classes in the mornings, evenings, and on the weekends.

Inaikum Kaigal was founded by R. Sankara Narayanan in 2010. “Ever since the NGO came into being, we have been working on various environmental and social causes. Having worked on various projects, I felt that the students in the corporation schools require support to do well in their exams. Since they cannot afford to go to private tuition centres, we founded the Inaaikum Kaigal after-school learning centre,” R. Sankara Narayanan says.