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2003 MARCH UPDATE
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March 2003 Update for
Regina Pacis
(changing lives since 1952)
Change A Life Program
(changing lives since 1998)
http://www.theworldnow.com/cal/
Don't just sit there, Change A Life!
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This update is sent to Sponsors and friends of the Change A Life Program. This update may be freely distributed if copied in its entirety. It cannot be printed for public distribution nor emailed commercially without permission.
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What's In This Update:
Graciously provided by Sr. Margaret Fernandes, Principal,
this a history of Regina Pacis Convent School from its beginnings to present.
included at the end: educational subjects and extra curricular activities
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What do you know about Regina Pacis Convent School?
Do you know what it means when your Butterfly attends Night School or Day School?
Read this and learn more!
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"Regina Pacis Convent School" makes up three different schools: Regina Pacis Day School, Regina Pacis Night School and Regina Pacis Open School.
But let's start at the beginning...
The organization itself began in 1951, over 50 years ago, as the St. Vicenta Maria Home for Destitute Girls. It is run by the Congregation of the Religious of Mary Immaculate, an order of nuns founded by St.Vicenta Maria in 1876 in Spain who had a desire to uplift the lives of underprivileged girls and young women.
The Regina Pacis Convent School was founded in the year 1965 under very peculiar circumstances. There was a children's Home at Regina Pacis with over 200 young children (girls) between the ages of 1 year and 16 to 17 years. Only a very few of these children could be sent out to neighbouring recognised schools. The rest, the vast majority, had schooling in the Home school but they could not be given a certificate, as the school was informal and unrecognised by the Government.
In 1965 Sister Margaret Fernandes, a young sister who was a trained teacher, suggested to the superior that they get the school recognised by the Primary Education Dept. Receiving full cooperation from her superior and from the other members of the religious community she went ahead and received a very enthusiastic response from the authorities of the Primary Education Department of the Maharashtra Government. Four rooms over the old garages were adapted, painted by the sisters and the older children and equipped with benches, desks, charts and other equipment, much of it donated by neighbouring elite schools such the Convent of Jesus and Mary, the J.B. Petite School etc. The formal school began with four classes: the primary classes I to IV.
It was great fun to sew uniforms (blue with blue and white checks) blue ribbons for the hair and shoes donated by the parishioners of the Gloria church parish and collected by the group of young Christian workers of the domestic workers section. The inspectors of the primary dept. adopted the school as part of their project, visited it frequently and encouraged the sisters all they could.
Slowly a class was added each year and in the year 1969 the school had a brand new school building with beautiful classrooms, a huge multi-purpose hall with a handsome stage. The children were now comfortable. Some children from outside the Home were admittedthese were restricted to poor families, mostly from Muslim families, who could not get admission to the more elite schools. A decision was taken not to expand the school to more than one division of each grade and to keep it within the reach of the poorest of the poorest. This decision remains to this day.
Soon it was found that there were a huge population of young girls who had never had the opportunity to study. Domestic workers and other school dropouts. In 1969 the Night School was started. As a special concession the educational authorities permitted the school to be run from 4.30p.m. to 8.00p.m. Normally a Night school should not start before 7.00p.m. But this concession was made as it was pointed out the young girls could not be expected to be out at such a late hour. Besides, the house workers had to be home by 8.00 p.m. to serve the dinner to their employers and to wash up the dishes etc.
From the first batch of high school girls in the Night school, seven appeared for the Secondary School certificate exam and two of them passed with a first class! These two were domestic workers. One of them had been working as a domestic worker from the age of seven years. The other, also a domestic worker, is today a teacher herself, married, and with two beautiful children who are very successful in life.
Another girl, who started life in Bombay at the age of nine as a domestic worker, was permitted by her employer to attend the Night School. She too finished High School with flying colours. Today she has a very successful life, a beautiful daughter, and she is a regular donor to the needs of the Night School. Every time we have an extraordinary function she travels all the way from Pune (a three-hour ride by train) to be present and to help financially.
Lastly, in 1989 the Institute was accredited to the National Open School (NOS) of the Delhi N.O.S.. It was the first Institution in Bombay to be affiliated to the N.O.S.. At first only girls were inscribed. Today we have both boys and girls who study through our Institution for the N.O.S.. The number today is 500. The National Open School is a great boon to boys and girls who have to work and study, to adults who have never had a chance to study (specially young Muslim ladies) to school dropouts. These young adults can clear the Secondary and Higher secondary stages in slow stages. They are permitted to choose between a vast variety of subjects, avoiding subjects, which in the normal school curriculum prove a stumbling block such as mathematics, science, and languages. They can also study at their own pace. As they can complete the whole secondary course in a three year period presenting themselves for one or two subjects at a time and at intervals of six months. Some of the subjects they are able to take up are domestic science courses such as cooking, tailoring, laundry and computer skills or typing.
This, then, is the educational facility offered at Regina Pacis to different groups of youngsters. The stress is always of giving an opportunity to those who have lacked it and, above all, to promote the maximum of their capacity of all young girls and women so they may be empowered.
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CURRICULUM IN THE SCHOOLS
Subjects offered in the Day and Night High Schools -
Languages: English, Hindi and Marathi [the official language of Maharashtra, the area Bombay is located in]
Mathematics: Arithmetic, Algebra Geometry
Social Studies: History, Geography
Environmental studies
Arts and Crafts
Music
Physical Education
Extra Curricular Activities: Musical instruments, School Band, Dramatics, Elocution, Social Service, Sports
The schools participate in all the interschool events. In Science Exhibition, the Night school stood first among 57 other schools and the Day school won second place in our South Bombay zone.
Other schools such as the Convent of Jesus and Mary asked us for the loan of our school band for their sports day as our girls now play well. The neighbouring police force also asked for a performance on their Celebration and our children have become familiar to the officers of the police station who are very kind and attentive to them.
One group of young ones are going through a music therapy. They have a singing lesson once a week with the object of exploring and developing their singing talent but also in order to help them to come out of themselves through music expression. It has worked wonderfully with some of the little ones
Another group of the children from the boarding take swimming lessons at the Y.M.C.A. club nearby.
Some are learning to play musical instruments.
On the 1st of March the network of Boardings in Bombay is organising a "mela" (fair) for the children and one of our children has been selected to compere the show. She won the place with an essay she wrote on the "Importance of Learning English" and on the responses she gave at the interview.
We are so proud of our students!
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ABOUT THIS UPDATE
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This Change A Life Update was distributed by
Deanna McDowall Zack, volunteer international sponsor coordinator.
If you have input, questions, suggestions, critiques or want to contribute to future updates or to the CAL program in general, please don't hesitate to email
cal@theworldnow.com
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