June marked the beginning of a new association for Seshan’s Academy Infinity Pvt. Ltd. Our MD & CEO, Swarnalatha Iyer has taken up the role of Academic Counselor at Providence Convent Bangalore.

Providence Convent is a Government aided Kannada medium school. Most of the students here come from families belonging to the economically weaker section of society. The challenges they face on a day-to-day basis and the kind of support they require from a school counselor are therefore quite different from those one would find in children from privately run schools.

Swarnalatha provides personal counseling to these children with a focus on their academic and personality development. “I interact with the teachers to understand each child and identify where problems or challenges lie. I work towards involving the teachers in dealing with each child’s needs, as it should be a collaborative effort,” she says. Swarnalatha is available in the school premises on a fortnightly basis to ensure individual interaction with each child.

The children have been very receptive to the presence of a counselor on campus. In fact, within a few weeks of interacting with her they requested Swarnalatha if she could conduct a workshop that would help them plan their work and perform better academically. Thus, a one-day Study Skills Workshop was conducted for the 10th standard students in the last week of July.

The Study Skills Workshop, which was entirely in Kannada, taught the students techniques of studying effectively, ways of improving concentration, practices to improve reading and writing speed specifically in the English language, and how to prepare a workable timetable.

The teachers and students also reached out to Seshan’s Academy Infinity Pvt. Ltd. with a request to provide a Math tutors who could provide special classes for children (in Kannada). We are glad to share that we have found an able volunteer who has come forward to coach students in math, with no monetary compensation.