“Education is the movement from darkness to light”
-Allan Bloom
‘Akhankara’- a major community service project carried out by the of the Rotaract Club of Faculty of Science, University of Colombo. Phase one of this project comprised a series of seminars for O/L students of Illukowita Junior School, that was successfully completed under the guidance of Joint Community Service directors Rtr. Praneeth Chandrasekara, Rtr. Chandalee Jayanchana and Rtr. Navishka Kularathna.
This was conducted for the 6th consecutive time after appointing Rtr. Sihan Sankalpa and Rtr. Tharushi Illukpitiya as the coordinators of the project. Illukowita Junior School is situated in a calm and serene village called Thummodara, which resides next to the spectacular Seethawaka Botanical gardens.
There were seventeen girls and ten boys, pursuing their dreams of success under the roof of the Grade-11 classroom. Around ten club members comprising of first, second and third year students of University of Colombo, visited the school every weekend for three consecutive months to educate and guide these students for the upcoming O/L examination.
The seminar series was mainly focused on the subjects of Science, Mathematics and English and a subject coordinator was appointed for each subject. They were Rtr. Charani Sandupama, Rtr. Nimantha Bandara and Rtr. Manodya Herath respectively. Special attention was given when teaching English since these students were particularly weak in the subject. Also the principal of the school, Mr.K.K.W.Udayasiri was a great inspiration and his struggle to create a brighter future for these kids is admirable.
During this period, a special celebration for Children’s day was organized by our Rotaract club where both the students and club members engaged in fun-filled activities. It was certainly a memorable day for both parties. Furthermore, a motivational session for the students was conducted by rotaractors to boost their morale.
At the end of the seminar series, we were able to notice an immense improvement in their knowledge in the above subjects and a promising preparation for the O/L examination. Although it was just a countable number of days that we spent with these students through ‘Akhankara’, the memories made while we were trying our best to help them out are uncountable. We wish them all a bright future, blessed with success!
Written by Rtr. Thrushi Illukpitiya & Rtr.Sihan Sankalpa
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