For the past three decades, the ELGi Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore has enabled hundreds of children from low-income families to realise their dreams. The school, established by the city-based compressor manufacturer ELGi Equipments in 1989, has been offering access to affordable quality education since then.
The company’s founder-chairman L.G. Varadarajulu, whose initials its name bears, had a vision for sustainable human development, which set off a spark that has over the years grown into what the current managing director Dr Jairam Varadaraj calls “a mighty flame, illuminating the lives of hundreds of socially disadvantaged children and their families.”
Living up to its vision of “giving back to society by developing good citizens through holistic quality education at subsidised cost,” the ELGi School has, over the years reached out to communities around Vellalore area in Coimbatore. It has been fulfilling educational needs by offering scholarships to deserving children from low-income backgrounds. Apart from the emphasis on education for the girl child, it also offers free-of-cost education to children living in orphanages.
The school has also adopted Total Quality Management practices to help teachers and students improve their performance using a systematic approach
It has followed the motto of ‘Aspire and Excel’ and enabled students to achieve academic excellence in state-level board exams, with many of them securing perfect scores in math, accountancy, computer science, social science and commerce. Its pedagogical approach comprises of innovative teaching methodologies and student-centric coaching strategies.
The teachers focus on the unique needs and learning gaps of each student on the basis of analytical studies; this approach has led to consistently improved performance and results over the years. The school library has a vast and well-curated collection of 10,000 books, while there is also a well-equipped auditorium.
The school has also adopted TQM (total quality management) practices to help teachers and students improve their performance using a systematic approach. It prides itself on achieving a balance between academic and non-academic excellence, with a graduating district-level topper in the grade X board examinations, along with award-winning athletes.
Its focus on holistic education also ensures that physical education is a core component of the daily curriculum. Over the years, its students have won accolades in national- and state-level competitions in track and field such as athletics, basketball, gymnastics and roll ball skating. More recently, two grade VII and VIII students won gold medals at the state-level roller skating competition.
Students are also encouraged to explore a variety of hobbies and interests so as to help them develop into well-rounded personalities. With focused clubs ranging from cookery, science, public speaking and art, and the National Cadet Corps and Scouts & Guides, they have multiple choices for avenues to hone and nurture their talent.
The school's efforts have been rewarded: today, some of its alumni, employed by multinational companies, are pursuing careers in engineering, chartered accountancy, medicine and biochemistry.
Education, the ELGi experience proves, has immense power to transform.