“ಏಳಿ, ಎದ್ದೇಳಿ ಮತ್ತು ಗುರಿ ತಲುಪುವವರೆಗೂ ನಿಲ್ಲದಿರಿ"

”ಜ್ಞಾನವೆಂಬ ಖಜಾನೆಗೆ ಅಭ್ಯಾಸವೇ ಕೀಲಿಕೈ ”

"ಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳು ತಮ್ಮ ದೋಷವನ್ನು ಮೊದಲು ಕಂಡುಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ"

"ಅನುಭವವು ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ಸರ್ವಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕ, ಉಸಿರಾಡುವವರೆಗೂ ಕಲಿಕೆ, ಜ್ಞಾನಾರ್ಜನೆಯೇ ಜೀವನದ ಗುರಿಯಾಗಿರಲಿ"

- ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ವಿವೇಕಾನಂದ

Kasturi Kannada Shale, Montreal

A Community Based Kannada Language Teaching Program for Children

Vision

To teach children the language Kannada, a language of the people of the state of Karnataka, India. There is a large community of people domiciled from the state of Karnataka, India residing in Montreal area who like their children to be able read, write and understand the Kannada language. This community based program is run by volunteers to teach these children the basics of Kannada language. It is open for anyone who is interested in learning the Kannada language.

Mission & Logistics

The program is run as a not-for-profit mission supported by a team of volunteer teachers and support staff. Initiated by interested parents and enthusiastic volunteer teachers and support staff members, a proposal was developed and approved by the parent group. The proposal involved collecting a small contribution from parents on a per child enrolled basis to cover the cost of specially prepared text books and materials developed by Kannada Academy with its office located in the state of Karnataka and any other incidental expenses for running the program, as well as contributing a small donation to Kannada Academy when the children complete the different levels. The school was to be run on a virtual basis using the web based Google Classrooms Teaching Platform, which were being made available from the Kannada Academy including using their web sharing platforms and website. It required local volunteer to structure and run the websites and provide the necessary help to the teachers. In addition to the regular classroom activities, occasional get-togethers, picnics and other activities were to be included as part of the program so that all children and their parents could meet and greet and have fun.

When students pass each level, a convocation gathering would be arranged, certificates distributed to the children a token of gift presented to the teachers. From the funds that is left, a small donation could be made to the Kannada Academy who provided the instruction package free of cost.