Model Farm
The Green
Upper Poppleton
York
YO26 6DP
01904 341004

Patrons
Felicity Kendal CBE
Maharaja of Benares
Sir Mark Tully OBE
Lady Young
Madeline Weinrib
Obeetee Pvt Ltd
Surya Inc
Greetings!
As we do not have the resources to keep every pupil from primary school through to class 12 graduation, we have to set competitive exams in classes 5, 8 and 10 to select which students will most benefit from the limited number of places we have to offer and to also give the teacher a class of students with similar level of ability.

It is always with a heavy heart that we go about deciding which students will progress to the next level, and which we reluctantly have to disappoint. It is so hard to turn away a worthy child who has worked hard and has potential, but hasn’t quite made the grade. It becomes even more difficult as we also allow children from other schools to compete, so being a child from Project Mala does not guarantee you a place at the next grade.
It is, therefore, very pleasing to relate a story of three children, two girls and a boy, who all made it back to Project Mala having failed to qualify for our middle school.

I can't emphasise too much what a magnificent feat this is, as this year only 8 external children out of 320 applications qualified for the 70 places we have to offer in our secondary school.

These three children were so determined to return to Project Mala that they put in enormous effort and, with help from other Project Mala pupils and a teacher from the same village, returned to Patehra school as senior students. All three belong to Kakrad village and attended our Patehra primary school.
Kriti belongs to a low caste family and her parents work as labourers. The seven members of the family all live in two rooms in a remote village near our Patehra school. Kriti joined our primary school in April 2015 but she failed to qualify for the middle school and had to leave after three years.

She said “My uncle and cousins used to tease me that I couldn’t pass the exam. I asked my father to admit me in another school and promised them that I would work hard. I took admission in a local Government middle school in my village, but kept in my mind the intention to re-join the secondary school in Project Mala. When I got to know about the announcement for applying for secondary school in Project Mala, I requested my father to apply, which he did and I qualified for it now. I am very happy.”
Pratibha has a pleasant disposition but unfortunately she had to leave Project Mala Patehra in 2018 as she, like Kriti didn’t achieve the qualifying mark of 51.11%. She also took admission in a local Government school in her village of Kakrad where she continued working hard with the dream that she would re-join Project Mala one day.
Pratibha's father runs a small village stall and he is very supportive of the education for his five children. Pratibha’s elder siblings helped her with her homework and to prepare for the Project Mala entrance exam.

During her interview Pratibha said that she wants to become a teacher when she grows up and she would like to help those Project Mala students who fall behind and don’t get the required grades to advance. For the past three years she missed her primary friends, the school, teachers and facilities she used to enjoy here and now she is very happy to be back.
Shiva scored 50.33% in the 2018 entrance test for Patehra middle where the selection cut off mark was 51.11%. We felt very sad for him. On the other hand we feel very happy to see the determination of such children, who never lose hope and bounce back.

This time Shiva proved himself and has now been selected for Patehra class nine. His three sisters are still studying in Project Mala and they were very helpful to him. He gives them credit for motivating him to re-join Project Mala after three years.

His father runs a small village stall to support his family. Their house has just two small mud rooms where the whole family lives but he is always motivated and helpful to his children. Shiva wants to become a scientist. He is very happy to be back at his old school and feels now his dream will be fulfilled.
As these three children are new, they are not sponsored, so if you know anyone who might be interested in sponsoring them please pass on this newsletter.
Robin Garland MBE Anne Gilmour BA PGCE DipSpLD
Project Mala
01904 341004
mail@projectmala.org