THE Newsletter of Swami Vivekananda College Arise! Awake! and stop not till the goal is reached! Volume 1. Issue 1 REG: 3004 TEL: 6700340 FAX: 6703030 PO Box 716, Nadi | Email: svcfiji@gmail.com
Editorial Board Chairperson: Mr R Krishna Editor: Mrs M Reddy Co-Editor: Mr V Chand Members: Mrs M Kanta, Mrs L Ahmaz, Mr K Chand, Headboy & Headgirl
Highlights •Administration Message • Manager’s Message • PTFA President’s Message • Student Council • Department Activities • Scolarships and Assistance
Up Coming Events • Opening of the Home Eco nomics Lab sponsored by Courts Homecentres and Jacks of Fiji. • Commissioning of 30,000 Litre Water for Life Foundation Bore - well Project on 16th April at 2.00pm. • Term 1 examination.
Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man.
From the Editor… Swami Vivekananda College like Fiji Itself is developing in a positive posi po siti si tive and and progressive manner. “The Awakener” our first newsletter h hig highlights ighl hlight htss the growth, evolution, accomplishments and happenings of Swami SSwa wami Vivekananda College. This gives chance to our students, teachers, teac te ache ac hers he rs,, rs parents, friends and well wishers to learn and be informed about bout bo ut haphap h apap penings at SVC. Through the combined effort of the “Awakener” wake wa kene ke ner” ne team we are trying our best to present the best and accurate rate ra te information for the well wishers. Since 2009, the management actively got involved in upgrad-ing and uplifting the standard of education at SVC by renovating classrooms so that the environment is safe, friendly and conducive to learning. To ensure that quality teaching and learning is taking place, the college has taken initiative to create an E-learning environment, professionally develop teachers to use educational softwares to deliver lessons effectively and train teachers to be computer literate. e. iv In addition the college is fully committed towards effectivee teachteac te ach ac hing and learning in the school. We are fortunate that the co college coll lllleg egee eg manager presented a paper to the Ministry of Education o on n 21 21st st century teaching. Teaching in the 21st century is not an easy task. To keep the students motivated constantly the teachers of today have to keep abreast with information technology. The college is constantly striving to upgrade its technological resources. We are indeed grateful to the management for providing computers for the staff members to maximize learning and enable the teachers to use ICT in the teaching and learning process. Moreover, the efforts of the teachers were rewarded when Komal of Form 7B brought glory by winning the oratory contest organized by Save the Children for the Nadi District. Finally, I take this opportunity to thank the management, MOE, administration, teachers, parents and friends for your constant support and well wishes. May SVC continue to bear the fruit of God’s blessing. Mrs Mala Reddy 1- Form 3 block renovated 2-Form 5 block renovated 3-Form 4 block renovated 4-Friendly environment for learning
5- Teachers keeping abreast with IT 6- Using ICT in teaching 7- Industrial Arts block renovated
From the Principal Welcome to the year 2010 with a promise that ‘The Awakener’ our newsletter will hopefully come to you more frequently so that the pulse and rhythm of the college will be felt by everyone who has a stake in this college. Generally 2009, has been a very successful year with great achievements. In the academic arena we achieved a pass rate of 100% at FJC, 90% at FSLC and 97% at FSFE. To top it all 6 students were able to get to the MBBS program at the Fiji School of Medicine. Our strength definitely lies in our students. Two students received AUSAID and One student received FAB scholarship to do MBBS. Several of our students have joined reputable institution in 2010. As for the infrastructure developments, a massive upgrading was carried out in 2009 – 2010 to upgrade the Form 3 to Form 5 wing to give a very conducive learning environment to students. Furthermore our ambitious IT project should be completed well before Term II – so that students can access a different level of learning. All innovations and improvement would not have been possible without the help of numerous individuals, companies, ex-students and friends (too many to name) who continually come and express their sincere desire to make a difference. At Swami Vivekananda College we feel your presence and definitely we are indebted and touched by your goodwill. Finally, I take this opportunity to thank the management for being very proactive in the running of the institution and I do sincerely hope that with the hard work of the editorial team of ‘The Awakener’ everyone associated with our college will be better informed about the College.
Mr Mahendra Singh
From the Vice Principal It is with great pleasure I write this first community newsletter as Acting Vice Principal of Swami Vivekananda College. I feel privileged to be serving here at this great institution. Another year is flying by and when parents and students read this, we will have commenced week 11 of the first term. Teachers are well into the key content for the term and for most subjects, the main assignment or assessment piece is underway. As Acting Vice Principal at the college, my work will be about ensuring a safe and productive learning environment where all students can achieve to their fullest potential. I firmly believe that it takes a whole village to raise a child. This means that the quality of the partnership between the parents and guardians, the child, the local community and our school staff is the key to achieving the best possible for the students on their journey from form 3 to form 7. I see and feel a genuine community spirit at this college already, which has translated into outstanding results for students at form 4, form 6 and form 7 in 2009. Finally to the parents, if your child is coming home saying that they have no homework, please contact their teachers. It is extremely rare that a student in the college will not have work that they should be completing in their time. This may be in the form of an assignment or study for an upcoming test, but to say that they have nothing is never correct. Students need to have developed an effective study strategy that works for them. For some students, this may mean reading over their class notes, for others it may be rewriting work from that day to assist in retaining this or for others it may mean organising what they have learnt into a mind map so they can see how it all fits together. Study that is not focused can often be ineffective, so it is not always the amount of study – quality and not always quantity. It is important that students have a clear goal so that there is a clear purpose to their study. This assists with motivation and focus when the student may be feeling as though they had enough. The college is very much committed in ensuring that the students get quality education. Lot of initiative have been shown by the management and staff in bringing a change in teaching and learning process. The college is more focused on outcome based learning.
Holi Celebration
College Manager presenting cake and certificate to the best form of the month - Form 7B
From the Assist. Principal We must realize that Education is not only academic excellence but an integral part of it is co- curricular activities. For holistic development through which character is formed and strength of the mind is increased, there is a need for spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional, aesthetic and physical development. To achieve this, a number of events were recorded on the calendar. Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme - The college has taken bee farming as one of the major projects in this scheme which is sponsored by Vodafone. Crime Stoppers - The team comprises of 2 members from each Form. The theme – Do the Right Thing when nobody is watching –in all efforts for a crime free, SVC. Awareness Programme – was organized by Nadi Police on 10/3/10. Prophet Mohammed Celebration – guest speaker was Dr Mohd Yunush- highlighted on the life of the Prophet Mohammed (P BUH). Holi Celebration- College Head girl spoke on the significance of Holi. Youth Programme/Ram Naumi – There were special speakers from within the school to create awareness on these programmes. First Aid- Club has been activated, first Aid Kits upgraded – Issuance of Medication (esp. panadol) to students who have parental consent only. OHS- has been meeting regularly. Risk areas have been identified and attended to so that SVC is OHS compliant. I thank all the stakeholders for their contributions so far.
Mrs Sabra Hussein
Chief guest - Dr Mohd Yunush during Prophet Mohdcelebration
I have a firm commitment to teaching and learning to ensure that students have genuine options and quality pathways at the completion of their secondary schooling. I thank the students, parents and staff for your commitment towards the college and I look forward to working with you all to make this great college even better.
Mr Rajesh Krishna
Police officer addressing students
From the College Manager
From the President, PTFA
On behalf of the Board of Management of the College I extend our warm greetings to all our friends, ex-students, well-wishers and Swami Vivekananda College family. I congratulate the College for taking this initiative of starting the Awakener through which the College can keep all stakeholders timely informed of its plans, activities and achievements. The College management has been very active in providing better facilities to the students and teachers so that they have a good teaching-learning environment. Below is a report on the various projects: Completed: Since April last year, 23 classrooms have been renovated at a cost of about $180,000. The worn out wooden floors have overlaid with concrete floor; ventilation has been improved by replacing the fixed glass windows with louver blades and all the classrooms have been nicely painted. In Progress: The Home Economics Lab has been relocated and is undergoing complete upgradation with the generous sponsorship of Courts Home Centre and Jacks of Fiji. We are in the final stages of completion of the much needed 30,000 litre bore-well water project with the generous funding by Water for Life Foundation. Starting Shortly: During the first term holidays we plan to complete the renovation of the remaining four classrooms and add two more computer labs. SVC Intranet Project: This is the next major project wherein technologies will be introduced for eLearning and eTeaching to keep up the 21st Century education. It will involve setting up an intranet with 250 computers connected to a powerful server which will allow all students to access a rich library of educational softwares relevant to their subjects such as English, Science, Mathematics etc. Teachers have been provided 16 computers in the staffroom. Multimedia projectors have been provided for teachers to use in classrooms. The project is expected to cost about $100,000. We request our friends, ex-students and well-wishers to come forward to support this pioneer initiative. More information will be provided in the next issue and on the website. Website: The Ramakrishna Mission’s website www.rkmfiji.org will be launched shortly and will carry up-to-date information of the various activities and projects. It has a special feature for a database of our exstudents and provision of supporting the various projects by donating online. We invite all our friends, well-wishers and ex-students to join hands with us in the various developmental projects.
The SVC PTFA had not been functioning for some time. As a result, SVC PTFA meeting was held on Friday, 5th March, 2010 to revive the association so that PTFA can play an active and important role in providing quality education. Parents, ex-students, friends and well wishers were invited to attend this important meeting. PTFA plays a vital role in the development of the institution. The effectiveness of the college depends largely on the quality of the partnership between its various individuals and groups. Showing mutual respect and understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders is the key to developing and maintaining quality education. An interim committee was formed to revive the PTFA. The newly appointed members will run the association for a year and then the election will be held next year. The following people were appointed as office bearers and executive committee members: President Vice President Vice President Vice President Secretary Assistant Secretary Treasurer Assistant Treasurer
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Mr Hemant Kumar Mr Harish Ratanji Mr Mahendra Singh Mr Girdhar Raniga Mr Rajesh Krishna Ms Ranjeeta Raniga Mr Ashwin Nandha Mrs Sabra Hussein
Members: 1. Mr Mesake Ledua 2. Mrs Devika Kumar 3. Mr Livinai Paul 4. Mr Etuate Bakanicewa 5. Mr kavinesh Reddy
6. Mr Shavneel Kumar 7. Mrs Geeta Krishna 8. Mr Pravinesh Mudaliar 9. Mrs Sumitra Gounder 10. Mr Pralad Krishna I, on behalf of the interim committee would like to thank all the parents, teachers and friends for your support and reposing faith in my team.
Mr Hemant Kumar
Swami Tadananda Basic science lab renovated
Parents & friends enjoying tea after the meeting
Geography lab renovated
Head prefects presenting a wellwishing card to the Assistant Principal on International Womens Day. Outgoing PTFA Secretary chairing the meeting PTFA Secretary addressing during the meeting
Student Council
Department Highlights
Prefects Investiture was held on 12th February. The Chief Guest for the occassion was Mr Shaneel Sudhakar-CEO Info Systems. There are 108 members in the student council. 54 are form prefects and 54 are senior prefects. The student council has been working to come up with a project which is useful to the students. Ideas for the project have been proposed by the members of the student council and plans are being made on the selection for the best project that is to be carried out this year.
PEMAC Department The upcoming events for our department in this term are Athletics Zonal Meet at International Secondary School grounds in week 11 (Wednesday & Thursday). SVC is providing a dedicated team of athletes who will be participating in this competition. We are also building up our training for the Coca- Cola Games in the end of term 1.
Athletics Training
Social Science Department Social science Department organised religious and cultural events and commemorated Earth Hour. The earth Hour was observed in the school from 25th -26th of March.Awareness programmes were conducted by the form 5 Geography students. Also in the staffroom it was moved by the department to utilise plastic plates instead of paper plates for serving during functions to minimise waste and conserve resources.
Water and Fruit Day
Home Economics Department The Home Economics Department launched the ‘Eat Healthy and Stay Healthy’ programme to promote importance of healthy eating and good nutrition in school. Every Wednesday is declared fruit and water day
Head prefects - Kavita & Latchman taking the pledge
Prefect Investiture
Best Form Of The Month Award February : Form 3E, 3F, 4F,5D,6A & 7B March : Form 3B, 4E, 5A, 6D & 7B International Womens Day
This Issue is Sponsored by:
Chief guest - Mr Shaneel Sudhakar during prefects investiture
Scholarships and Financial Assistance The College took the initiative to help students who were facing difficulty with their fees this year. Sixty two students applied for assistance totaling $4740.So far we have been able to assist twenty nine students through generous donors listed below. However, we still need $2900 to help the remaining students. Benefactor Dr Uma D. Sharma Bobby Raniga Sat Narain Nick Sharma Hari K. Gounder
Address Nadi Nadi Nadi NSW,Australia Aucland,NZ
Amount $500 $500 $200 $500 $140
# students 10 10 5 5 2
Furthermore, the Raymond Pillai Foundation Trust gave full scholarship to six form 3 students. Our heartfelt gratitude to all the individuals, families and organizations who have kindly contributed towards the education of children. We are optimistic that this assistance will definitely boost student’s academic performance. Mrs Sarojni Raj (Counsellor)