

Overview
We observe that many children drop out from school due to poor scholastic performance. It is of extreme concern when a child who is skilled in self-help, motor, communication and social areas becomes unsuitable to an age-appropriate class because he or she is found to be lacking in typical academic aspects.
We believe that, this could also occur due to issues in the learning process. On the other hand, some children find it difficult to meet the demands of a mainstream school due to deficits in socio-emotional skills and/or academic skills.
At the Brindavan Junior Centre, we aim to redress the learning process to cater to 7-15 year old children with specific education needs in the academic areas of:
- Oral receptive/expressive language
- Reading
- Comprehension
- Handwriting
- Spelling
- Written expression
- Mathematics
Programme Details
- Development of Skills: in defined academic areas through remedial training methods and techniques to suit the unique learning styles of the children.
- Development of Socio-Emotional Learning: through a variety of activities including theatre, art, circle time and sports
- Formulation of Individualised Educational Plans: for every child followed by regular monitoring of his/her progress.
- Customised Text Materials and Worksheets: developed by the teachers to suit the functioning level of the children.
- Regular Parent-Teacher Interaction: to discuss the child’s progress and plan further.
- Extracurricular Activities: including yoga, karate, story-telling, and organised indoor and outdoor games.
- Counselling Sessions: for students and parents
Basic Academic Skills Program
Children admitted to this programme go through different levels based on age and skill levels. Upon completion of this foundation programme, they will go on to the Senior Programme, leading to either pre-vocational training or school completion through the NIOS/SSLC curriculum. We work 5 days a week from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm.
Admission to this programme is based on a detailed educational assessment conducted by the Brindavan Team. This helps us understand the strengths and areas of difficulty of each child and helps us decide how we can proceed from there. Please do get in touch with us at brindavansld.@gmail.com for further enquiries.
Gallery
(Click on any thumbnail image to open a larger view and slideshow)
Junior Centre Team

Coordinator
Rajani Padmanabhan
Rajani is the coordinator of the Junior Centre. She has taught English, Business Studies and Economics. She is passionate about Math and believes that it is a life skill.
She is a tutor on the SLD and PIE courses offered by Brindavan. She believes that there is a solution for every so-called problem or difficulty. She firmly stands by – “let‘s see what can be done; and not be pulled down by what cannot be done.”
She is an enthusiastic trekker and an avid reader.
Qualification
Diploma in Specific Learning Disabilities from KPAMRC, Masters in Inclusive and Special Education from University of Northampton and now pursuing PhD with the same university.
Year of Joining : 2005

Co-Coordinator
Janaki Narendra
Janaki conducts informal assessments at Brindavan Junior Centre, Jayanagar and at the after-school remedial Centre at Seshadripuram.
She has been part of the Brindavan outreach program, which involved overseeing the setting up and functioning of a resource room in a mainstream school, The Bhavan Bangalore Press School at Chamrajapete.
Qualification
Bachelor of Arts from Mount Carmel College,
Diploma in Specific Learning Difficulties from Brindavan Education Trust.
Masters in Inclusive Education from University of
Northampton.
Year of Joining : 2011

Co-Coordinator
Malathy Krishnan
Malathy teaches English and Social Studies at Brindavan Junior Centre. She is also the co-coordinator of Junior Centre. She firmly believes that encouraging children to ask questions helps in building their thinking ability. She is of the view that a teacher teaching children with special educational needs should be willing to learn, be flexible to change his / her strategies, be firmly compassionate and have a sense of humor.
She is an avid reader, blogger and finds strength in her spiritual journey.
Qualification
Diploma in Specific Learning Disabilities from KPAMRC, Masters in Inclusive and Special Education from University of Northampton, pursuing PhD (University of Northampton)
Year of Joining : 2013

Anitha Satish
Anitha is Manager – Accounts and Administration. She handles the accounts of Brindavan, manages assessment appointments and appointments with trustees and coordinators. Anita is a practical person with a terrific sense of humour and has picked up several aspects of special education by observation!
Qualification
B.Sc Computer Science
Year of Joining : 2002

Archana Gopal
Archana teaches English and works towards understanding children with special educational needs and helps them in skill development. She is open to new ideas and thoughts, and tries to implement them.
Qualification
Diploma in special education
Year of Joining : 2012

Ashok
Ashok – Manager, Operations
Ashok is a super networker, coordinates with all centre heads and makes sure everything runs smoothly. From organising events to managing supplies to repairs and maintenance coordination, he’s the invaluable go-to person that makes the centre function on the ground.
Qualification
Year of Joining : 2000

Chinmayi. G. J
Chinmayi is a teacher at the Brindavan Junior Centre and handles math and social science.
She believes that teaching is an invaluable contribution. And that it is immensely satisfying to help a child learn skills to become an independent and confident adult. She aims at making the learning process experiential and fun. She enjoys conducting activities and games for children. Apart from school, she takes private maths tuition for students of grade 5 to 10.
Qualification
B.E (Electronics and Communication)
Diploma in Specific Learning Disabilities from Brindavan
Year of Joining : 2019

Jayashree Kowshik
Jayashree has taught concepts in Science, Math and English. She has taught Political Science to the SSLC batch and puts in effort to make the subject fun and interesting through innovative and creative methods of teaching. She uses drawing extensively in her teaching. She thinks every child has the potential to learn and it is important to adopt strategies to tap this potential.
Besides teaching, she enjoys organizing events. She enjoys listening to classical music, cooking and craftwork.
Qualification
Bachelor in Arts,
Diploma in Specific Learning Difficulties from Brindavan Education Trust
Year of Joining : 2015

Malini Kannur
Malini teaches English, concepts and math by adapting lessons and creating teaching tools. She comes with a strong belief that a firm hand coupled with affection works wonders on the learning curve of a child. She is a strong advocate of early childhood skill based education with structured reading and writing programmes.
Qualification
B.Sc, Certificate Course in Special Education
Year of Joining : 2007

Paramacharitha
Paramacharitha does skill development and concept teaching in Brindavan Junior Center. She believes in encouraging children to their fullest in order to nurture their confidence to achieve independence in their life. Besides this, she loves to travel.
Qualification
M.sc psychological Counselling, Diploma in Montessori,
Diploma in Inclusive Education
Year of Joining : 2018

Rekha Kedia
Rekha always knew that her calling was to work with children with SEN. She loves to be amidst nature and the mountains, and is passionate about her work, reading, and writing.
Qualification
Diploma in Specific Learning Disabilities, Brindavan, Bangalore; course in Remedial Dance & Movement Training program for Special Educators from SAMHATI-certified by CMTAI.
Year of Joining : 2016

Srividhya S
Srividhya teaches concepts from subjects such as Science and Social Science at the Junior Centre. She likes to teach kids to assimilate facts through visualization and unconventional techniques that will enable them to be independent and understand the world around them. She emphasizes on kinesthetic learning, which provides experiences that stay planted in the minds of children. She believes that the combination of counselling skills, working with children with special education needs and working with experts at Brindavan, have helped her in enhancing the skills of the children. Besides teaching, she enjoys nature, art, fashion, culinary arts and travel.
Qualification
Bachelor in Commerce, Diploma in Personal Counselling, Diploma in Specific Learning Disabilities
Year of Joining : 2014

Uma Rajanahally
Uma has taught Home Science and Business Studies to secondary students at the Senior Center for 5 years. She currently does academic skill development and teaches Mathematics and Concepts of science and social studies using a project-based learning method for students at the Junior center.
She believes that art and craft are an outlet for expression and creativity that enhances learning. She enjoys reading books and going on treks.
Qualification
Bachelors in Social Work, Diploma in Specific learning difficulties from Brindavan, Diploma in Computer science
Year of Joining : 2008

Vidya Shampur
Vidya teaches economics, political science and functional math at our junior centre. She also has several years of experience in teaching business studies for NIOS. She is a friendly and approachable teacher; and is willing to learn. Her special skill is teaching using analogies, which makes learning fun for children.
Qualification
Bachelor of Arts
Year of Joining : 2016

Yashaswini S
Yashaswini teaches language development skills and Math to children in the Junior Centre. She loves to keep updating herself with different strategies that would benefit children, especially in Math. She has been doing differentiation in Math which is based on each child’s functioning level. Differential learning in math has been a small attempt to remove the math fear and make the child try and progress with math concepts at their own pace. She enjoys the process of learning (for herself) and implementing the learnt strategies with children.
Her other interests are reading, going treks, singing, and listening to music in all genres.
Qualification
Msc [Clinical Psychology] from Bangalore University;
Diploma in Specific Learning Disabilities from KPAMRC;
Masters in Inclusion and Special Educational Needs from the University of Northampton, UK
Year of Joining : 2015