The Vels Academy

The Vels Academy is out in Lakkapuram, in the Punjai area near Erode. It’s a bit away from the main city noise, which gives us a different kind of atmosphere. We have some green space around us and the air feels a little fresher than it does in the town center. The school is a simple layout, mostly just classrooms and a few offices for the admin work. We don’t have a lot of staff, so everyone ends up doing a bit of everything, whether it’s helping with the bus routes or looking after the garden area. The building is painted in plain colors and we try to keep it clean, though with so many students, there’s always a bit of dust. We have some outdoor space where the kids play during their breaks, and you can usually hear them from quite a distance. Most of our students come from the surrounding villages and the nearby parts of Erode. We keep a regular routine here, starting early and finishing up by the late afternoon. There isn't anything particularly grand about the place, but it works for the families who live around here. We just provide a place for the children to gather and learn what they need to. It’s a quiet life for the most part, just focusing on the books and the daily tasks we have in front of us.