On the 10th December 2016, an event was held in the head office of Center for Social Research giving cheques of Rs. 14, 000 each to families who are economically handicapped, to sponsor the education of their girl children.
As a part of the follow up, Ms. Juthika Banerjee along with staff of our Vasant Kunj Crisis Management Centre, visited five such homes in the area of Koli Camp and a brief about each child has been written.
- Aniya is a student of Tammana Kindergarden Special School in Vasant Vihar, and wants to become a doctor in life. Her father is a house painter and her mother is a helper in Anganwadi and they are from an agrarian background. Aniya’s mother has studied up till 8th standard, and father has studied up till 9th standard. Her school fees is Rs 600, and the expenditure for her food, dress and others is Rs 450. Other than Aniya, they have another child.
- Kalpana goes to Sarvodaya Senior Secondary Government School in Kusumpur Pahadi and is in the 2nd standard. She has a brother and a sister. Her expenditure on dress is Rs 700, shoes are Rs 400, warm clothes are Rs 200, and bag is Rs 300. So far, from the awarded money, Rs 3000 is withdrawn but entry updation is required.
- Shital goes to Nagar Nigam Primary Government School and studies in the 3rd standard. Shital’s tuition fees is Rs. 1000 for two months and other than that, her other expenditures include uniform and shoes. So far, her parents have spent a total of Rs 4000.
- Aishya goes to Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in Munirka and is in standard 6th. So far, they have spent an amount of Rs 5000 on Aishya’s dress, books, geometry box and shoes.
- Saloni goes to Sarvadaya Vidyalaya in Munirka in standard 3rd. So far, they have an amount of Rs 1000 on dress, socks, and shoes.
Through interaction, we found out that everybody has spent their money as per guidelines, which has been checked, and expenditure on these children was verified through passbooks. Most of these families are migrants from neighbouring states and from agrarian backgrounds and have no particular skills – most work as labourers and have small houses. Out of five, only one child studies in a private school and the rest are studying in a government schools. All children go for tuitions because their parents cannot assist them at home. Maximum money has been spent on books, school, and uniform. For some, whose bills could not be verified, they will be provided in time. Overall, parents of these children are very pleased and the children are also happy.
Through globalgiving.org, we crowdfunded this initiative towards girl child education, and received a wonderful response. From our initial target for $5000, we have so far managed to crowdfund $8930. For just $200 donation, a girl has books, clothing, and a good nutrition – all critical resources that help ensure that children learn well.Each of the 40 girls in the program received their initial pack of materials including a backpack, school supplies and a uniform. Since then, each of the girls has had a bank account opened, so as to receive funds which they will be using for school supplies, tuition, and other supports for their education. In each of our six community centres our staff has set up a system to ensure that the contribution of Rs 12,000 per girl is going directly for support of her education, including student fees, tuition healthcare. In the coming year, we plan to expand this project, to benefit 400 girls.
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