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RTE Scholars’ Fund to help poor kids study after Class 8
With a goal of helping 50-200 students for a period of four years (Classes 9-12), the RTE Scholars’ Fund entails seeking contributions and commitment from individuals, corporations and other organizations.
LUCKNOW: Right to Education beneficiary Arti Kashyap (14), a student of Rani Laxmi Bai School who passed class 8, will be able to continue her studies in Class 9 at Career Convent School, thanks to RTE Scholars’ Fund, an initiative by NGO RightWalk Foundation to raise money required for children to complete their education till Class 12.
Dr Surya Kant of King George’s Medical University formally launched the website for the fund on Friday. The foundation has raised ₹25 lakh and has taken the responsibility to help 25 poor RTE beneficiaries continue their studies after Class 8.
“Getting education till Class 8 is a significant achievement for such children. However, if they are not able to continue further, then the whole purpose and exercise of the last eight years gets defeated,” said Samina Bano, founder and CEO, RightWalk Foundation,while speaking at the event.
Samina said: “At RightWalk, we focus on improving the enrolment numbers under RTE till Class 8. And we did pretty well to get this number up from around 54 in 2015 to 5,76,273 lakhs. But we realized that the child who began in 2015 and completed Class 8 had now hit a roadblock. Either the student must pay the full fees to continue education (Classes 9-12) in the same school or shift to a lower-level school, as the parents cannot afford to pay high fees for these private schools. That is why we have come up with this novel idea of supporting these students through RTE Scholars Fund.”
According to RightWalk, the initiative is, in fact, part of its short-term strategy. “In the long run, we will continue working at the policy-level intervention so that a more concrete provision is made for such students,” said Samina.
With a goal of helping 50-200 students for a period of four years (Classes 9-12), the RTE Scholars’ Fund entails seeking contributions and commitment from individuals, corporations and other organizations. Bano said, “The target is to raise between ₹40 lakh and ₹1.6 crore in the next two years.”
“The calculation has been done on the basis of an average of ₹80,000 per year required for a student, including admission fee, tuition fee, books and uniforms, along with travel incentives for girl students. For girls, a safer and convenient incentive goes a long way in ensuring that they continue with their education. The RTE Scholars’ Fund will provide that,” she said.
RightWalk is offering 800 tickets, each with a value of ₹20,000 to potential donors. One can become a Silver Donor by donating up to ₹10 lakh, Gold Donor by donating up to ₹20 lakh and Founding Donor by donating upwards of ₹20 lakh, according to Shipra, co-founder RightWalk Foundation.
The RightWalk Foundation celebrated the graduation ceremony of the first batch of such students in Lucknow. RightWalk and basic education department have enabled 5,76,273 lakhs students from economically weaker sections enrol in Class 1 using the RTE Act.
