Bridging Gaps... Nurturing Aspirations
"We have only one school shirt between the two of us. The school insists that we come in a uniform or they send us back home. So my sister attends for three days a week and I attend the remaining three" says Mangesh, a 14-year old boy in Yeshwantpur slum, who has scored 87% in 8th standard. Mangesh accompanies his uncle and helps him sell coconut water and earns Rs 20-30 a day to support his family to survive. Mangesh's ambition is to become a computer engineer.
There are many more children like Mangesh, who were school drop-outs and were rehabilitated through bridge programs. They now go to school aided by 'Puraskara' - ILP's scholarship program.
Puraskara is a need-based scholarship for children from poor socio-economic background to enable them pursue their middle and high school education. Many of these children had dropped out of elementary school because of financial constraints. They were brought back to school by educating parents on the importance of education and providing them learning competencies through 'bridge centers'.
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Program Overview
ILP makes a 3-year commitment to each child once she/he is part of our scholarship program. As long as the children attend classes and receives a minimum of 50% in their exams, ILP continues to support them through completion of high school (10th standard). The Puraskara program was started in 2004 by supporting 15 children. 108 children were supported by the program in 2006 and the target is to support 250 children in 2007.
The Need
- High drop-outs in secondary education: Enrolment figures for secondary education show that two-thirds of the eligible children remain out of school.
- Cost of secondary education: The higher cost of secondary education leads to dropouts: Even in a government school, it costs Rs. 1500-Rs. 2000 per child per year. No incentives like mid-day meal, free notebooks, uniforms are offered for most children.
- Very few scholarships for this age group: While there are several NGOs/ Trusts who provide scholarships for post secondary and collegiate education, there are very few scholarships for secondary education.
- Elementary education not enough in todays' world: CABE Report- July 2004 says, "Elementary Education of 8 years is no more adequate. It neither equips the child with necessary knowledge nor skills to face the world of work. It does not empower the child to deal with challenges of the globalising economy".
Whom do we support?
Children studying in high school (8th to 10th standard) and:
- School drop-outs who have been rehabilitated
- Potential drop-outs because of economic circumstances
- Children with special needs
- Orphans
- Children of devadasis, single mothers/ widows
- Children from poor families
Other criteria:
- The child should have scored a minimum of 50% (B Grade) in his/her school annual exam
- The child should be studying in a government or government-aided school, open school system, or pursuing vocational and technical training courses
What does the scholarship cover?
The cost per child is Rs. 2400 - Rs 2500 per child per year. The scholarships are based on the needs of each child. They cover:
- Uniforms
- School Fees
- Note books and text books
- Coaching classes
- Shoes, geometry box, bags, bicycle
- Examination Fees
- Workshops
- Monitoring & Documentation
Beyond Financial Assistance
Besides meeting the financial requirements through scholarships, we also conduct workshops every year. Topics in the workshops range from learning techniques, goal setting, study skills, career counseling, personal hygiene, and personality development through the medium of arts and theatre.
Mentoring
The mentoring program initiative from India Literacy Project (ILP) began in July 2006 with 3 volunteers. The programme has been offered to students who are recipients of ILP's scholarship. The mentoring program aims to foster a mentor-mentee relationship between the volunteers and the students so that the students can interact with their mentors on a variety of areas - academics, personal difficulties, and about life beyond their home, studies & schools. ILP volunteers in Bangalore spend time with the 10th standard children every Sunday mentoring them. They guide them on study skills, memory techniques and show them short science experiments to improve their conceptual understanding of sciences.
Assisting the transition after high school
Fifteen children supported by ILP completed their 10th standard education in April 2006, nine of them, with a first class. All the children are continuing their education either in local polytechnics, pre-university colleges or technical institutes. ILP links these children with other merit -cum-means scholarships to ensure that the meritorious among them continue in good colleges. Our volunteers also guide these children through the difficult process of making choices, filling up application forms and ensuring that they have the necessary documentation. Two of 2006 batch who secured more than 75% are studying in good polytechnic colleges.
Process
- Identify bright children from poor families: Devdasi children, rehabilitated working children, single parent families
- Assess each child's needs by house and school visits
- Minimum cut-off (50% in previous years' exam)
- Conduct workshops for Personality Development, study skills, careers, public speaking, self-assertion
- Assist them to make the difficult transition from 10th to the next stage
- Link with groups providing post-matric scholarships
- Tie up with corporate volunteers for mentoring
- Conduct a study on Access and Dropouts in Secondary Education
Program Plan: 2009-2010
Location: Raichur, Davangere, Bangalore Urban and Rural in Karnataka, Chennai in TN, Chittoor in AP
Description
- 188 children will receive need-based scholarship to continue their education upto high school
- Projected costs are Rs. 2440/child/year
- Volunteers will help children make the difficult transition from 10th to post 10th education
- Meritorious children will be linked with organizations and scholarship programs which support post matric education.
- Special workshops to enhance capability of the children such as spoken English, personality development, and career guidance.
Financials
