When
we talk about education in our country India, we can’t talk about only the urban
education! Almost 90% of the schools in India are located in rural areas, but a
recent survey of these schools point out that inspite of these schools being
present in name at these places, their management and the education being
provided at these schools, or children coming to these schools remain a
questionable aspect.
Some
of the most common problems faced by rural parts of India with respect to
education are as follows:
- No or Low access to proper transportation –
Almost all villages have extremely poor connectivity between places.
Children may have to walk many miles to reach the government funded
schools, if there is a good school nearby, that is!
- Lower incomes – Rural Indian families, most of
them have lesser incomes. This at times is even less to sustain their
family and food needs! They do not have means to pay the tuition fees of a
good school nearby, even if they want to educate their children.
- Lack of schools and infrastructures – Last but
not the least, most parts of rural India does not have a good school
nearby. If the school is present, the infrastructures are not upto mark.
Most of these schools lackeven proper classrooms, teaching equipments,
playgrounds & basic facilityof clean toilets.
The
reality check still shows that children in Rural India are not able to receive
basic quality education easily. During the age of four to fourteen, which are
the formative years for any child’s cognitive skills and abilities, school
education plays the most important role. It is very unfortunate that rural
India still does not have access to this basic need of children which is
education. There is no doubt that it is education that eventually does lead to
the road to socially and economically empowering these marginalized
communities, and to the progress of our nation as a whole large. To transform
India as an economy, the first step is no doubt to transform its rural
education scenario!
One such organization that has understood these problems
of education in rural India is The
Kalgidhar Society, Baru Sahib. They run 129 schools in northern for rural education
system in India on a completely different, affordable and sustainable
philosophy. All their schools are well staffed, adequately equipped, and offer
all basic facilities to children like clean toilets and classrooms, among st
others. They open and manage
schools for rural children, and charge a very less &subsidized school fees.
They mobilize financial and non financial resources by seeking donations and
funding from like-minded individuals and organizations that believe in
contributing towards this social cause of education of rural India. They have
various channels and ways in which donations happen. ‘Sponsor a child’s
education’ is one of their major categories in which they receive a substantial
support annually, and this is used to sponsor and subsidize the tuition fees of
the economically weaker sections of children that enroll in their schools.
Together, their entire network of schools provides education to over 60,000 students each year.
