Education for 600 Vulnerable Children in Kolkata

You’ll read here about two 16 year olds, who are keen to continue in education despite the considerable practical, financial and social pressures to quit.

Sultana is studying in class VII. She is a bright girl and wants to stay in education. She is very vulnerable as both her parents have abandoned her and her brother. They live in a shelter by the Topsia sewage canal. Sultana’s brother supports her out of his wages in a leather factory but he is away from the home all day until very late, leaving Sultana alone and at risk.  However, Sultana attends Tiljala SHED’s evening classes in our community centre just along the path from where she lives.  Every evening from 5 pm until 9 pm she and other teenagers receive support for their studies

Rohit is also 16 and, like Sultana, he attends evening classes in our Topsia Centre. Rohit lives with his disabled father, his mother and five siblings. His father runs a small grocery stall and his mother is a maidservant. The family income is very low.  Rohit wants to complete his education so that he can get a good job and support his family. He loves the evening classes and is making good progress at school.

It is very common for girls like Sultana in these ultra-poor communities to end up married at 13 or 14, illiterate and with little hope for a future any different from their parents’. A boy like Rohit would generally drop out of school at about 10 years old and would be sent out to work to help support the family.  This project enables these young people to remain in education. We work hard to persuade the parents that they should allow their children to stay at school; we encourage and support the youngsters in their studies and we motivate them by providing a safe, stimulating, fun and studious environment. 

Just £11 a month enables us to keep a child like Rohit or Sultana in education.

A note: You will have heard from GlobalGiving that there is a problem disbursing your donations to the project. This is because all GlobalGiving's disbursements to Indian projects have been held up at government level. I am working on a solution which will unblock the funds and get your donations safely where they need to go. Meanwhile, the project is moving forward as we always aim to keep a modest cushion of funds for just this eventuality. Thank you for your patience.