Education for Children with cancer and other life limiting illness at Samiksha Foundation Learning Centres

Samiksha Foundation provides non-medical support to children undergoing treatment for cancer and other life-limiting illness in Pediatric hospitals, increasing their Happiness Quotient through learning and creative activity, facilitating their return to mainstream life.

Areas of action:

-Educational support provided by trained teachers and tutor volunteers through an environment of independent and assisted learning for them and their families (mostly from compromised socio-economic backgrounds of society)

-Spiritual support through yoga and Creative Visualization(CV)

-Creative play and activity that includes craft, art, storytelling and reading

Focus group:

• children between 4 and 16 years (Nursery to Grade 10)
• more recently including grades 11 and 12
• women (care givers) from compromised socio-economic sections of society in India whose children are undergoing treatment for cancer

Scholarship for survivors: Post-treatment, help the child return to school in the right grade with confidence and dignity, and support their higher education

Impact : Until July 2024-

• formal education during treatment - an attendance of over 13,300 children (direct and indirect beneficiaries) across 6 Learning Centres from June 2009 until July 2024.
• awarded 440 scholarships for continued education post-treatment amounting to about Rs. 65 lakhs given out through 8 disbursement tranches of the Samiksha Foundation Scholarships program

We believe that “Dignity is Priceless, Knowledge Empowers and Happiness Heals”. 

Post Covid, we have moved from educating with a traditional approach on to a hybrid model of independent and assisted learning-hands on and remote support- through beneficial technology via the Samiksha-USky Digital Learning Platform (DLP)-that enhances formal education of the child with cancer, with the aim of "Leaving no child behind"

We are raising funds to support all our programs at the 4 on ground and 1 remote Learning Centres 

Current: We reached more than 1200 new children (direct and indirect beneficiaries) across 5 Samiksha Foundation Learning Centres for the year between June 2023 to May 2024 (our annual reporting cycle).

Projected: About 1000-1200 children through the existing Learning Centres annually. About 75-100 scholarships annually for the next 2 years.