Education support for 100 vulnerable and needy children in Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Right to free and compulsory education is a constitutional basic right of every child in the age group 6-14 years in India. Though this is still a far stretched idea for many children from poor and marginalised backgrounds of the city of Kolkata, West Bengal where Hope Kolkata Foundation has been working.

First generation learners from extremely poorer backgrounds face challenges of continuing schooling due to lack of supervision and coaching support from their parents and purely due to lack of educational environment at their homes. This is coupled with the fact that many of these children may come from broken families where a single parent is trying to make ends meet for all family members.

Continuing education becomes especially difficult for children in the age group of 14-18 who are pressurized to take earning and responsible roles at a tender age and as a result drop-out from school. In many cases, their dreams are shattered due to a lack of economic support to continue their secondary education.

Hope Kolkata Foundation’s holistic education programme for the underprivileged children in the slums of Kolkata and Howrah, ensures basic educational rights of children between the age group 6-18 years. The organisation supports out of school children and also school goers who live below poverty line and/or of single parents by helping them continue and complete their education, their future dreams and aspirations for a better life.

HKF makes school going fun for children through the use of interactive teaching-learning materials for improved learning and retention, school libraries are turned into learning hubs for children to grasp and gain knowledge beyond just school textbooks. Also, first-generation learners are provided with coaching/remedial education support to reduce their chances of dropping out of school. Many are hand-held through financial sponsorship to continue and excel in higher education as costs for books, stationery and subject wise coaching become more expensive at this time. HKF also focuses its attention on young children in the age group 3-5 by running Crèches enabling early childhood education and facilitate their timely preparation and admission into primary schooling. Beyond these, HKF supports government schools with learning resource centres for children who may have learning difficulties.

Hope Kolkata Foundation’s, holistic education programme since inception has positively impacted the lives of 48,888 children in the age group 3-18 in Kolkata and Howrah Districts. A glimpse of the impact is shared through a success story of Rohan here.

Rohan (name changed) is 13 years old and his father is a daily wage earner. His mother earns a meagre income by stitching clothes from home. Rohan was forced to leave his education due to poverty. When Rohan was identified from the community as a dropout, HKF teachers spoke to him and found him interested in pursuing his studies. HKF team then motivated his parents, identified a Government school for Rohan and readmitted him. HKF teachers also helped him by providing remedial support to catch up in school as he had left school studies 6 months before readmission. Finally, in the annual examination of Class VII he secured the second position in his class. Rohan has regained faith in his abilities and looks forward to continuing his education.

You can help Rohan and another 99 vulnerable and needy children to continue their education so that they do not have to worry about the harsh realities of their difficult lives.