Project Disha - Scholarship Program for the Underprivileged

Going by the belief that every child has a right to education, the Kriti Scholarship Program identifies children who are at the risk of dropping out of schools and provides them with financial assistance and mentoring to ensure they complete education till at least Xth grade.

We find that the government is not investing enough in education. Despite targets to set up schools under RTE, the number of government schools is inadequate to meet the needs of the large number of people in slums in Hyderabad. In the Film Nagar slums alone, for a population of 5000 - 6000 families, the government schools only have a capacity for 1500 children at primary level and 1500 children at the high school level. This is far below the requirement. Hence, 80% of the children are studying in private schools and the school fees for these schools is a significant burden for the family.

Kriti identifies families where the parents are very interested in educating their children and have educated them to some level. However, due to a tough financial situation, they are not able to manage the fees anymore and the children are at a risk of dropping out of schools.

This is a program with no overheads – all donations received go directly towards the school fees. The selection of children, administration of disbursements, regular meetings with the children is done entirely through volunteer efforts. The program started in 2010 with around 30 kids and currently provides financial assistance to over 350 children from the poorest families in the slums.

Over the past 8 years in the existence of this program, we have helped over 250 children finish grade 10 (Telangana SSC Exam). We have also had 2 children finish Engineering and Nursing and 3 children graduate with various degrees.

Through our successful mentoring program, we impact about 200 children each year, helping tune their career choices and helping them aspire to do better in their studies.