The CfBT In House ‘Chance for A Child’ Give As You Earn Scheme

Introduction
CfBT Education Trust in its capacity as a charity organization has often assisted to fulfill the hopes of children and communities through its Trustee funded education initiatives around the world.  One area where CfBT is very clearly committed to supporting equal access to a quality basic education has been in its operations in India since 2004. In India CfBT has implemented a number of projects that support the educational needs of low income-families through such initiatives as: The HSBC supported Enabling Quality Improvement Project, the Christian Children Foundation Project, the Prajwala NGO and the High Altitude Himalayas Project.

CfBT has embarked on a pioneering initiative to provide directly to the students through its new scheme entitled ‘Chance For A Child’ (CfC). This Scheme is an attempt to assist an underprivileged child to pursue an academic career through financial support. This scheme involves the setting up of a process whereby CfBT staff can donate directly from their salaries into a fund that is then matched in equal measure by funding from the CfBT Education Trust.

Background
Even with a school nearby, children are unable to attend due to a number of immediate reasons such as the lack of money to buy a school uniform, sufficient funding to cover their school fees or money to get to the school.  But there are also indirect reasons for not attending. A poor child from a deprived home is often compelled to discontinue educational pursuits due to domestic considerations and demands. Parents coerce the children to take-up sundry jobs that will help to supplement the family income or the girl is perceived to be a future home-maker who is expected to run household errands and to take care of younger siblings. The sad and pathetic consequences of this phenomenon have created a growing and alarming need to reduce dropout rates and to minimize the effects of illiteracy.

Objective
The main objective of this initiative ‘CHANCE FOR A CHILD’ is to impress upon the students (particularly girls) and the parents of children from disadvantaged backgrounds the importance of continuing their education from the primary to the secondary cycles. The growing Indian economy is creating a need for a larger cadre of educated and trained workers with a minimum of high school and technical education. If we do not act now, children from poor socio-economic backgrounds will lose out on opportunities.

Scheme
The CFC Scheme is governed by a set of rules and guidelines that help to determine and influence the parameters of the scheme. The eligibility criteria are based on achieving a high success rate among target groups and ensuring a degree of transparency in operations. The criteria require that the child should be aged 12-years and up and must possess 60% pass marks in the 7th Standard Annual examination. The family income of the beneficiary child should not exceed an amount of Rs. 3000/- (or about £38 per month), which should be supported by a white ration card as proof. The fee charged by the concerned school should not exceed an amount of Rs. 350/- (less than £5 per month), which will be paid to the school’s bank account to ensure a continued education for the beneficiary child.

In addition the Scheme requires proper documentation from the school management, the parents and the beneficiary child to fulfill legal formalities. The Scheme goes a step further than merely meeting the fee requirements for the beneficiary student in that it is also structured to monitor the academic progress of the students and the participation of the school staff and parents in the scheme. The first phase of the Scheme comprises of selection of 200 students from different schools identified by CfBT, to cover a period of one year. The Scheme will include a quarterly assessment of beneficiary students to establish academic progress. The quarterly assessment will take into account an evaluation programme that will be based on curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, to assist in raising the academic performance of the beneficiary students. The beneficiary students will also be encouraged to correspond with donors on various subjects of personal and academic interest, to establish rapport and goodwill, with donors.

Process undergone to date (May 2011)
School Correspondents were invited to our Hyderabad office to collect the students’ questionnaires/forms and gain an understanding of the details of the scheme. 256 students’ forms were received from 40 schools. These forms were verified for authenticity. Forms were also verified for gathering information regarding family income, no. of dependents in the family, and the student’s information. Most forms came in with supporting documents like the students’ 7th class Annual Exams Marks Memorandum and the White Ration Card. Out of 256 students, 200 students were selected for the Scholarship. Out of 200 students, 106 are girls and 94 are boys.

CfBT Regional Director, Michael Latham, handed over the school fees (cheques) on behalf of the identified students to the School Correspondents in front of their parents. Copies of the receipts for the fee payments were collected and are retained by the local finance manager for audit purpose.

Conclusion
The Chance for a Child Scheme is an innovative initiative to meet the educational requirements of the child that uses clear criteria and answers the vital needs of an underprivileged segment of society.  Finally though, the Scheme also provides individual members of CfBT with the opportunity to support the less fortunate while offering the CfBT Trustees with the means to provide direct support to learners outside of the UK. If you would be interested in taking part either through the Give As You Earn Scheme, collecting through some event or indeed spending some time on one of our projects then please do not hesitate to contact Michael Latham or Seema Agarwal.

Extract from the School Head Master, Rushi High School

There are many children who are intelligent but cannot afford to go to school. The scholarship given to these children will motivate them to attend school and prove their talents. It also helps in eradicating child labour and the beneficiaries can enjoy their childhood by attending classes with the help of the scholarship.

Extract from Letters from the Students

Firstly I want to say you thank you and my parents also saying you thank you very much. This scholarship is very helpful to us. My mother has adjust my fees in my brother and sister fees and now my mother has paying my sister fees in time. Our annual income is 20000 Rupees from that income my parents has to adjust my fees and my brother and sister school fees. I want to become a Doctor.

The source of my family income is only 24,000 Rupees because my father is a fairground worker. At last I want to tell you that 'If you didn't help me my family member didn't allow me to study.but I want to become something in my life. At last I should have to stand on my own leg"

CfBT India - Book Clubs

Early in the year 2010, the Trustees allocated funds towards small scale initiatives and discretionary support for local education-related projects in accordance with CfBT’s charitable charter.

CfBT India utilized these funds to set up 9 Book Clubs in rural Andhra Pradesh. The libraries were launched on 8th November 2010.

The purpose of these book clubs is to provide quality reading materials to young children studying in rural areas where access to quality educational resources is difficult if not impossible.

The beneficiaries are children studying in residential schools for drop-outs, government social welfare hostels, and special schools for girls. Expected number of beneficiaries is around 1000 children in the ages 6-14 years.

The institutions chosen for the library needed to meet the following minimal criteria: (i) Enroll upto 200 children between the ages of 6 to 14 years if it is a school and 75 children if it is a residential accommodation (KGBV, Hostels). Preference was then given to the KGBV as it is a girls’ residential school for dropouts.

The expected outcome of this project is exposure to the wider world, well-shaped personalities and overall development in young children through book reading.

The project is being executed in partnership with SKS NGO, founded by SKS Microfinance, India’s leading micro-finance institution.