For about 40 poor children living in shacks next to posh area of Dalanwala, a project with a small English medium school called East leigh has provided them an opportunity to get educated. An initiative led by Rahul Mall, a merchant navy captain, the school management is working to provide English medium education free of cost to those who cannot afford private school education by finding sponsors for these children.
The school will get maximum students funded by the Government under Right to Education though they have not received the fee for a year. So far, 40 children have found donors who have adopted the education of these young boys and girls while another 230 children are on their way to get benefactors. “Although Dalanwala is an affluent locality in Dehradun, less than a kilometre away thousands live in slum areas where quality education cannot be afforded by parents. The school management visit slum areas near Dalanwala to identify needy families and persuade them to send their kids to the school and start their education right away,” shared Mall.
Ruhi Ansari, daughter of a scrap dealer living in Adhoiwala, studies in East leigh as a sponsored student in Class III. She declared assertively that she would grow up to be a police officer. Similar was the self-confidence of Muskaan Qureshi, daughter of a vegetable vendor.