NGO adopts govt school, gives facilities, scholarships

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, August 18

Giving corporate social responsibility (CSR) a big boost, Jalandhar’s leading businesswoman Kamna Raj Aggarwalla has set up a non-profit NGO Edumust, under which it has started adopting government schools and begun providing these various facilities.

The NGO had recently built a library and computer laboratory at Government Primary School, Sofipind, in Jalandhar cantonment. Today, it organised a scholarship distribution function on the school premises and distributed a monthly stipend to all children getting positions and those with full attendance.

“The stipend and scholarships given to students for their academic performance and attendance will stimulate children to perform better and would encourage them to attend classes every day,” said Aggarwalla. The school has 170 students, with a majority of them belonging to the below poverty line (BPL) families. Having earlier represented PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industries as its president, Aggarwalla said, “The students had in them the zeal to learn and make their career but all they lacked earlier was the facilities.”

Aggarwalla said, “In the general perception of people, government schools lack many facilities compared to private schools. The perception might turn out to be a myth one day if non-government associations and non-profit NGOs start coming forward to adopt these government schools and improve their existing conditions. We recently adopted a government primary school at Loharan.”

Staff of the school said the number of children getting admitted in the school is increasing. The facilities provided the labs aid to students to learn better. If same initiative is taken by others NGOs around the state to help poor schools, the quality of education among children would improve.

After the distribution of the scholarships, Mother and Child Health Evaluation Day was also observed in the school with the support of doctors from Gulab Devi Hospital. All children and mothers who came for the programme underwent a medical check-up and were given advice. Many serious problems were reportedly identified among mothers. “The ailing mothers and children would be monitored by Edumust and taken care of by the hospital free of cost thereafter,” said team members of the NGO.

The chief guest on the occasion was Amarjit Samra, former Congress minister, and Chairman, Markfed. He appreciated the improvements in the school and motivated the children to work hard. He also asked Edumust to keep up the good work and inspire others to come forward.