Free playway school for girls

Ajay Joshi

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Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 17

A city-based NGO "Fly Udaan Zindagi Ki Trust" has set an example for many who find it difficult to break their inertia and give something back to society.

The NGO that was established four years ago with 20 members has opened a free playway school for girls at Guru Amar Dass Nagar. With the motive of promoting girl education, the school has been set up with a capacity to accommodate 50 kids. Their parents will not be charged any tuition fees or any other admission levies. Though targeted for the girls from below poverty line (BPL) and slum people, the school has opened its gates for girls belonging to any section of society.

Pankaj Mehta, who works in a private company and is one of the founding members of the NGO, expressed his joy during the inauguration ceremony of the school. He said, "The school will serve the purpose of providing early step education to girls whose parents cannot afford the play school fees of their children. People who reside in slum areas do not know the importance of playschools or anganwadis and send their wards directly into primary schools.

Therefore, this play school will not only provide free basic education to the girls, but also look after each and every requirement of the children. No financial burden would be imposed on the parents of the children admitted in the school.”

On the very first day, the school took 10 admissions. Harminder Singh, a resident of Amrit Vihar, while going through the admission process for his daughter, said, "This is a great initiative taken by the NGO as private play schools charge hefty fees during the admission. Therefore, this will help us to provide our daughter basic education at no cost."

He added that an online or audio-video technology would be installed in the school for better understanding of the children as children catch more through audio-video mediums. Along with this, two teachers and one maid would be hired for the children. In addition, the NGO would also provide counselling to the uneducated parents who generally keep their girl child away from education. If parents were not able to afford the further education of children, full financial support would be provided to them.

The NGO is already engaged in conducting several seminars on “Beti bachao, beti padhao” and other social issues. Every year, it also distributes school bag kits to the students in slum area schools who cannot afford to buy notebooks and stationery.