R. Niranjana, 14 wakes up early in the morning and gets ready for school. Armed with the lunch prepared by her mother, Niranjana and her brother Haripriyan, 13 cycle to their school, located about two kilometres away from her village in Tirunavalur in Villupuram, South India.
As a farmer’s daughter, Niranjana knows education is the only way to uplift herself and her family. She aspires to become a district collector one day, a government position that is held in high esteem by many in rural Indian communities.
“My favorite subjects in school are Tamil and English. I also enjoy the lab activities during Science lesson,” she said.
“I am happy I can study without worrying about our financial situation,” Niranjana said.
Niranjana is one of the beneficiaries of RYTHM Foundation’s scholarship programme at the Isha Vidhya School in Villupuram. The non-profit education initiative of the Isha Vidhya Foundation works for the economic and social empowerment of rural children in the villages across the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, India.
Niranjana’s mother Girija, 40 said her daughter tells her everything that goes on in her school.
“Without fail, she would update me what took place in school, the projects she is working on, what her classmates did and what her teachers taught in school. She is a very hardworking child and I am proud of her. Without the scholarship, it would have been tough for my family as with the income we get from the paddy fields, we may have to choose which child can afford to stay in school. But now, we don’t have to choose,” she said.
RYTHM Foundation’s scholarship covers her academic fees, tuition fees and school uniform.
Mohan Kumar, a coordinator at Isha School explains that a special team is assigned to go from house to house in a selected area and evaluate the candidates thoroughly before they are selected for the scholarship and assistance.
“We check their annual income and the utilities they have at home before recommending the child for assistance,” he said.
Under this partnership, RYTHM Foundation supports 42 children from rural communities to study at the Isha Vidhya school and help them realise their full potential.
