Children's Scholarship Fund

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The need for good education

Some families in rural India can’t afford a good education for their children. Even if they can afford the modest fees, they sometimes can’t afford the uniform, shoes, books or even pencils. This means that many children are missing out on the education they deserve.

IVCS has established a Children’s Scholarship Fund to support children attending the primary and secondary schools run by our partner project at Amarpurkashi. Each year it helps nearly 80 children between the ages of 5 and 17 and since the Fund was established in 1998 we have awarded over 600 scholarships, improved school buildings and facilities, enhanced teachers' salaries, funded teacher training, and helped teachers and local communities to establish new schools in other rural areas.

The aim of the Childrens Scholarship Fund

• To support families who would like to send their children to school but cannot afford even the modest fees. This could be a permanent difficulty, or it could be a temporary hardship, such as a family bread-winner unable to work due to illness, injury, or redundancy.
• To benefit the school as a whole. School fees are set at a low level to make them accessible to the majority of local families. So the Fund is used to supplement the income available from school fees and helps to pay for teacher training, water pumps, and toilets.

How the Fund works

IVCS raises money in the UK and regularly transfers the Fund to our partner project in India. Teachers in the Project’s schools select which children will receive a scholarship. Because they are part of the local community working at grass-roots level they are best positioned to identify which families need the support most.

Local distribution of the Fund means it is flexible and effective. Families’ circumstances change all the time and so different children may be selected to reflect whose need is strongest at a given time.

• Assisted 79 children at the primary school with their fees.
• Supplemented the salaries of the primary school teachers to bring them up to local levels.
• Built a new classroom for the Jafar Pur village secondary school.
• Gave a grant to another very small school which was set up recently.

You can view more detailed information on how the Fund has been used in recent years by looking at the Annual Reports.

How can you support the Fund?

• How much you give is up to you - £3, £5, 10.
• You can give monthly, quarterly or annually
• You can contribute via standing order, direct debit or direct from your salary.