How much does it cost to Educate a Child in India?

Quality education comes at a price. Families living in poverty decide not to send their children to school owing to financial crisis. Children are forced to work to add to the family’s income.

Sometimes, it is also because of complete ignorance of the parents that children miss being in schools. Lack of awareness, on the importance of education makes parents think that it is not required for their children. But charity organizations like World Vision India work among communities helping them understand the significance of education and how it can transform a life and generations to come.

In 2015, Sarita’s children, Dipanshi, Anuraag and Aman had to quit school and help with the family’s income.The family’s financial situation had worsened and they did not have enough money to pay the school fees. Hence the children stayed at home and spent 8–12 long hours stitching footballs and towels.

“When I stopped going to school, I thought it was the end of my dreams. I felt there was no way that I’ll have a chance to study again”, Dipanshi said.

Once Dipanshi stopped going to school, she also stopped playing outside with her friends. This was because of the lack of time and the embarrassment of being less fortunate than other school-going children.

Two years on, amidst the despair that Dipanshi and her siblings were facing, hope arose when a community volunteer, Lalitha, visited Dipanshi’s home and counselled Sarita and her husband, Shiv Kumar, to send their children to the Remedial Education Centre run by World Vision India in their community.

The Remedial Education Centre (REC) is a proven model aimed at helping children who have dropped out of school or who find it difficult to cope with education to improve their reading, writing and comprehension skills. It is an after-school class where about 20–25 children between ages of six and thirteen are gathered together and taught to read, write and comprehend content at different levels.

At the REC, Dipanshi and her siblings picked up these skills and improved their skills largely. Lalitha was more than confident that the children could join school again. She immediately visited Sarita and encouraged her to send her children to school, counselling her on the importance of educating her children.

When Sarita observed her children’s passion for education, she made up her mind to educate them no matter what. “The only thing I kept telling myself was, a few years of struggling will help give my children a better life”, Sarita said.

Now, Dipanshi, Anuraag and Aman are in class six, nine and four, respectively.

“This is my second chance at education and I want to ensure I become a doctor and help my parents in the future”, Dipanshi exclaimed.

You can give a second chance to many other children like Dipanshi when you sponsor a child. If you are wondering how to sponsor a child, log on to worldvision.in, the best website to sponsor a child. Through World Vision India, you can change the lives of lakhs of children who are not in school.