School set up to give free education to poor

Hyderabad: A first-of-its-kind school for the underprivileged has been set up near Kothapet fruit marketat NTR Nagar. The school's objective, whose supervision is undertaken by Vision Academy High Schools, is to provide education to the weaker sections of the community, who cannot afford school education.

The school is providing free school uniform, free breakfast and lunch and free education from nursery to primary school for students of different communities from Nursery to Vth class, mostly coming from nearby slums.

Speaking at the inaugural programme, the nonagenarian and chairman of school, Mohammed Ali Ansari, said "These students, if provided good education, can become assets for the society when they grow up.Education will also help in preventing them from going astray," "Taha Memorial School will provide not just education but the means to pursue it, including free books and stationary, free uniforms and free education throughout. Free breakfast and lunch will be provided to these students every day," he added.

The school is established by a city-based NRI and managed by the Vision Academy High Schools and is an effort towards empowering the society with education, particularly the weaker sections. The expenditure in managing the school is borne by Jaleel Ansari whose friends and family members are also supporting the cause. "The cost of about Rs 1000 per student will be borne by us," said Ansari.

Speaking on the occasion, Director and Principal, Uzma Ansari, said "India is a country with more than one billion people, and more than one-third of them cannot read or write. Rapidly growing size of population, shortages of teachers, books and basic facilities as well as insufficient public funds to cover education costs are some of the nation's toughest challenges. The children in India are facing the brunt of these challenges.

A study reveals that more than 30% of educational funds are allocated towards higher education, leaving the primary education in India in sway." Parents of first batch of students were also present on this occasion.