| Inauguration in Sangrur |
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| February 2008: Smt. Nagindra Khanna, mother of Mr. Arvind Khanna, Chairman, Umeed Foundation lays foundation stone for Satya Bharti School in Sangrur |
Mrs. Nagindra Khanna, mother of Mr. Arvind Khanna, Chairman, Umeed Foundation laid the foundation stone for the Satya Bharti School in village Fatehgarh Channa, Sangrur, Punjab on February 28, 2008. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Arvind Khanna, Chairman, Umeed Foundation said, “The Satya Bharti School Program is an extremely noble initiative launched by Bharti Foundation to help increase access and enhance the quality of education for underprivileged children. I believe that our villages need more schools offering quality education and this venture would go a long way in making a sustainable and deep-rooted change in this direction. Bharti Foundation with its commitment to the underprivileged and its access to experts in technology and education would help in improved management and implementation of educational programs. The Satya Bharti School program is a unique example of collaboration, where Bharti Foundation works closely with the community to usher in a new era of opportunities for underprivileged children. It is a pleasure to be associated with Bharti Foundation in their venture.”
Bharti Foundation aims to open 500 Primary and 50 Senior Secondary cum Vocational Training Schools in the rural pockets of the country to increase access and enhance the quality of education being delivered to underprivileged children. Apart from regular academic coursework, these 50 schools will help students gain professional skills that will make them qualified for suitable job opportunities in the future. Bharti Foundation presently has 8 operational Satya Bharti primary schools in Punjab with more than 550 children and 70 teachers. Bharti Foundation also operates 21 community centres in Ludhiana and Sangrur district where approximately 650 children attend remedial classes. More than 100 schools are to be constructed in Punjab in the districts of Ludhiana, Amritsar and Sangrur. More than 50 schools are presently under construction.
In the light of this event, Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice-Chairman, Bharti Enterprises pointed out that “Looking at the education scenario in India, it is extremely disheartening to realize that nearly 300 million children in the age group of 7 years and above are still illiterate while only 47 out of 100 children enrolled in class I reach class VIII, pushing the dropout rate to an alarming 52.79 per cent. While parents across all sections of society want the best education for their children, it is the lack of adequate infrastructure, shortage of teachers and unsatisfactory quality of education that hampers the education being imparted to their children. It is to fill this gap in the ladder of social development that Bharti Foundation has initiated its Satya Bharti School program to take quality education to rural India. This is a not for profit initiative and Bharti Foundation will provide mid-day meals, uniforms and books to the children at Satya Bharti Schools. We believe that our efforts towards primary and secondary education and vocational training opportunities for students will provide quality and performance benchmarks to other education programs in the country. It is our firm belief that active private-public partnership backed by community involvement can change the education scenario in the country.” |
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