Lucknow :
For the past several days, six-year-old Ziqra Aqeel had been missing out on her studies. The reason being her parents’ inability to pay her school fees. But now, the Balaganj resident will not have to worry about a break in her studies till she wants to continue studying in her life, courtesy a scholarship from Praveer Singh.
The assistance was made possible by a unique scholarship launched by citizen-driven initiative Shoulder to Shoulder (S2S) Foundation, as another step towards building bridges between communities.
The facility ‘S2S Shiksha Tehreek’ allows any individual or group to institute a scholarship in the name of a family member or institution and commit the amount for tuition fees and books for at least one year but with a rider, that the scholarship is for a child from another community.
The recent initiative has already received four sponsors.
“I’ve named the scholarship in my father’s name – Raghvendra Singh and will continue to fund Ziqra’s education till the time she wants to study. Once she is done, I will fund another child. This is not just educating a child, but sending a strong message of peace and harmony,” said Singh.
Ziqra’s father is unemployed due to illness and her mother sews clothes from home.
A bright student Sachin Kumar (6) was also on the verge of being a drop out when Mohd Furqan instituted a scholarship in his father Haji Mohd Shafi’s memory.
“Sachin’s father, a rickshaw puller, was going to stop his education. The scholarship is a boon to the child who is good at studies,” said school co-ordinator Nahid Akhtar.
The scholarship comes to the aid of children who have potential to study but have to drop out of school because of lack of financial resources.
It also gives a message of communal harmony in times of strife,” said Furquan.
S2S Foundation has previously organised Shia-Sunni namaz on Eid-ul-Zuha, roza iftars at gurdwaras, participated in langars on Guru Parv, organised khichdi feast on Makar Sakranti among other activities for promoting communal harmony.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / TNN / April 10th, 2018