Children throughout the country must be eagerly waiting to go back to school. After a long summer vacation, parents must be equally eager to send their child/children to school. Despite the bad economy, parents will be spending a lot of money on their children to send back to school. An average cost per student spending during back to school in 2008 was around 600 dollars (source: marketingcharts.com). This cost continues to rise.
Parents consider spending on children’s education as an investment. Spending on education is indeed an investment on the future of their children. Back to school expenditures on new and trendy clothes and accessories like back packs, notebooks, pens and pencils are a part of American business, and businesses will try to capitalize where parents are willing to spend. Modern day back to school is getting more expensive due to the newer and expensive technical gadgets like computers, smart phones, iPods, iPads, tablets, etc. Parents want to provide these things to their children hoping that their child does not lag behind since most of the parents did not have those advantages in their time.
Children in poor countries like Nepal have a very different concept of back to school. Public School in Nepal is free, but it is not easily attainable for all. The condition of schools, lack of qualified teachers, even accessible road to walk to school are some of the many obstacles in obtaining an education. Besides physical conditions, discrimination against daughters is a much deeper problem within Nepali society. While parents wish to send their sons to school, but do not consider sending their daughters to school as the same kind of investment. Sons are expected to use the education to earn a good living and help their parents. Daughters are often expected to married to another family so investing in education does not make economic sense for parents with limited means.
In most of the underdeveloped countries, students are deprived of a chance to education and girls especially suffer due to this same kind of discrimination. Organizations like CARE, UNICEF and several non-profit organizations are trying to alleviate this situation in such countries through various means. However, tackling this problem requires a deep understanding of the reasons for such discrimination and also a viable plan for addressing those issues.
In Nepal, Rukmini Foundation is a Non-government Organization (NGO) that is set to help young girls battle discrimination by providing access to good education and additional services, which will help them to become independent and productive members of society. Because of the generosity of our supporters, 10 girls from the Pharping area in Nepal, who would otherwise be taken out of school due to their parents’ economic conditions, will be able to continue in school. Staying in school for these girls means avoiding early marriage, early motherhood and also an opportunity to do something besides being a housewife or working in the fields. Our foundation is committed to supporting these girls all the way till they pass high school. We are also planning for the future and looking for more underprivileged girls from the area to keep them in school.
These girls are going back to school and will stay in school until graduation thanks to Rukmini Foundation
When we look proudly at our children ready to attend next grade dressed in “cool” new clothes and shoes along with new accessories, we should spare a thought for children in other parts of the world. Any support that we can provide them will help them to realize their dream of going back to school for another year.
Our small contributions can make a big impact on someone’s life.
Thank you very much.
Laxmi
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