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COVID-19 Induced Financial Distress Has Resulted In A Set Back In 5-year-old Lavanya's Education
New Delhi:
The after-effects of the COVID-19 induced lockdown and the ongoing pandemic continues to impact low-income households even today. For 34-year-old Yadram, losing his job amid the pandemic made it difficult to make ends meet for the family, and not being able to afford his 5-year-old daughter's education was the worst blow of all. Talking about his life before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, Yadram, Lavanya's father said,
Before COVID hit, we had a stable life. We were able to afford two to three meals a day and pay my daughter's school fees. But when COVID hit, I was neither able to pay my daughter's school fees nor make our ends meet.
Few kilometers away from Lavanya's home is Hari Vidya Bhawan, a private budget school where Lavanya was enrolled for a year. It is not just Lavanya's family; even the school is facing a huge loss because of the COVID-19.
When the lockdown was extended, a lot of parents lost their jobs. As a school, we were not receiving tuition fees at all. We lost around 600 students because they went back to their native villages, said Sushil Dhankar, Chairman, Hari Vidya Bhawan, Sangham Vihar.
But the school ensured Lavanya was brought back into the system despite the blow it was facing due to the COVID crisis.
Talking about how the school helped Lavanya continue her education, Yadram, Lavanya's father said,
I was not able to sustain online classes properly for my daughter during COVID. I spoke to the trustee of the school and told him about my financial crisis due to COVID then he told me he will waive off my daughter's school fees by six months.
Elaborating on the same, Mr Dhankar said,
Lavanya's father lost his job during COVID-19 time. We kept on approaching him to send his daughter to school and offered him a waiver of six months and we got Lavanya back into the education system so that her studies can continue on regular basis.
5-year-old Lavanya dreams of becoming a doctor one day but financial distress has led to a setback in the early stages of her education.
Published: April 04, 2021 18:47 IST
Schools are beginning to reopen amidst a lot of chaos. Teachers have had to undergo salary cuts, many parents have not been able to pay the school fees due to job losses. For low income households, the challenge is accentuated further. With classes going online, thousands of children have had to scramble for gadgets to get online. The digital divide has never been more obvious, resulting in several kids dropping out of school.
To address the brewing crisis in the education space, Rang De along with NDTV hopes to intervene by providing interest free loans to low income households. The campaign aims to create awareness about the problem and raise interest free loans for student communities across India.
Rang De is a peer-to-peer lending platform that enables individuals to invest in fellow Indians. Started in 2008 as a non-profit, Rang De is now an RBI regulated peer-to-peer lending platform (NBFC-P2P).
Rang De's mission is to provide access to low cost, collateral-free loans with respect and dignity. Since inception, Rang De has been supporting farmers, artisans and small businesses and individuals who have been denied credit or cannot afford high-interest loans.
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