My Himachal announces a new scholarship with Trinity School, Mohal, Kullu

With the generous offer of matching funding, Trinity School (Mohal, Kullu) and My Himachal have initiated a new scholarship program. Working with Trinity School Principal/President, Ravi Singh, and under the guidance of MH members Kamla Kapur and Payson Stevens, three children from the rural village of Ghiyagi (Upper Seraj Valley) have been chosen. Two brothers, Rakesh Kumar (age 9) and Vinay Kumar (age 11) and a young girl, Sangeeta Varma (age 11) have started a new chapter in their lives. The three moved to to Kullu in early June to study and live in the school’s hostel. The children were chosen after discussion with different parents in Ghiyagi who felt the scholarship represented a real opportunity to improve the quality of their education, especially learning and studying in English and learning computer skills.

Ravi Singh had initially started a Trinity School scholarship program for the children of a few poor Rajasthani road workers and extended it, after discussions with Kamla and Payson, to include a joint program with My Himachal.

MH has a scholarship program in HP since 2007 , which has given monetary awards to deserving students who score high in their class work. The MH-TS scholarship is a more focused program selecting a small group of children who will be closely monitored for one or more years by Trinity, My Himachal, and the parents to support and assess the success and challenges of the program. After testing by Trinity School staff, the children were placed in the classes appropriate to their current level of English and other subjects. This will initially mean being set back, but with the hopes that they will move forward as their skills increase over the school year. It will also place the students in a more diverse social and economic environment, moving them into a wider world of experiences and interactions.

“This is an experiment,” say Kamla. “to see whether we can help a few young students in our area. Trinity School offers a higher quality education then normally available in rural village schools but the kids will have to work a lot harder. We’re hoping that they will be able to meet the challenges they will face and have a wider range of opportunities as their educational skills develop.”

With the generous support of a few My Himachal donors, including Laura Hyman and Michael Keenan in the USA, My Himachal has set aside funds for the first year of the scholarship. The program offers donors the opportunity to be more directly involved in the lives of a few children with regular updates. Trinity School has also offered MH a few more scholarships as additional funds are raised. Those interested in supporting the program and children can contact Avnish Katoch, President MH at [email protected].

HP News Network