School Principal Raises 40 Lakh To Pay Students Fees
Principal In Mumbai Raises 40L To Pay Students Fees And Prevent Them From Dropping Out.
Since March 2020, the start of the pandemic, schools have been shut. However, teachers have been working hard to make sure that children get educated even during the lockdown and have been conducting online classes. Shirley Pillai is the Principal of Powai English High School in Mumbai. She has been an educator for 35 years. Recently she noticed that students' report cards kept piling up, as parents did not come to collect them. She tried to find out the reason why the parents were not coming to the school. She realised that the parents avoided coming to the school as they would have to pay the school fees. Due to job losses and pay cuts, many parents are finding it difficult to pay their children’s school fees.
Seeing the plight of the parents, she gave a 25% reduction in the school fees, but families from the weaker sections, still could not pay the fees. Ms Pillai said that they had many children in their school, who were children of daily wage workers and from lower middle-class families. Her main worry was that girl students would first be forced to drop out of schools. So that no one has to drop out, Pillai took matters into her own hands. She began asking corporates through personal networks and social media platforms to sponsor children’s education. Ms. Pillai said that it took a while for corporates to respond.
However in the end she could collect Rs. 40 lakh from investors and other companies. She is glad that the effort is bearing fruit. The money collected was to pay the fees of students who could not pay their school fees. Around 200 students’ fees have been paid with the collected funds. They are now looking at sponsors for students for the academic year of 2021-22. The school has told the students to remain stress-free about the fees and just focus on their studies. These students are truly blessed to have an educator like this.
