Education support
Education has been our primary focus since we were founded.
We later expanded to other areas like women’s empowerment and help for visually challenged people, but education support continues to be our primary forte.
In some cases, the primary bread-winner for the family (usually the father) has passed away, abandoned the family, or is otherwise dysfunctional due to medical reasons or addiction. In such cases, a single parent (usually the mother) struggles to make ends meet, and the family is forced to discontinue their children’s education. These are prime examples of our focus.
We have helped students so far.
A unique aspect of Vidiyal Foundation’s education support is that it is not just a one-time gesture but ongoing support, year after year.
This works by mapping donors and beneficiaries 1:1. When we receive a student’s request for help, we first thoroughly vet their situation, perform background checks in person (the trustees visit them personally) and verify that they are indeed in need.
Next, we go about finding a donor who can support them not just once but year after year until the student finishes college and graduates.
If - for some unavoidable reason - a donor backs out the subsequent year, we find another donor who can take up the reins and continue supporting the student from where the last donor left off. So far we have always been able to find willing donors to carry the torch if such a situation arises, which is rare.
In addition to financial support, we also do constant mentoring. We visit the students personally and guide them with academia and logistics.
Our students were talking about their family background and education details. Most of the donors are helping us without meeting the student. We took this video to share the same with our donors. Myself and Prasad explained about our NGO service at the end. It was conducted in the year 2016. These students are working in private firm currently.
A random example of a student we have been able to help, thanks to selfless donors.
- Pavithra has cleared her SSLC with 481 marks out of 500, HSE with 490 out of 600 marks.
- She has scored 366 marks in the NEET exam.
- She has qualified for a medical seat in Karpagam Medical College, Coimbatore.
- The first year’s fees of Rs.2.1 lakhs, and they were looking at around 1.5 Lakh in hostel fees.
- Pavithra has two younger brothers, and they are pursuing their studies too.
Her family couldn’t afford to the Rs.3.6 lakhs for Pavithra’s fees, as her father works as a salesman in a textile shop in Salem earning just Rs.10,000 per month.
We started fund-raising for her medical studies and collected Rs.3.07 lakhs. We visited Karpagam Medical College to pay the tuition and hostel fees directly.
- Pavithra’s father managed to pay Rs.90,000 for tuition fees.
- We have paid Rs.1.15 lakh for tuition fees and Rs.1.35 lakh for hostel fees.
Net-net, we have paid Rs.2.5 lakh rupees for her first year and her father managed the rest. The remaining Rs.57,000 from donations went towards her second year’s fees.
MBBS is an impossible-seeming dream for lower/middle-class families. Pavithra put in a lot of effort, scored good marks, and qualified herself. Thanks to college authorities, her fees were reduced a little bit citing her father’s income and community basis.
Now Pavithra is in her second year and we have also paid Rs.295450 for second-year fees.