Education aid for Covid-hit students in GTA area

SNS,  DARJEELING, 4 JUNE 21 : Taking their Covid Crisis Support Scholarship Programme forward, the Vikrun Foundation and the headmaster of the Rama Krishna Siksha Parisad (RKSP) today formed the 'Siksha Sahara,' which will look into cases that deserve to get support from them.

The scholarship programme is meant to assist students in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration area who have lost their parents to Covid-19.

"Our scholarship programme was announced earlier on, for which we held a meeting today with the GTA Headmasters' Associations. We distributed scholarship forms to them and set up criteria for the students to be given the scholarships. A committee headed by the RKSP headmaster Dr Milan Tamang has also been formed. We feel that education of students is a major factor and they should be helped during this pandemic," said Vikram Rai from the Vikrun Foundation. Adding to that, a member of the GTA Head-masters' Association, Bhim Pradhan, said, "During this pandemic, there are a lot of cases where the parents of children have died due to Covid, or the only earning member of a family. A student's education should not be discontinued, for which we have formed a body called the Siksha Sahara."

According to Mr Pradhan, there were certain criteria that have been set like the students have to be from the GTA area and can be from not only government schools but also private institutions and colleges.

"Representatives have been chosen from different places and sub-committees have been formed in Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik and Darjeeling, who will refer the cases to the central committee, which will decide what type of support has to be given and to whom," he said.