Humanitarian support by Little Rock alumni and parents

Little Rock Indian School in Brahmavar is witnessing a unique initiative by its alumni and well-to-do parents.

The school, with a student population of over 3,500, is facing an unprecedented situation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many parents, including those employed in foreign countries, had lost their jobs, their businesses, which had been their very source of livelihood, and thus were not able to pay their children’s fee since the onset of the pandemic.

In the midst of this crisis, the school took a decision to ensure that not a single child was deprived of education due to the inability of their parents to pay fees.

The school invited parents to apply for ‘freeships’ (exemption of fee amount) to the tune of 50%, in some cases even 75% or in rare cases even upto 100%.

As many as 250-300 parents had been granted such freeships amounting to over Rs 50 lakh to 60 lakh.

As the school needs to pay salaries of its teachers and staff, and also continue its ambitious online classes, it solicited the support of its alumni spread across the world.

The alumni responded by rushing to the help of such parents who are in distress. The school also encouraged well-to-do parents to contribute a certain amount, along with their children’s fees, towards the newly created FMCF (For My Child’s Friend).

“This initiative also received a good response,” Principal Dr John Thomas informed. As of now, the contributions from these sections are trickling in.

It is the hope of Director Prof Mathew C Ninan that as the news goes around, there will be spontaneous support for such a good cause. If that happens, Little Rock’s model will be worthy of emulation.

There have been previous instances where both the alumni and a section of parents themselves came forward to stand by the school at a critical phase in its history.

The principal felt that if all the students who had received freeships in the past and are now financially better-off come forward, it will be a cakewalk for the school.

“But such ideal situations do not exist, unfortunately,” he regretted.