HYDERABAD: In an attempt to increase the literacy rate in the country, the Telangana Social Welfare Educational Institutions Society (TSWRIES) has collaborated with ‘Voice 4 Girls’, a social enterprise working for the rights of the girls and ‘Kaarmic Educational Services’, a social startup working towards the employment and empowerment of rural poor.
As a part of their initiative called ‘IMPACT Big Sunday Parents Meet’, the two social enterprises have met more than 60,000 parents in 120 residential social welfare schools in the state, which happened last Sunday.
As many as 120 volunteers from Hyderabad based colleges and companies have travelled to schools across the state to counsel the parents and answer their doubts. “Over the years, we have observed that the attendance of the students on the reopening day is deteriorating as most of them are dropping out. Once the students go home, it is difficult to ensure their return,” said Dr RS Praveen Kumar, secretary, TSWRIES. “This is one of the reasons why we chose young college students as counsellors, who are looked upon as role models by the kids. They idolize them and wish to become like them when they grow up,” he added.
“We tried to educate parents about the employment opportunities their children will have when they are educated,” said Poojitha who is studying M.Sc Psychology at St Francis College while sharing her experience.
“Initially, it was a little different to interact with the parents as they were bit skeptical. But at the end of the day, they understood what exactly we were trying to convey,” she added. Another counsellor Vijay lakshmi said that she ensured that the parents took an oath to send their kids back to school post vacation, on October 6.