BENGALURU: These days, 12-year-old Zoya Khanum finds it difficult to wipe the smile off her face when she begins her online classes. The daughter of a scrap dealer, who used to find it hard to study using her father’s old phone, now has a new tablet while logging in.
“Studies have now become more fun,” says Zoya, a resident of Bismillah Nagar near BTM. Zoya’s excitement is a result of an initiative launched by three city-based entrepreneurs, who recognised that at a time when online education is at its peak, there are many students who are facing difficulties in attending classes because of lack of proper equipment.
Jayant Gauri, Prasanth Nori and Neeraj Doddamane have come up with a crowdfunding campaign called The Learn from Home Project, and are making efforts to provide tablets to underprivileged students so that they are able to attend online classes.
The campaign is supported by Sandalwood actors like Diganth, Kiran Srinivas and Hitha Chandrashekar. Started last month, the initiative had an initial target of collecting Rs 3 lakh for 34 students, but they have now pushed it to Rs 4 lakh to help 11 more children. “We are starting by giving the tablets to students of Class 7 and 10 of Raintree School,” says Gauri, who is also the founder of the school. Actor Kiran Srinivas says the learning process has to continue, especially for students preparing for Boards.
“The initiative aimed to reduce the burden on children to learn from home and that resonated with people. Perhaps it will inspire others to contribute in some capacity and make people’s life, especially children’s, better one day at a time,” he adds.