The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sponsoring a programme for slum children

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 26, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sponsoring a programme for slum children

Staff Reporter

They will be imparted ICSE education, provided three meals a day

Bangalore: Synopsys Inc. on Thursday announced its partnership with Parikrama Humanity Foundation, according to which it will be providing sponsorship for an entire class at TNT Parikrama Centre for Learning in Koramangala.

The sponsorship will entail imparting ICSE education, providing three meals a day and offering complete health care and family care for 30 slum children for a year. Aart de Geus, chairman and CEO of Synopsys Inc., said the focus would primarily be on education with an emphasis on mathematics and science to develop a new generation of skilled technologists who can contribute to society. "We not only provide monetary grants, but also offer the critical element of time through employee volunteer hours and leadership programmes," he said.

Shukla Bose, CEO of Parikrama, said: "Slum children are starting to realise that they are no different from others who enjoy the advantage of privileged education. Our aim is to show that even the poorest children have the capacity to compete and excel, besides being a part of emerging India. By sponsoring a classroom, Synopsys has also chosen to support a leadership programme that will bring about a long-lasting change."

Ms. Bose said that Parikrama managed centres of learning that imparted ICSE education to slum children. Now, it had four such centres for 740 children from 26 slum communities. With dropouts less than 1 per cent and over 97 per cent attendance throughout the year, the parikrama model was beginning to attract attention as a model that could be replicated and applied to any school that served the poor, she added.

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