Imphal, April 10 2014: In what could be described as a tremendous boost towards promoting basic primary education in the remote comers of Manipur, Ekal Vidyalaya (E V), an international education development funding organisation has given the green signal to undertake educational ventures in the State.
Top EV functionaries reportedly consented to launching various educational projects in the State at the initiative of US-based Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN), an NGO run by Manipuris settled in the USA.
The EV approval is said to be based on feedback provided by one Premchandra Okram, a retired teacher from Thoubal who, on the recommendation of KEN and EV visited few schools in Thoubal district and reported factual information about the ground situation to EV management.
The school assessment exercise was carried out as part of the ongoing engagement between KEN and EV, said the report.
According to a report received here, KEN Manipur members Lakshmikant Laikangbam, Ajit Thokchom and Kelvin Ashem attended Ekal’s annual Fund Raising event at Hyatt Regency, Boston (Massachusetts) in the USA recently during which the KEN trio interacted with several high profile EV members including its president Vinod Jhunjhunwala and executive director Ranjani Saigal.
Along with informing that the event served as an occasion for discussing how KEN and EKAL can work together to spread awareness of the noble work done by EV for the people of Manipur in promoting basic primary education in developing and underdeveloped remote areas of the State, the report highlighted that EV operates more than 400 schools covering 12,000 children in Manipur.
On EV’s intimation to KEN volunteers in and around the world to help EV succeed in its mission and endeavours in Manipur, Lakshmikant Laikangbam worked in raising funds for EV enough to run 10 schools (around 300 students) for an entire year.
The KEN initiative was highly appreciated at the Boston Fund Raising event and EV suggested that Premchandra Okram, as a part of EV and KEN collaboration effort, to continue visiting EV schools in other districts of Manipur and provide the feedback to ensure the actual benefits of the programme reach to those intended for.It is said that US-based EV is a movement to bring about holistic development in remote villages of India and Nepal by imparting functional education consisting of literacy, healthcare, economic development and empowerment education.
At the moment EV runs unique schools in 52,000 villages in all States of India and Nepal working for nearly 1.5 million children.
EV method focuses on choosing a youth from the area and training them to be teachers.
The funding organisation’s strong volunteer pool allows EV to run the schools at the low cost of just a $1 a day, which for $365 a year means education of about 30-40 kids at about $ 10 spending for each child in a year.
KEN, too is a non-political and non-profit association of people of Manipuri origin and their friends living in different parts of the world with varied professional backgrounds, experiences, skills and expertise.
Will the world becoming a global village and witnessing an IT boom during the last two decades, many people of Manipur origin are now found working in every nook and corner of the world, who actually me the main constituents of KEN.
added the report.