Date:12/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/12/stories/2006081220290200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Helping poor children attend school

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: Thanks to a thoughtful gesture by a group of enthusiastic young women, more than 300 children from 16 villages surrounding Hoskote are now attending primary school.

Most are children of small farmers and farm workers.

Poverty and the fact they have to walk long distances to reach school would have prevented most of them from getting the education needed to break out of their cycle of poverty.

The Henk Bruna Round Table School, started by the Bangalore South Ladies Circle-66, is completing five years of service.

It acts as a "feeder school" for the Swami Vivekananda Round Table School, where the children can attend high school classes.

The primary school children are picked up from their villages on a bus donated by the Ladies Circle and taken to school.

Improving facilities

The Ladies Circle has over the past few years been working to improve facilities in these schools.

They have managed to add more classrooms, toilets, play equipment and computers.

This enhances the learning experience for these underprivileged children.

According to Ladies Circle chairperson Lata Bhaskar, the aim is to provide a full-fledged computer lab for these children.