Giving girls a chance

‘Learn, Earn and Return’ and empowerment of the girl child  is the vision that has scripted a success story in the sleepy village of Rampur, Maniharan in Saharanpur district. It is called the ‘American School’ by the villagers and locals as it is named after a former US President but linking success with one’s roots and the spirit to give back to the community, are the key pillars of education here. Bill Clinton School and Hillary Clinton School of Nursing, being run under the aegis of Vinod Gupta Charitable Foundation (VGCF) have changed the lives of children, especially girls, from the neighbouring villages. President Bill Clinton had visited Ramrati Education Complex in April 2001 and appreciated the facilities being provided to students in the rural belt and gave his consent to name the school after him.

The school, which is now up to Class XII, is equipped  with a computer lab,  library, auditorium,  science labs, sports facilities and a state-of-the-art science centre is currently being set up.  The centre will give the desired exposure to students from Rampur and adjoining areas like Saharanpur, Shamli and Deoband. All girl students get a 50 per cent fee concession, and besides this, those from needy families are also provided financial assistance and bicycles.  

The school as well as the nursing college and vocational training centre being run in REC, all have the common vision of  empowering women of marginalised groups through sustainable educational initiatives, which will enable them to be economically independent and socially secure. 

Many of the former students are successfully employed in India and abroad. A number of former students are now serving as teachers and office staff in the school also. “Being financially independent is a good thing, but there is no better satisfaction than being able to give back to your people and area”, says Bhawna,   who was among the first few girls to enrol for a diploma computer science in 2000. After working in other cities, she has returned to her alma mater to serve her people. She is currently working as purchase officer in REC. Both her children, a daughter, and son, are studying in the school.

Challenges

“Initially, making the  local residents understand the importance of  women empowerment and education was a major challenge as the conservative culture in villages left no scope for girls to go to school or get vocational training”, says Raj Kamal Saxena, President, Ramrati Educational Complex. Her team visited village to village in 2000, campaigning and creating awareness to send their girls to Ramrati Gupta Women's Polytechnic. But over the past 10 years, the success stories of village girls have brought about a huge change as now villagers are not scared of sending them to school.  “Transportation of students from villages was yet another hurdle as only local means of transport such as bullock carts were available. The school provides bus service to students now”, she adds.

Nursing success

The Hillary Clinton Nursing School under VGCF has made a mark for itself by imparting quality education to the students. The students have secured 100 per cent result along with placement in major hospitals such as Rafa Health Care-Chandigarh, Saksham Hospital, Saharanpur, Govt. Hospital, Meerut, Max Hospital, Dehradun, Medigram Hospital, Saharanpur, Megacity Hospital,  Saharanpur etc.

Giving back

The foundation, which is completely funded by US-based philanthropist Vinod Gupta, also runs Vinod Gupta School of Management at IIT Kharagpur,  and constructed the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law at IIT Kharagpur. Today, it is the top law school in India.

Future plans

To make Hillary Clinton Nursing School as one of the top ten nursing schools in India. VGCF is also in the process of building a state-of-the-art science centre at a cost of Rs 7 crore.

 —Geetu Vaid