With such a massive population, a good education becomes all the more important if you want to compete for a job in countries like India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The job market is not keeping pace with the ever expanding population and students are having to seek further and continued education to compete for limited employment opportunities. Where a bachelors degree may have been sufficient in years past, now a masters degree is the minimum in some fields of work. Vocational training has also become increasingly popular over the years, providing students with a usable skill set immediately applicable after graduation.

At the Child Haven International homes in these countries, the number of college age students increases every year and so do the tuition fees. With so many children needing further education, their individual grades are ever more important. India’s education system is heavily based on memorization and performing well on exams. If a student lacks these skills it is virtually impossible for them to do “well” in school and to go on to further education, but boy do they try…

Studying is done day and night. The staff and older children as well as some hired tutors help with morning and evening study time. Grouped together by class, they use every available space at the homes to sit and study and work on homework. Child Haven students have consistently earned some of the highest scores in their local schools, including placing 1st in the school on the extremely difficult 10th and 12th grade government exams.

It is a difficult process to judge each student based on their aptitude and performance and decide what if any further education they can be sponsored for. A few are very easy decisions, but most require a lot of thought and discussion. Unfortunately, there isn’t really any sort of career counseling within the education system, consequently the children only have limited ideas of the possible careers that they can pursue. Nursing, teaching, engineering, and computer related courses are what students want the most and it is sometimes difficult to convince them that other choices may be more beneficial and practical.

We all learn best in our own ways. Some people do better studying one subject at a time, while some do better studying three things at once. Some people do best studying in structured, linear way, while others do best jumping around, ”surrounding” a subject rather than traversing it. Some people prefer to learn by manipulating models, and others by reading. - Bill Gates

If these children were not at the Child Haven Homes, they probably wouldn’t be in school at all. They may have gone to the local elementary school and some maybe even into high school, but not any further, especially the girls. In the poorest of families the children are often sent out to work as soon as they are able. If they are not working outside the home then they are certainly working inside, helping to care for younger siblings, doing chores and the like.

Child Haven opens many doors to these children and education is one of them. They have the support necessary to succeed and make a better life for themselves and their future families. Education is key in bringing people out of poverty and we are doing our best to aid this – one child at a time.

If you are interested in sponsoring one of the Child Haven students for further education please visit the sponsorship portion of the Child Haven website for more information. For as little as $1 a day you can help a child succeed for a lifetime.

Until next time,

CHI