Support Shiksha, lead a child to the path of education

Buy large packs of Tide, Ariel, Pantene, H&S, Rejoice, Vicks VapoRub, Whisper, Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, or Pampers, and lead a child to the path of education. Shiksha 2005 helped support education of 11,000 children in 109 villages last year.

India has the world's largest number of uneducated children, and you can help educate that situation! Make a beginning by participating in Shiksha - a P&G program to help children across India achieve their right to education, in association with India's premier child rights organization Child Rights and You (CRY) and Sony Entertainment Television. As Shiksha entered its second year, Mandira Bedi, Kunal Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Rakesh OmPrakash Mehra, Siddharth, Soha Ali Khan, Sanjana Kapoor are among Indias leading stars who have united to appeal to consumers to support Shiksha by buying large packs of Tide, Ariel, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Rejoice, Vicks VapoRub, Whisper, Gillette Mach 3 Turbo or Pampers during April, May and June, 2006 and lead a child to the path of education. Irrespective of sales, P&G has committed a minimum of Rs. 1 crore to Shiksha, which will be allocated to education-focused projects.

According to President Kalam, "Children who belong to weaker sections of our society are undernourished, and only a small percentage of them manage to complete satisfactory education. We need to think specifically for them. Education is indeed a fundamental right of every Indian child. Can we allow the situation to continue in which millions of these children are forced into life long poverty?" Project Shiksha is one step to meet this need.

Shiksha ambassador Mandira Bedi said, "We have traditionally given a lot of respect to education and the educated. However, the state of education today in India is abysmal - it is shocking and unacceptable that 50% of Indian children do not get a proper education. 58 years after Independence, it is high time that Shiksha remains not just a privilege for a few but the norm for every child born in this country.
Project Shiksha, is commendable and very close to my heart and mind as to most of my fellow Indians. Children from socially & economically marginalized families are more susceptible to being deprived of their basic rights like education amongst others, and are easy victims of hunger, abuse neglect and deprivation. India has the world's largest number of uneducated children, and I today pledge my support to fight this injustice. I urge each one of you to join me in supporting Shiksha, and lead a child to the path of education."

Last year, Shiksha received tremendous support from consumers, the news media and influencers resulting in P&G contributing Rs. 1.26 crore which helped support the education of 11,000 children in 109 villages. Shiksha is helping make a positive difference by working with the State Education Departments to re-look at existing education policies; creating awareness to build more schools with better infrastructure; enrolling more children into formal schools; and building all-round development of children through education. Some key positive actions that Shiksha 2005 made possible include...

• JAAG had enrollment of 230 children into formal schools;
• Lok Shikshan Abhiyan (Osmanabad, Maharashtra) campaign in 35 villages against child labor and early marriages helped achieve 100% enrolment in schools;
• Community Service Guilds (Salem and Namakkal districts, Tamil Nadu) that drove awareness on education, built more schools, and sensitized employers to tackle the issue of child labour;
• The Association of People with Disability (Kolar, Karnataka) provided adequate education infrastructure and learning material thus ensuring the development rights of disabled children in schools;
• Tribal Development Society (Bellary district, Karnataka) set up leadership trainings and angadwadis, and continued to create awareness on education and health issues; and
• Chetna Vikas (Wardha district, Maharashtra) setup Bal Sabhas and sustained nine Bal Bhawans focusing on learning through art and games to improve the children's confidence, creativity and expression, and in addition conducted support classes for academically weak students.

Mr. Shatanu Khosla, the MD of P&G said, "Inspired by consumers' contribution in 2005, we have made Shiksha an annual initiative and it remains a one-of-its kind initiative, providing the widest cross-section of consumers the easiest route to get involved in leading India's underprivileged children on the path to education, and be part of a program that makes a positive impact on a national scale. We look forward to increased contributions and educating thousands more."

Ms. Ingrid Srinath, CEO, Child Rights and You (CRY) said, "Children pay the highest price for all our failures as a nation and a society. When 20,000 Indians died in the tsunami we rightly treated it as a national calamity. We are outraged as a society when we see murderers getting away scot-free. Don't the 75 million of our children who are hungry and the 100 million who do not get an education deserve at least as much attention and action? For almost 6 decades we have treated our children as objects of sympathy and concern rather than as citizens whose constitutional rights are violated on a larger scale and more severely than any other group. CRY is deeply grateful to P&G, Sony and all the eminent individuals who've lent their support to the cause of child rights."

For more information, contact the nearest CRY office.