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Grameen Shikkha Scholarship Winner Nargis Akhtar
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Nargis Akhtar ’s father died when she was in 9 th grade. Her mother could barely earn enough to support the family of eight. There were days when Nargis went without food, let alone have money for textbooks or school uniform. Shumi Shaha’s father sells molasses from a roadside stall. Habibur Rahman’s father has been pulling rickshaws for 20 years. These three were among a group of 15 Grameen Shikkha [Grameen Education] scholarship winners who had come to Dhaka from all over Bangladesh last August to attend an annual scholarship banquet. Grameen Shikkha scholarships, given to bright children from poor families, have allowed the laureates to focus more on their studies. In 2004, 20 GS scholarship winners took the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams with 4 scoring A+, 9 scoring A, and 2 A-. All three: Nargis, Shumi and Habib, earned A’s in the national 10 th grade exam. GS has so far given out scholarships to more than 254 poor children in grades three through university with support from 73 sponsors from 7 countries, including Bangladesh.
Under the scholarship management program, each sponsor creates an endowment with GS and can specify which geographic region, gender, field of studies, duration of scholarships and other particulars of the beneficiaries. Students for these scholarships are selected according to the instructions of the sponsors. Students can be from any type of families. These families do not have to be families of Grameen Bank borrowers. Sponsors receive a report on each recipient of the scholarship each year.
HM Queen Sofia of Spain is also a major patron of the scholarship program. A scholarship bearing her name provides monthly stipends to 60 bright children from very poor families. The scholarship management program is gaining popularity among Bangladeshi expatriates as well. So far 17 ex-pat Bangladeshis have sponsored scholarship through GS.
Those interested in sponsoring the scholarship program can e-mail Grameen Shikkha at nurjahan-gs@grameen.com or phone/fax at +880-2-8011425. |
