Rotaract Club of Panadura – “Education for All”
If not for what we learn from what is around where would humans be? Learning and education, both formal and informal are essential for the growth of humans. Not only to survive but to create great contributions for the development of this world. And therefore, education should be treated with utmost importance.
Though learning is life long, school education is limited to 12 to 13 years of a student’s life. And in the present context school education has the power to decide the opportunities one would acquire in life. Sheer willingness to learn is not enough to engage in education successfully. Students should also be always motivated and encouraged to do their best in learning and being educated. And one of the reasons students feel demotivated is when they lack the necessary material and infrastructure to continue their studies.
But as responsible citizens of this country we cannot let potentially bright students lose their interest and motivation to learn due to the financial difficulties they face. With this understanding the Rotaract Club of Panadura of the Rotaract District 3220, initiated The project “Education for All” in the year 2016 with the aim of enriching the lives of those students who face obstacles due to the lack of finances.
This year we chose, B/ Gambadda Vidyalaya, Rathkarawwa (via Haputhale), a type 2 school (Grade 1 – Grade 11) of Welimada Educational Zone of the Badulla District. This school has a student population of 105 students for the academic year 2021, including 2020 GCE O/L students. The main reason why we selected
this school was that it has faced the potential threat of being having to shut down in the years to come.
Since this project took place during under the threat of the pandemic each and every step of the project was done with extreme caution. We ensured that all the interactions made by us, the members of the Rotaract Club of Panadura, were done in the safest way possible. From the process of buying the goods from Fort to packing them to distributing them at the school, safety measures were always followed. Though we usually accommodate many people to join the book distribution, times were such we had to limit it to three members. All the material were given to the school authority and the rest of the process was carried on by the principal and the teachers of the school so that students avoid the contact with us. Masks and gloves were always worn by us to ensure the safety of the teachers, parents and students specially since we represent Panadura which is a high-risk zone.
The main aim of the project was to motivate the students of the school at the beginning of the new academic year and help increase the number of new admissions to the grade 1 class. We were able to provide complete stationery packs to all 105 students, 20 packs that contained “Sathara Shishyathwa Model Paper Book” and the “Sathara Shishyathwa Past paper book” and 15 story books by one of the greatest children story creators of Sri Lanka, late Ms. Sybil Weththasinghe.
This project was done with utmost good faith and good intentions and it was only possible because of the trust the public placed in us and the generosity they extended through their donations. As a responsible and accountable organization, we value transparency in the work we do. Therefore, at the end of the project not only images but we also published the budget of the project as a Google sheet that could be accessed by anybody.
We also would like to recognize all the members who supported this project in various ways. We also would like to thank our members Rtr. Piyath De Alwis (The first chairperson of the project), PP Rtr. Annapoorna Jayasiri (President 2016/2017 and current Director Community Service), Rtr. Kushan Dias (The current chairperson of the project), Rtr. Sanduni Hettigoda (President 2020/2021) and Rtr. Yasiru Amarathunga (Treasurer 2020/2021) for all contributions they made for this project.
We believe year 2021 will be a great year for those students because of the support we could render.
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