These women themselves are, by and large, uneducated and devoid of any training and skills. Left on their own to struggle to earn a livelihood, and bring up and educate their children. The world can be a cruel place for such women. We cannot really express the tragedy, the misery and the anguish that we face when we encounter these women. Their only hope for a better life is through the education of their children. Rahat is now helping 250 such families on a continuing basis, under its Total Educational Support Scheme (TESS), sponsoring about 350 children. Essentially TESS is a sponsoring scheme under which a student once selected is provided with almost everything required by a child to go to school. Bus, computer and school fees, text-books, note-books, work-books, uniforms, stationery, raincoats, shoes, socks, ties, badges, extra-curricular activities expenses - everything is provided by Rahat.

Rahat provides total support to the family to ensure that the child goes to school properly. Educating the sponsored children is now Rahat’s responsibility. A special aspect of TESS is the criteria for selection. Rahat selects a family and provides assistance on the basis of the need. Majority of the Rahat scholars sponsored under TESS are orphans, or children of divorcees and deserted women. Rahat ensures that these children do not dropout from the educational system due to their poverty. In India Muslims are educationally so backward that only about 5% children reach secondary school levels. Sponsorship schemes like Rahat’s TESS have to be launched on a mass level to really impact on society.

The Total Educational Sponsorship Scheme forms the core area of Rahat’s educational promotion activities. In June/July, at the start of every new academic year Rahat gives nearly four hundred school uniforms to poor students, going mainly to state-run Municipal schools. Partial schools fees to one child in a family are provided to needy families on a case-to-case basis. Rahat also continues its support to Shaheen Urdu High School, a recognised school for girls in a slum locality in North Mumbai. In fact Rahat works from Shaheen Urdu High School on Sundays when the school is closed on the weekly holiday. Poor and orphan girls students of Shaheen are sponsored by Rahat and are encouraged to pursue higher studies. One student Hajrabi Gause became quite famous when she went to Sweden on a study-tour!!! Support is also extended to poor and needy students of Al Kausar High School and Aisha English High School located in Govandi, another slum locality in North East Mumbai. Support to such schools forms part of Rahat’s long term agenda of promoting education on a mass-level through local initiatives.

Annual sponsorship of one student is Rs. 3000/- (US $100/-)

Shaheen Urdu High School, located at Bharat Nagar, Bandra (East). North Mumbai.

Poor Students of Shaheen are sponsored through Rahat Welfare Trust