Aussie academics witness fresh hope for former street kids in India
Published on 27 September, 2012
CQUniversity is making a profound difference to the lives of a group of young people in India...
Following a program initiated by Vice-Chancellor Scott Bowman, the University provides funding to the Delhi-based Salaam Baalak Trust to provide for the educational and cost-of-living expenses for former street children of India.
CQUni reps Darryl Stewart, Fae Martin and Roger March with kids at the community centre
"The aim of the Trust is to remove kids from the streets as soon as possible and to mainstream them back into society," says Poonam Sharma, manager of the community centre that houses and provides basic primary-level education to around 30 former street kids.
Ms Sharma says that 24,000 children have been through the organisation in the last 24 years.
CQUniversity presently provides the funds for the tertiary education of 12 ‘graduates' from the community centre, enrolled in undergraduate courses ranging from Commerce, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering to Cinematography, Fashion Design and Video Production. These young people left the community centre when they turned 18 (as required by the law) and now share accommodation with fellow students.
A delegation from CQUniversity recently visited the community centre where they met the kids and staff, and were taken on a tour of Delhi slums by Tariq Aziz, a former street kid and graduate of the centre who is in his final year of high school. Tariq, who has dreams of being a tour guide or undertaking a business degree, earns money by taking foreign visitors on walking tours of Delhi.
CQUniversity's Dean of Management and Marketing Professor Roger March, Head of Undergraduate Engineering Dr Fae Martin, and a representative of CQUniversity's CMS (campus management services) operation, Darryl Stewart, were in India as part of an educational summit held in Hyderabad, followed by a tour of Chennai, Bangalore and New Delhi where they met Indian educational institutions to discuss educational and research collaborations.