Scholarships to 50 underprivileged children in Oman

Muscat: A total of 50 students from low and zero-income families who study at Indian School Muscat have received tuition scholarships from the school’s alumni association.

Indian School Muscat’s Alumni association (ISMA) donated a cheque worth OMR7,000 to the school management, with the intention of helping families unable to afford their child’s education.

The money that was donated came from ISMA’s various charitable and fundraising activities throughout the year, with the alumni association setting up their Kindle initiative to help give back to school students who are most in need of financial aid. The Kindle initiative piloted its programme last year when it handed out scholarships to 16 students and it has now raised enough funds to distribute that aid to more than three times the number of students.

Commenting on this, Mukund Manohar, President of ISMA, said “We at ISMA hope that this scholarship will make an impact in the student’s educational pursuits. We ask from the awardees that in the future when they are in a position to do so, to pay it forward and carry on the tradition of supporting other students in their academic goals.”

“ISM is our home and it is our moral duty to take care and give back to our alma mater,” he added. “As alumni of ISM, we all have the responsibility in preserving value and inspiring excellence with the school we all cherish. We want to ensure that children continue to receive quality education in ISM, irrespective of their economic stature. We started off by seeking to change the conversation on what an alumni community is capable of and today we are making our ideas a reality.”

ISMA’s committee had decided on certain criteria to determine those who would receive this aid. While it did take into account their financial situation, their academic achievements also played a role in determining which students would receive this money.

At a ceremony during which members of ISMA and the Indian School Muscat management committee presented the cheque to the student council members and the school Principal, ISMA also hoped that more ISM alumni from around the world would come forward and help donate money to this Kindle initiative, so that more students who needed tuition assistance could be helped.

“Chethan Mallya from the ISMA Executive Team said, “The goal of giving back to the deserving students and supporting this noble education initiative, inspires all the alumni to pitch in and help out in every way possible. Our various events have helped bring the entire alumni community together, creating new relationships and forging old ones.

“Our alumni have been a great source of inspiration and support for our initiatives,” he added. “We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our well-wishers and friends who have supported us in this meritorious cause through their time, efforts and monetary support."