Latest news with #Alfi
Hindustan Times
26-07-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
School run from centuries old Nanta Mahal in Kota crying for urgent repair work
Kota Jul 26 Class-11 student Alfi couldn't stop sobbing as she narrated the hazardous conditions of her school being run by the state government from the 18th century Nanta Mahal in Rajasthan's Kota. School run from centuries old Nanta Mahal in Kota crying for urgent repair work Alfi's tears reflected the fear among thousands of students in this coaching hub who are forced to study under risky and hazardous conditions. As many 14 school buildings here need immediate repair work to avoid any untoward incident, while around 700 classrooms in at least 1,057 government schools in the district are in 'damaged or ruined' state, officials said. Moreover, only 26 out of 200 schools in Kota which demanded funds for maintenance have been allotted ₹2 lakh each under the State Disaster Response Fund , the officials said. The worrying facts came to the fore a day after a portion of the Piplodi Government School in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district collapsed, killing seven children and injuring 27 others. The Government Senior Secondary School accommodating primary and upper primary sections with around 600 students is being run for decades from the centuries old Nanta Mahal. Following the tragedy in Jhalawar, officials from the PWD, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and the education department on Saturday reached the school and surveyed the building. 'We study here under constant fear as any portion of the school building may fall and cause injury anytime,' Alfi said. The balconies and the stone slabs covering them are very old and can cause fatal injuries, she said, expressing fear that an incident like Jhalawar can occur anytime at her school. 'Who will be responsible then? The government,' she asked. Narpat Singh Hada, assistant engineer, SMSA, who reached Nanta Mahal on Saturday, said, 'The school is not technically safe at all and can face structural failure anytime.' Since Nanta Mahal is presently under the Archeological Survey of India , repair and maintenance work cannot be carried out without its authorisation. However, the district education department has now directed to shift the school, the process for which is underway,' Hada said. Mohammed Sharif, principal of the school, also admitted that the structure is more than 300 years old and is ruined from both outside and inside. Despite sending proposals for funds, maintenance and repair work cannot be carried out as the school management does not have any ownership paper for the structure which is under the ASI at present, Sharif said. Moreover, it is difficult to shift 600 students to another place immediately, he added. Lakhanlal Meena, executive engineer, PWD, said that in compliance with the collector's direction, a team on Saturday visited the school and will submit a report accordingly. The Government Senior Secondary School at Tirath in Bundi district is facing similar risks, posing serious threats to student safety. The school has around 460 students who study in classrooms where water leaks through the roof during the rainy season. A drain passes through the school ground, which has been covered with stone slabs having large gaps. School principal Mamta Bagdoliya said that water seeps through the walls every rainy season, but the funds sanctioned for repair work fail to meet the requirements. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Time of India
26-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
700 classrooms in Kota's govt schools are ‘ruined'
1 2 3 Kota: Class 11 student Alfi broke down in tears while describing the conditions at her govt school, which has been operating for decades in the nearly 350-year-old Nanta Mahal building in Kota city. Alfi's distress is similar to those of thousands of students in Kota, who are compelled to study in perilous environments. Fourteen school buildings have been identified as requiring immediate demolition to prevent accidents, and around 700 classrooms in 1,057 govt school buildings in the district have been classified as "damaged and ruined". Despite requests for maintenance funds for 200 school buildings, only 26 schools have received allocation of Rs 2 lakh each under SDRF fund. The govt senior secondary school at Nanta, which also accommodates primary and upper primary classes with around 600 students, has been running for decades in the centuries-old building. The school also lacks ownership documents for the building and is ineligible for maintenance funds. Following the school tragedy in Jhalawar, the Kota education department has initiated process for relocating the school. Narpat Singh Hada, assistant sngineer for Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SMSA), Kota, who surveyed the school, stated, "The centuries-old Nanta Mahal school is not technically safe at all and can face structural failure at any time."
News18
26-07-2025
- General
- News18
School run from centuries old Nanta Mahal in Kota crying for urgent repair work
Kota (Rajasthan) Jul 26 (PTI) Class-11 student Alfi couldn't stop sobbing as she narrated the hazardous conditions of her school being run by the state government from the 18th century Nanta Mahal in Rajasthan's Kota. Alfi's tears reflected the fear among thousands of students in this coaching hub who are forced to study under risky and hazardous conditions. As many 14 school buildings here need immediate repair work to avoid any untoward incident, while around 700 classrooms in at least 1,057 government schools in the district are in 'damaged or ruined" state, officials said. Moreover, only 26 out of 200 schools in Kota which demanded funds for maintenance have been allotted Rs 2 lakh each under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the officials said. The worrying facts came to the fore a day after a portion of the Piplodi Government School in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district collapsed, killing seven children and injuring 27 others. The Government Senior Secondary School accommodating primary and upper primary sections with around 600 students is being run for decades from the centuries old Nanta Mahal. Following the tragedy in Jhalawar, officials from the PWD, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SMSA) and the education department on Saturday reached the school and surveyed the building. 'We study here under constant fear as any portion of the school building may fall and cause injury anytime," Alfi said. The balconies and the stone slabs covering them are very old and can cause fatal injuries, she said, expressing fear that an incident like Jhalawar can occur anytime at her school. 'Who will be responsible then? The government," she asked. Narpat Singh Hada, assistant engineer, SMSA, who reached Nanta Mahal on Saturday, said, 'The school is not technically safe at all and can face structural failure anytime." Since Nanta Mahal is presently under the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), repair and maintenance work cannot be carried out without its authorisation. However, the district education department has now directed to shift the school, the process for which is underway," Hada said. Mohammed Sharif, principal of the school, also admitted that the structure is more than 300 years old and is ruined from both outside and inside. Despite sending proposals for funds, maintenance and repair work cannot be carried out as the school management does not have any ownership paper for the structure which is under the ASI at present, Sharif said. Moreover, it is difficult to shift 600 students to another place immediately, he added. Lakhanlal Meena, executive engineer, PWD, said that in compliance with the collector's direction, a team on Saturday visited the school and will submit a report accordingly. The Government Senior Secondary School at Tirath in Bundi district is facing similar risks, posing serious threats to student safety. The school has around 460 students who study in classrooms where water leaks through the roof during the rainy season. A drain passes through the school ground, which has been covered with stone slabs having large gaps. School principal Mamta Bagdoliya said that water seeps through the walls every rainy season, but the funds sanctioned for repair work fail to meet the requirements. PTI COR ARI view comments First Published: July 26, 2025, 23:30 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Malala Fund Responds To Rollbacks On Girls' Rights With New $50 Million Strategy
Malala Yousafzai visits Dabab, Kenya on her birthday in 2016. Since 2013, the Malala Fund has distributed $65 million through more than 400 grants across 27 countries. Now, as gender equality and girls' rights backslide around the world, the fund announced last week that it is accelerating its impact and committing to distribute another $50 million over the next five years. Founded by Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, the Malala Fund's mission is to ensure all girls can access and complete 12 years of education. At present, more than 122 million girls around the world are out of school—a number that Malala Fund CEO Lena Alfi fears will only grow in the wake of multiple crises still unfolding today. "In Afghanistan, girls are banned outright from schools past grade six," says Alfi. 'In Sub-Saharan Africa, numbers are climbing as governments walk away from their promises. The [research] hasn't caught up, but when there are conflicts in places like Gaza, where schools aren't operational, you can assume girls aren't in school.' The magnitude of the problem sparked a new strategic plan for the fund and what Alfi describes as a bold restructuring, one that's prioritizing grantmaking more than ever before. 'We're committing anywhere from 45 to 50% of our budget to grantmaking to moving money directly into the hands of education leaders in the countries where we work,' says Alfi. 'That's a pretty significant shift and it's really putting the trust in our partners—and the resources in their hands—to be able to advocate for the changes that they are trying to make in their communities.' The fund's existing grantee portfolio reflects a broad range of issue areas and strategies. In Afghanistan, one grantee group is delivering offline education and advocating for girls' right to learn under Taliban restrictions. In Nigeria, another is advocating for delayed marriage for girls' education. In Pakistan, a think tank is driving policy advocacy on education finance, gender equity and public sector reform. Sehrish Farooq, the Sindh Provincial Head for Malala Fund partner Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi (ITA), ... More joins a classroom of girls in Karachi | 2025 The new grant funding announcement comes at a time when the landscape of foreign aid is seeing seismic changes. In the U.S., the Trump administration has frozen billions in foreign aid assistance and cut 90% of the U.S. Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts as part of a larger plan to cut international development spending down by $60 billion. The U.K., another global leader in foreign aid, announced in February that it would cut its aid budget from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3%. Organizations dedicated to girls' education in the global south are already feeling the strain. "There are a lot more partners who need funding and support," says Alfi. 'We see our grantmaking commitment as more important than ever because we can, at least, move money into places where it isn't flowing anymore.' Recent crises have deepened the need, but the issue goes back much further. Even before the Trump administration's cuts, women's and girls' organizations were receiving less than 2% of all charitable giving in the U.S. Across the globe, failing to uphold a girl's right to education has measurable ripple effects across entire communities. Child marriage rates rise, health outcomes worsen, women disappear from the workforce and economies weaken. According to the World Bank, when girls cannot complete secondary school, the global economy misses out on $15-30 trillion in productivity earnings each year. One of the aims of the Malala Fund's grantmaking expansion is to reach more grassroots organizations that are closest to the girls who need the most support. Additionally, it is reserving at least 20% of its total grant funding for groups led by girls and young women. "We've come across really incredible girls with brilliant ideas and smaller initiatives that they want to scale," says Alfi. 'We really want to ensure that part of our grantmaking is investing in them." Malala Yousafzai visits Malala Fund partner Ana Paula and young women from Indigenous communities on ... More her trip to Brazil in May 2023 As an advocacy-forward organization that focuses less on specific services and more on broader societal change, Alfi says the fund specifically seeks to back groups that are challenging systems and pushing for reforms on the ground. Currently, the fund is focusing the majority of its grantmaking work across six focus countries where girls face the biggest education barriers: Afghanistan, Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania. Recognizing the possibility of unforeseen crises—new global health emergencies, conflicts, natural disasters, regime changes and policy shifts—the fund is reserving $5 million for crisis response wherever the need arises. Despite the fast-moving nature of existing disasters—Gaza, for instance, is a key emergency focus area at the moment—Alfi says her time with the fund has shown that there are always people ready and willing to step up. "In the U.S., we are dealing with a massive phase of uncertainty," says Alfi. But, she continues, "The partners that we work with, the countries that we work with, deal with uncertainty all the time. They're not afraid. They don't back down. They don't quiet down. It's on us to now, more than ever, take the lead of our grantees and our girls."
