 The
Madras Mylapore Round Table 3, an association dedicated to children's
education and community service in India,
has unveiled its project of a 3,500 sq. ft, six-classroom block in Presidency Girls School in Egmore. The classroom
was inaugurated by the Ambassador of Netherlands, E F Ch Niehe.
The total cost for building the school block is Rs. 9.75 lakh and funds for the construction came from
Madras Mylapore
Round Table 3, Round Table Netherlands and the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Inaugurating the classrooms, Niehe said, "We are proud to be associated with such a noble cause. Primary education
of children is a key social issue and I am happy to see the good work done by the Round Tables of India. I wish the
'Freedom Through Education' project all success."
 The aim of 'Freedom Through Education' , the long-term service project of Round Table India is to educate one million
children across India by 2008. As part of this project, the Madras Mylapore Round Table has been building classrooms
to improve the infrastructure facilities at the Presidency Girls School; a Government-run school whose students come
from the underprivileged sections of the society, said RTI president R Girish.
As part of this project, more than 500 schools have already been built all over the country by Round Table India. The
total outlay is over Rs. 40 crore, with many school blocks currently under construction. Round Table Netherlands has
been a partner in this project in about 200 schools, contributing more than Rs 3.6
crore.
 Girish said, "In India, lack of primary education for children is the root cause for many other social issues like
child labour. Primary education must be a national priority, and therefore our focus and commitment to this cause. With the
'Freedom Through Education' project, Round Table India is confident of educating at least one million
children - a first
step towards meeting the larger challenge of making primary education available to all Indian children." The funds from
Netherlands towards the Round Table project would be stepped up from 630,000 Euros to one million Euros in the
next couple of years.
The Madras Mylapore Round Table had already built a modern classroom block with four
classrooms covering an area
of 2,500 sq. ft, in 2003. They have also built a Noon Meal Centre with a full-fledged kitchen, a water well & motor for
pumping water. Twenty toilets for the girls' use were also constructed by the Round Table, said its chairman Sandeep
Somani.
 The highlight of the function was the manner in which the Netherlands Ambassador mingled with the children. When he
arrived at the venue, he found a dais on which chairs were placed for the chief guests, while hundreds of children were
squatting on the playground, exposed to the hot sun. Niehe squatted in their midst and chatted with them for some time
before moving to the dais. He appealed to the students to help other children once they graduated and got jobs.
Niehe said certain restrictions had been placed on direct government-to-govenrment funding from Netherlands, under
a decision taken by the previous (NDA) government in India. However, his government would ensure that the funds
earmarked for NGO projects in India would continue, he added. He handed over a set of Computer Science Guides to
the school headmistress Vijayalakshmi.
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MMRT 3 classroms for Presidency School
