Padhar Mission India
The Padhar Mission School is located in India on the central highlands in a remote area in the district of Betul, and in the state of Madhya Pradesh. It originally opened in 1903 and every Padhar villager has graduated from this school. Padhar Mission School has over 30,000 graduates with many of them serving in the Armed Forces, local governments, as teachers, and technocrats. Many of the alumni who are blind are working in various non-governmental organizations reaching out to the tribals.
The school building physically holds two schools with one wing serving 250+ Primary students (1st-5th graders). The second school serves Middle School, Secondary & Higher Secondary students (6th-12th graders) and has averaged 300+ students since its opening. Currently 374 students attend the second school with 63 blind, deaf, dumb, and mentally handicapped children studying under the instruction of 7 teachers within the Integrated Educational Program. The school has a total of 13 teachers & 2 attendants.
The students are from families below the poverty line whose monthly income varies between INR 600 / $15 and INR 1000 / $25. The cost of teaching a student per month is INR 80 / $2 for students in 6th-8th grade. For 9th & 10th graders, the cost is INR 100 / $2.5 per month. For 11th & 12th graders, the cost is INR 120 / $3 per month.
All teachers work at a salary 10-50% of what they could earn in other private or government schools. Teachers are typically paid between INR 1500 / $35 and INR 2000 / $45 per month. In spite of their low pay, these teachers are so dedicated that they also visit adjoining villages during summer vacation to create an awareness about the importance of education and to convince the parents to send their children to the school in order to get them into mainstream society. The teachers share the Word of God each day as they teach and as they witness to others in their own community and adjoining villages.