LSR reaches out to these students

NEW DELHI: Reserving seats is not enough, there's a lot more to be done. At Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), a comprehensive programme 'reaches' out and integrates reserved category students with the mainstream.
And perhaps this is the reason why LSR is the only college in the Delhi University where not a single reserved seat remains vacant.
"Simply admitting students through reserved seats doesn't help.In fact, these students have a very high dropout rate since they are not able to adjust to their surroundings and aren't confident," said LSR's media coordinator Kanika Khandelwal.
Reaffirming Equity Access Capacity and Humanism (REACH) was started by the college in 2002 and is a concerted effort towards inclusion and empowerment of students from socially or economically-disadvantaged sections.
Of these, three meritorious students are awarded scholarships from Foundation of Academic Excellence and Access (FAEA). This scholarship of Rs 18,000 per annum covers their college fee, hostel fee, books expenses and also provides some money for personal expenses.
In addition to this, students under REACH are exposed to a series of workshops that help build their confidence. "We keep organising personality development workshops where these students are taught soft skills that work towards enhancing self-confidence.
This is what really boosts their performance and gives them an incentive to continue with education," said vice principal Asha Mathur.
The students are also taken for field trips to the Yamuna for environment lessons and are also acquainted with internet and e-mail at computer workshops.
"Some of them have never used a computer and feel left out when their peers are so comfortable with it. Ordinarily, they would shy away from asking someone how to use a computer. This is where REACH comes in," added Khandelwal.