Edu-leaders

Delhi's slum children will now be able to study in Australia under an exchange programme between the University of Melbourne and voluntary organisation Asha, officials said here Tuesday.

The programme aims at supporting the needs of the urban poor and will operate in three areas – research, education and community engagement.

"This is going to be a unique programme in terms of catering to the needs of the urban poor, who can't afford even basic education. We also aim at finding solutions to the needs of urban poor as we begin interacting with the students," said Amitabh Mattoo, director of the University of Melbourne's Australia India Institute.

The programme will fund 40 projects during 2011 across areas such as resource and environment, contemporary India, regional relationships, health, education, economics and business. It will be launched by the Human Resource and Development Minister, Kapil Sibal.

Source: igovernment