Bangalore: In its drive to promote education among underprivileged children in India, Asha for Education (AfE) has announced the 12th edition of its online 'Work an Hour' (WAH) campaign which is to begin on July 15, 2009. The funds collected from the two month long campaign are given to school projects which are selected after evaluation by volunteers.

The campaign, which will culminate on September 15, 2009, needs to raise $188,415 for this year's projects which will reach out to over 7000 children in 70 schools. The movement has grown steadily since 1998 when over $30,000 was raised from roughly 700 donors, to 2008 witnessing over $150,000 generated from close to 1,250 participants.

The campaign is based on the simple concept of participants donating one hour's worth of their earnings. WAH essentially reaches out to projects with fixed expenditure and which is mostly infrastructural in nature. The campaign can raise much more than what one Asha chapter can raise alone. The campaign theme this year is 'Quality in Education', for which 15 projects have been selected across the nation to be showcased to donors.

Today, simply retention of children in school has become a bigger concern than just ensuring initial enrolment. The 7th 'All India survey on Education', 2002, cites "lack of interest in studies" as a major factor contributing to drop out rates among children hailing from deprived backgrounds. Almost three out of four children state this as a reason for discontinuing their studies.

Started in 1991, Asha has grown to encompass over 1000 volunteers in 66 chapters worldwide. Recognized for its minimal overheads as costs are borne entirely by volunteers, Asha ensures that hundred percent of the donors' funds are used to support underprivileged children in India directly.

Asha explores both formal and alternative forms of education and keenly scrutinizes projects for funding approval. More significantly, Asha is involved in community related issues which have a bearing on the learning environment of the children of urban and rural poor. Some of the chosen projects in the past editions have dealt with children of sex workers, children from conflict ridden areas and tribal backgrounds. Please check out http://www.workanhour.org"