Quick facts
- In India , 44.2 % of the population live on less than US$1.08 a day (source: The World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2000 (Washington, DC, 2000)).
- In India, 74 % of the population live in rural areas; compare this to Australia where 92% of the population lives in urban centres.
- Bihar has a population of 83 million people with nearly 90% living in rural areas. Bihar is one of the poorest states in India and relies heavily on agriculture for its income. Among its people, 42% are under the age of 14 with the average life expectancy for men at 63 and women at 62 years.
- In Australia, it costs approximately $35,000 a year to educate, feed, clothe and keep warm and healthy a 10 year old child to a modest but adequate level (source: Department of Family and Community Services, May 2005 and Australian Scholarship Group, 2007). In comparison, for $10,000, less than a third of this, you can feed, clothe, educate and keep warm and healthy 100 children in our school in Bihar.
- To feed one 10 year old child in Australia costs on average $7,500 per year. For the same amount, 85 children in our school in Bihar can be fed for a year.
- One year of government primary school education in Australia on average costs parents $5,745 per child. For the same cost, 87 children can be educated per year at our school in Amritsar.
