Queen Rania wins young hearts at Ritinjali Learning Centre

New Delhi, Mar 10 (UNI) For the about 110 underprivileged children of Ritinjali Learning Centre, Jordan's Queen Rania's visit today turned out to be a fun filled experience.

The Queen ''attended'' a history lesson on monuments of Delhi with some 20 children albeit for a few minutes only and later sat through a tailoring class with a few girls aged between 17 and 21 years.

She interacted with the children and went over the children's work exhibited on display boards, including art and crafts, poems and illustrations, from their course at the school which was once a water tank.

They also shared their experiences with the Queen, who is on a two-day working visit to India.

Queen Rania, a member of the UNICEF Global leadership Initiative for children, spend around 30 minutes at the South Delhi slum centre which provides education to out-of-school children between 6 to 14 years.

Impressed by the programme, the Queen said the international community must deliver on their promises of realising dreams of children.

''It is heartening to see so many young minds eager to learn, and that is due, in no small measure to the commitment and vision of the teachers and the community,'' she said.

''We must promise our children that we will do everything in our power to facilitate their dreams and create a path along which they can walk confidently and realise them. The International Community must deliver the promise,'' she added.

The Centre is one of the 3000-odd alternative learning centres that resulted from the combined efforts of over 180 NGOs, the Delhi Government and UNICEF.

The students of the alternative learning centres, mainly drop-outs are provided with basic elementary education and integrated into formal schools later. Vocational training is also given to make them economically independent.

UNI NR VD KN2059