© K. L. Kamat
I had heard about the system of Väränna (translated as "Weekly Rice") system of education in India, but I didn't know the details till now.
Basically the system works as follows. Poor brahmin boys used to go out of town for primary education and would typically stay at premises of a temple or a choultry. But they would have no food to eat. To spare the student the trouble and humiliation of begging everyday (which was also prevalent, but mostly applied to brahmin boys who were initiated into monkhood via munji and studied equivalent of today's high-school), compassionate families volunteered to feed the student one day of the week. So, once the student located seven sponsors, he could focus on learning. Dividing the responsibility among seven families reduced the burden on them as well, since you had to play sponsor only one day of the week, yet the the family was entitled to the respect and reward of being charitable.
Apparently, in some parts of southern India -- as late as 1940s, and 1950s this was a very common way to fund education for many poor families.
See Also:
• Brahmanical Education in Andhra Pradesh in 1900
• The Institutions of Agrahara, Mutha, and Aigala Mutha
