Children in India

Children are the future of a nation. For an emerging and developing country like India, development of underprivileged children holds the key to the progress of the nation itself.

Education for underprivileged Children is the key whether we are addressing healthcare, poverty, population control, unemployment or human rights issues.

The educational initiatives for underprivileged children include Crche [0-3 yrs], Preschool [3-6 yrs], Non Formal Education [6-14 yrs non-school going], Remedial Education [6-14 yrs school going], Bridge Course [14-18 yrs drop-outs], Functional Literacy [18-45 yrs women] and Family Life Education for adolescent girls.

Save the Childrens work is underpinned by a commitment to making childrens rights a reality that was first set out by the organizations founder over 75 years ago. Education is not only a right in itself, but an enabling right- a critical instrument for bringing about social, economic and political inclusion and a durable integration of people, particularly those excluded from the mainstream of any society

To address this challenge, Save the children has adopted the strategy of facilitating the creation of Inclusive Learner Friendly Environments targeted at 3-18 years within diverse educational settings to meet the challenge of addressing diverse and heterogeneous needs of children.

7 million children in India under 14 years do not have access to quality education and approximately 50% of all children drop out before they complete their elementary education.We are working to create quality, inclusive, learner-friendly environments for all children to ensure that the Right to Education Act, 2009 is implemented.

We work towards developing inclusive and equitable education policies and practices, thereby ensuring a quality education for all children, regardless of their gender, class, caste, ethnicity and religion. Other aspects of our work include a focus on Early Childhood Development, the promotion of child-centered approaches, training teachers and helping communities to develop close linkages with schools.

The focus of our approach is based on a three pronged strategy involving intervention in three domains of the education system;

-Organisation of Schools -Instructional Dimension -Community Involvement

We plan to develop 'model inclusive schools' across at least five States of India. This will be implemented through developing a core group of master trainers consisting of eduction personell as well as SCERT and DIET/SIET faculty, who in turn will train teachers in pre-schools and schools. We will work with selected schools/Anganwadi centres and pre-primary classes over the next five years to intervene in all the three dimensions to make them model Inclusive Learner friendly Schools.

Our aim is that these models of Inclusive pre- primary and primary environments are able to demonstrate the efficacy addressing individual needs of children belonging to the most disadvantaged backgrounds through creation of schools for all, thereby realizing the dream of achieving Education For All.

What we Do:

-We promote learner friendly inclusive environments by effective community participation and active learning methodologies.

-We work on collaborative models between Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Human Resource Development, so that children are provided stimulating learning environments and receive quality basic education.

-Implement the Right to Education Act, 2009 so that children of the most marginalised sections of society receive an education.

-Create sustainable programmes by building capacity within the education system and using our projects as pilots to demonstrate best practices.

The key focus of our Education interventions is to ensure that the Right to Education Act, 2009 is implemented. We promote access and retention to quality inclusive education in government schools and aim to strengthen the capacities of existing government schools and their governance. Our programs aim to improve participation of children, their parents and the community in education planning and improve learning levels and reduce drop out rates of children.