Project

Step-Up Centres for Out of School Children

Over the course of a three-year period, the Step-Up Centres for Out of School Children (SUC) project aims to enrol and mainstream 42,000 OOSC into formal government schools, primarily in the districts of Gurgaon and Mewat in the State of Haryana and other areas in the National Capital Region of Delhi. The principal areas of operations will be in urban slums and rural locales. Prior to being mainstreamed, students will attend the SUCs in preparation for successful transition to and full participation in the formal education system. Once mainstreamed, students will receive support so as to encourage retention.

Through the SUCs, Humana People to People India (HPPI) will address inhibiting factors to OOSC enrolment and retention, namely: lack of parental reinforcement, due to low awareness on their part; children ill-equipped to navigate the changing dynamic of relationships in formal school settings; and poorly financed mainstreaming initiatives that, in effect, compromise the functionality of accelerated-learning programmes and skills development. Therefore, the project proceeds with the rationale that by engaging a wide array of stakeholders, such as the child, parents, school and community, a conducive ecosystem for enrolment and retention can be created. Concretely, the SUC-model will employ a system of courses (guided learning), studies (self-navigated learning) and experiences (development of real world associations), divided into 11 periods over 11 months with the ultimate goal of preparing the student to be mainstreamed into formal government schools. The project will adopt the use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), composed of the State Government on one side and collaborating partners to sponsor the initiative on the other, to enable the scaling of programme outreach.

In terms of sustainability, the SUC project has been constructed without a beneficiary-based revenue driver. Instead, the project’s design requires needs-based PPPs with the government, NGOs and private partners. It is assumed that the government and private partners’ support for mainstreaming OOSC will continue to expand, especially in centres of urban growth.

*EAC would like to thank the Bharti Foundation for its generous co-financing contribution to this project.

 

Project finished

Partners

Humana People to People India

Together, EAC and Humana People to People India (HPPI) are partnering to provide 42,000 out of school children (OOSC) with access to quality primary education in Gurgaon, Mewat and other areas in the National Capital Region of Delhi.

Countries

India

India

India, with a population of 1.2 billion, is the world’s largest democracy. The country is vast, composed of 29 States and seven Union Territories with diverse socio-cultural contexts and various geographic and climatic conditions. As regards India’s governing structure, the Centre and the States share responsibility for planning and implementation of development programming.