Education

Overview
Early Childcare Development
Child Protection
Quality Education
Residential Schools

Various studies have shown that Koraput children studying in government primary schools have extremely poor levels in reading and math.

We intervene by involving villagers--men, women and children--in understanding the importance of a quality education and working to strengthen their existing educational opportunities. We've implemented our program in 123 villages, regularly keeping in touch with the teacher's union, education department, and policy makers to ensure the quality of education in Koraput rises.

Reading Improvement Program

Our 14-week reading enrichment program improves reading skills among government primary school students of selected schools. We piloted the program in 2007 in 8 centers with 160 children from grade 2. It quickly identified the fast and slow learners, and then motivated the faster learners to tutor their peers who were falling behind. This method increased the children's capacity to memorize, retain information, and teach others. Out of 160 children, 92 children are now able to read a story. Drawing on the experience of first year, we now run 32 centers with 660 children from grades 2 to 5.

Strengthening Schools

We improve government schools by training teachers and providing learning materials and athletic equipment and making repairs to damages from natural disasters. We also work to advocate for a child-friendly school environment that does not tolerate corporal punishment.

Village Education Committees

We build the capacity of Village Education Committees, democratically elected villagers responsible for the proper running and quality of education in their local government schools. We help them by advancing their skills on how to monitor the education system and advocate for higher quality education.