ASED
Combating school failure among slum children
Location
Gurgaon, about twenty kilometers southwest of Delhi
Context
A satellite city of Delhi, Gurgaon is home to hundreds of shantytowns inhabited by migrants from other states or isolated rural dwellers who have come to try their luck in this fast-growing city. They work as peddlers, low-cost laborers in construction and industry, or as cleaners in the city’s hotels, offices and shopping malls. 30% of Gurgaon’s 2 million inhabitants live in urban poverty, deprived of basic services such as housing, sanitation and healthcare. Children in these slums have no access to quality education.
Where they exist, public schools offer free education, but conditions are deplorable. Staff are inadequate and poorly trained.
ASED works with local partners to provide schooling for these children, who are particularly hard hit by poverty. They require special attention, which includes a setting and teaching adapted to their situation. Stimulating classrooms and interactive playgrounds are key to their successful entry into school life.
Project
Creating the right educational ecosystem for children to develop their full potential. This includes an innovative classroom infrastructure, interactive learning tools and a playground.
Children living in slums are deprived of age-appropriate social interaction. They have not had the chance to attend pre-school or kindergarten, and lag behind in fine motor skills, gross motor skills and cognitive abilities usually acquired in the first years of life. Using a holistic approach, the project aims to make up for these shortcomings, and in so doing reduce the school drop-out rate. Priority is given not only to academic excellence, but also to the development of pupils’ social, emotional and physical skills. To avoid school failure, the emphasis is on early recognition of the first signs and indicators of problems, so that appropriate measures can be taken to support the children concerned (early intervention approach).
The learning space is safe and fun. It allows children to explore, experiment and invent.
- Renovation of second-year primary classrooms (structural improvements, installation of child-friendly furniture, etc.).
- Modernization of teaching resources.
- Building a playground
Impact
Improve the quality and relevance of learning for 100 children per year.
Partnership
Since 2011, Lotus Petal Foundation (LPF) has been providing Gurgaon’s migrant children with access to quality education, a prerequisite for escaping poverty and integrating into society. LPF also ensures that the children’s nutritional needs are met and that they have access to healthcare.
Since its inception, the campus, located in the Silokhra district of Gurgaon, has had an impact on over 8,000 people.
With the support of ASED, LPF has set up a new campus in the suburb of Dhunela (Gurgaon). A first building was completed in 2021, and the first 630 students began studying in the state-of-the-art facilities in the 2022-23 academic year.
LPF’s overall objectives are:
1. Provide more children with access to quality education and vocational training by increasing the number of annual beneficiaries from 2,800 (1,200 – direct, 1,600 – indirect) to 17,000 (3,000 – direct, 14,000 – indirect) by the year 2027-28.
2. Ensure that at least 90% of students in the various programs achieve the learning outcomes and that 75% of students have access to health care.
3. Ensure that 95% of students who complete qualifying training find a job.
4. Extend the school’s activities to 100 public schools over the next 5 to 7 years.