Children International
Organization background

Children International (CI) has been working in various districts of West Bengal, India, since 1981, and in Delhi since 2014. CI programs reached out to several tens of thousands of underprivileged children with the goal of enabling them to become "healthy, educated and self-reliant" adults.

Project background

According to UNESCO, 85% of Indian children complete primary school (Grade 5) and 84% successfully transition to secondary school (upto Grade 12), however the secondary school enrollment rates decline steadily after the first year, and eventually only around 55% (49% for girls and 59% for boys) of secondary school eligible children are actually enrolled in secondary school.

It has also been observed that school completion rates go up when children participate in pre-school and children who do not receive pre-school are at higher risk of early dropout. Though the Indian government has a policy of free and compulsory education for children from Grades 1-8, it does not apply to pre-primary education. These children can participate in the government sponsored Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), however, it caters more to nutritional and immunization need of children and doesn't address their education. Pre-primary education is provided by private kindergarten schools, but they cannot be afforded by the typical family that CI assists. Consequently, to address this need, CI runs pre-primary classes for children to prepare them for school.

Bawana and Shahabad Dairy are impoverished urban slums located in northwestern Delhi. As many as 80% of the children under 6 years of age are deprived of early childhood care and development/education, according to a 2013-2014 survey carried out by CI Delhi. CI started Learning Resource Centers (LRC) and Early Childhood Care and Development Centers (ECCD) with GKF funding in Delhi (Bawana and Shahabad Dairy regions) in 2014.

1,200 children are now a part of the LRC program, where they are provided with after-school tutoring; summer camp activities, and tutoring classes. The LRC's normally conduct tutoring classes for school age children, segregated by age (primary, elementary and secondary classes), and serve around 1200 children. COVID has forced these programs to go online. Once the LRC's reopen, tutoring sessions will be held four days a week - two days, virtually and two days, in-person.

Through the ECCD program, 3 year olds learn to develop motor & vocabulary skills, aesthetic expressions and social skills while 4 year olds focus on hygiene and school readiness, through structured classes in English, Hindi, Math, Physical Education & general knowledge. They also participate in Aflatot (a social and financial literacy curriculum developed for young children) sessions to help develop their social and financial skills, and learn about hygiene. In addition to pre-school support, children are also provided with food to address some of their nutritional needs. Parents/guardians are also educated on their children’s progress and development. This program has also gone virtual as a result of the pandemic. The ECCD program served around 350 children younger than 6 years in 2019.

GKF contributions to CI