Quality Education for School Drop-outs

42% of short term migrants work in the construction sector. (NSS 2007-08)

The construction industry is just one of the sectors that absorb migrants. These are migrations of distress, not a choice. They are individuals and families pushed out of their villages by drought and debts, to big cities.

The living conditions of these migrants in the city are poor. They live in sheds without water and sanitary facilities.

Children from these communities have no real access to schools in the destination site due to multiple reasons from language and cultural barriers, child care responsibilities to a lack of trust in public schools. Being 'out of school' in a modern economy excludes the child from opportunities of self- development and economic mobility, in turn perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

We argue that this is as much of an urban crisis as it is a rural one.

Owning the problem at the destination site of Bangalore city is the first step for us.

Each program in our portfolio makes access to schooling easier and more effective by addressing one systemic barrier at a time:

- Bridge learning gaps in dropouts

- Mainstream the bridged child into a government school

- Early ChildCare Centre to counter the need for older siblings to take care of their younger sibling hence losing out on education

- Respond to the learning needs of the vulnerable teenager

- Ensure Safe passage to school through reliable transport facility

- Ensure continuity and quality of Teaching/Learning of Government Schools to serve the most under-served

- Respond to the nutritional needs of a growing up learner.

- Enhance Community/parental participation in the education of their child.

Gubbachi has been working since Oct 2015, impacting the migrant children and families of Kodathi and Sulikunte Dinne. We have worked with 450+ out of school children and successfully mainstreamed 180+ children into government schools hosting the bridge program. Influencing 75+ families into a commitment to education has provided children with stability in learning.

Today, three years later, the strength of GHPS Kodathi has increased by 105% from 76 in 2015-16 (when we began our intervention) to 156 in 2018-2019 (the current academic year). We see a similar trend emerging in our second centre in Sulikunte more powerfully, with an increase in learning and an enrolment increase of 84% within the year one.

Not only have enrolment figures shown positive trends, but the qualitative improvement in learning in the Nali Kali classes (1st to 3rd Grade) is evident. Here, Gubbachi has provided teachers that have been trained by a master trainer for Nali-kali from Azim Premji Foundation, at Yadgir. The children are confident and focused on learning. In the current academic year 2018-19, we have an additional Nali-kali class in Kodathi with total strength in Grades 1, 2 and 3 approaching 65. At Sulikunte, we have also initiated the host school support by placing trained teachers in the Nali-kali classrooms in the school impacting 37 children.