Support underprivileged children begin their educational journey

Impact

**"I have always wanted my children to be educated and stand on their own feet. I want my girl to be equally educated as my son. I don't want my daughter to get married early, like I did. My daughter will be an independent person in life."** This was Shabnam's mother's dream for her.Shabnam Seth is a 5 year old girl who lives with her parents in the construction workers' slum in Powai, Mumbai. Both her parents are daily wage workers. Their family income was less than Rs.6000/- ($83) per month. School was never considered a priority. **Even at that tender age, little Shabnam would help her mother with daily household chores.** One of the Udaan Kindergarten teachers who was conducting an outreach program in the colony saw Shabnam. They counselled her parents to send her to school. **Her mother couldn't believe that they could now not only send her to school but also an English school.**They enrolled in the Kindergarten at Udaan and made a commitment that they will enroll her in a government (BMC) school after kindergarten. **Shabnam now studies in the Tirandaz Municipal School in Powai. She loves school and her new friends. Her day is no longer filled with domestic chores but rather learning and playing with her friends. She also gets a nutritious snack before she goes back home.**Today her mother can't hold back her happiness seeing her young girl speak in English.**Children like Shabnam can dream of future beyond the slums with a little sustained support from donors like you.****Your help can make many more poor children like Shabnam. You can donate so that they can get an education which can change their lives. You can give with confidence because every program listed is [GIVEASSURED](https://www.giveindia.org/giveassured).**

About The Program

The Kindergarten program at Udaan is a one year foundation level programme that aims to facilitate school readiness for children of 4-6 years from low income communities. Donations to this program cover the cost of teachers' salaries in the schoolsThe program aims at building a strong foundation in numeracy, language and social skills in a safe, secure and happy learning environment. There are 4 Kindergarten centres run by Udaan located in the construction workers' slum in Powai, Tirandaz MCGM School in Powai, Udaan Learning Centre at Pawar Public School, Chandivali, and MPS School Varsha Nagar, Vikhroli Parksite. The average class size of this programme is 30 with a teacher student ratio of 1: 15. The school admissions work on both outreach by the Udaan staff as well as direct enquiries by the parents. The students belong to low-income communities in and around the school. The class teacher follows up on any absentee students if they do not attend school for more than 3 days and takes corrective action as appropriate.Impact of the program are as follows:School readiness in childrenAwareness of desired behaviourFoundation for basic literacy and numeracy, fine and gross motor skillsDevelopment of social skillsIncreased parental awareness about educationThe Kindergarten programme at Udaan has been operational since 2009. The Udaan Kindergarten runs daily for three hours every Monday through Friday from June to March. The KG team of 10 lead teachers, 10 assistant teachers, and 2 supervisors are responsible for implementation of the programme. Their remuneration is provided from Udaan India Foundation. When you donate to this program you help poor children take their first steps in education that can change their life.

About The NGO

Udaan India Foundation works with the motive of enabling a brighter future for children from low-income communities by providing them with desired knowledge, skills, values and support to achieve their true potential. The foundation of what Udaan is today was laid in 2004 when a group of people came together to help children from the construction workers' community to get into mainstream schools. Thus began Project Udaan. The overwhelming progress shown by the children enrolled at Udaan Learning Centre programs over the years paved the way for Project Udaan to be registered as Udaan India Foundation in 2009. Mamta Rangan founded Udaan India Foundation as the informal Project Udaan. Taking a sabbatical from the corporate sector, her move to Mumbai brought her face to face with the stark inequities that we so often fail to notice in our busy lives. Her belief, "education is key to Change" led her to start Project Udaan to help children of construction workers to enrol in mainstream schools. The project was registered as a non-profit in 2009 to support the educational needs of children from low-income communities. The organisation today offers a range of programs that include Kindergarten, Learning Center, School Support, Saturday Club, Library, Alumni support and Scholarships and Skills Enhancement. No. of 10th students for mentoring, guidance and scholarships program - 123No. of support learning programmes for Municipal school - 755No. of children from low-income community for Pre school programme - 83No. of youths for spoken English and computer literacy courses - 202No. of children for after school programme in Municipal school - 392