Learning for Life are currently working with children in the rural communities of the Himalya and communites effected by HIV/AIDS to increase enrolement and retention of children. Regonising poor health as a major factor effecting the performance and attendance of children at school we are also providing regular health check ups and nutritional supplements. We are also addressing the need for appropriate income generation activities, as a means of reducing adolescents vulnerability to exploitation, by supporting vocational training

 

Children in our supplementary education centre, Andhra Pradesh India

 

DETAILS OF OUR CURRENT PROJECTS IN INDIA 

 

Improving the Education and Health of Children and Communities in Andhra Pradesh

Implementing Partner: Sanghamitra Service Society

Dates: June - Ongoing

Donor: The Big Lottery Fund The Bryan Guiness Trust

Established in 1968, the Sanghamitra Service Society (SSS), is a lead member of a coalition of international NGOs working with HIV/AIDS affected communities in Andhra Pradesh to develop an infrastructure of support, care and awareness for children and those affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS.

Andhra Pradesh has the second highest incidence of HIV/AIDS of all Indian states, and a quarter of reported cases in India. In these communities, facing tremendous stigmatisation, children are extremely vulnerable to HIV infected, caught as they are at the intersection of poverty, child labour, commercial sex and other forms of exploitation.

Project Objectives:

1. Better access to primary education and higher completion rates by the most disadvantaged girls and boys.

2. Better and more relevant primary education to meet the needs of disadvantaged boys and girls.

3. Reducing stigma for those affected by HIV/AIDSs.

4. Increased access to, and control over, effective ways to prevent and control disease.

5. Increased to, and control over, better quality reproductive health services for the most disadvantaged.

At present, LfL and SSS work with communities affected by HIV/AIDS and with local Government schools to increase enrolment and attendance rates of children left without a guardian. Recognising poor health as a major affecting the performance and high drop out rates of children, our project provides regular nutritional supplements and health checkups. It also addresses the need for appropriate and more adequate income generation activities as a means of reducing adolescents' vulnerability to exploitation, by suporting supervised vocational training.

On a wider scale, through our support groups and tutor initiatives we aim to help local community members and parents to provide a supportive environment for children. The project has established community groups to provide alternative, much needed, supoprt by selecting tutors from the community, who play a vital role, working closely with the community and children's classmates, to create self-sustaining networks. Children attend centres that provide educational, creative and recreational programmes, as well as counselling services. Our partner organisations also work closly with Government schools to deal with widespread issues of stigma and exclusion to ensure that children affected by or infected with HIV/AIDS have a secure, safe childhood.

So far the programme has opened an enormous 72 Supplementary Eduction Centres (SECs) and almost 4,000 children, sixty per cent of whom are girls, have been provided with education support. Furthermore, vocational training has allowed many students to start earning a living safely. With skills ranging from tailoring to computing, these adolescents can earn between 500 and 2000 Indian Rupees a month, to support their families' basic needs. Parents, community members and teachers are also fully supported by SSS and the other partner organisations through community groups, training and awareness-raising.

 

The Student Teacher Enrichment Programme

Imementation partner: Society for the Integrated Development of the Himalayas (SIDH)
Dates: 1999 - ongoing
Current Donors: The British and Foreign Schools Society, the Isle of Man.Past Donors: The Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust, Walter Guinness Charitable Trust, Charles Hayward Foundation, Elizabeth and Joseph Novarro, and anonymous donors.

The Society for the Integrated Development of the Himalayas (SIDH) has been working since 1989 to explore alternative ways of living and thinking - emphasising relevant and quality education, vocational training and good citizenship. They strive towards a 50:50 enrolment ratio of girls to boys, and use a child-friendly pedagogy that has been recognised as Best Practice by UNESCO, Save the Children and DfID.

LfL has been working with SIDH since 1999 to provide quality education to excluded, remote tribal communities in the Himalayas. In these areas it is not uncommon to see even very young children fetch water from a source far below their homes, collect firewood, cook food, look after younger siblings, and - as a matter of course - be given responsibilities which would be considered far beyond their years in Western society.

LfL works with SIDH, supporting a range of programmes:

1. Balwadis is a unique pre-primary programme offering an appropriate learning environment for young children, with two very important benefits. Firstly, research has shown that, the earlier children enter education, the more likely they are to complete their studies. Secondly, the programme frees older children, especially girls, from their childcare duties, enabling them to attend school. Every year, over 100 young children benefit directly from Balwadis' pre-primary education and care - while their older siblings benefit indirectly from the freedom to attend to their own studies.
2. The Student and Teacher Enrichment Programme (STEP), provides training both to SIDH schools - and to state schools known for the poor quality of their education. Through a residential programme, STEP exposes government and private school students and teachers to SIDH's successful teaching practices, and works with primary and middle schools to improve the relevance, gender sensitivity and overall quality of teaching and learning in subjects such as Maths, History, Communication, Science and Environmental Conservation. The teacher network connects over 300 teachers and SIDH host a well-attended annual conference.
3. To assist SIDH in moving towards sustainability, LfL assisted in the construction of the Learning Resource Centre (LRC), complete with lecture halls, a library and dormitories. The Centre has increased SIDH's physical capacity, enabling them to fulfil the enormous national demand for their Best Practice teaching methodology. Hundreds of students and teachers have benefited since the beginning of the partnership between LfL and SIDH, and the LRC continues to reach ever larger numbers of students, teachers, employers and community members.

Beneficiaries

Balwadis    Children educated - 500
STEPChildren trained - 578
Teachers trained - 100
LRC    Students trained - 2,200
Teachers trained - 650
Community members attending education conferences - 205
Total - 4,233

Testimonials

Teachers: Sureshi Chauhan, Young teacher in Riyatgoan, Balwadi.

In 1990 Sureshi was a student of KG in SIDH Hamari Pathshala in Bhediyan village. Today she is a teacher in our balwadi. "I got interested in education only after attending the SIDH School. I worked at home and also studied in the school. My father supported me when I expressed the desire to study beyond class V and that is how I completed my class XII... After joining SIDH I now feel very positive, motivated and feel as if I have come 'home'. During the past eight months of working here I feel I have made progress in my own inner growth and have learnt a lot about little children and how they learn" When asked what she would have done had she not joined SIDH she said: "perhaps gotten married".

Baldev Singh Panwar, a young teacher in Nautha, working for the last 18 months; "My idea of teaching, before I joined SIDH was merely to teach the textbooks, this is what I understood by the term 'education'. But only after going through the teachers training programme here I realised how wrong I was. My vision has broadened after coming here. I have realized that education has a relationship with each and every aspect of life. I have started giving more respect to teachers after coming here... I would like to remain a teacher for all times to come and establish Nautha School as a model school".

StudentsBabita, Class V, SIDH Hamari Pathshala, Village: Matela. "In SIDH schools the teachers are from our community, so they pay more attention. They take us on study tours to surrounding areas. During these tours we learn a lot about our environment, our animals, birds, farming techniques and the relationships between them. Here besides studies attention is also paid to games... I have learnt about hygiene and cleanliness, now I stay clean, I have also learnt to attend school regularly. My Hindi, English and Maths have improved... Now I am confident, I do not feel shy while talking".