Asha for Education

Project Brief: Special tuition classes for underprivileged students in primary classes, class IX and class X .
Project Type: Tuition Centers (description)
Primary Focus: children of dalits/tribals (description)

Secondary Focus: to go to formal school

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact:
Boston

Status: CURRENT
Project Steward: Anagha Devanarayanan
Co-Steward: Mamta Naidu
Project Partner(s): Chennaiah Poguri
Project Address: Saha Nivasa Association for Voluntary Social Service
Post Box No.47
D. No. 22-977/1, Moruganipalle Road
Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh 517001
Tel: 011 91 8572 227475
Stewarding Chapter: Boston

Sahanivasa runs before and after school education centers in various mandals of Chittoor district. The centers are run for primary class students in 15 villages and for high school students in 10 villages. The education centers are run in the government school buildings in the respective villages. Although the centers are open for anyone in the villages, the project focuses on kids who are children of rural poor from Dalit & Bahujans communities. The parents of these kids are generally agricultural laborers, sharecroppers, migrant workers, rural artisans etc.

Sahanivasa over the years has adopted various innovative strategies to address the school enrollment and retention rates. Their intervention strategies include strong ties to the parent and village administration communities. Sahanivasa has cultivated a strong culture of older kids who graduate from their centers contribute back to the kids currently in school. Sahanivasa also works closely with the government at various levels of administration.

Through this education center project of Sahanivasa Asha Boston each year directly supports the education of about 1,500 to 1,800 students spread across 25 villages in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Through the awareness and advocacy programs that Sahanivasa runs, Asha Boston's support also indirectly impacts the education of over 8,000 students spread across 180 villages in Chittoor district. Some of the successes of the project include achieving 100% literacy rates in the project are of 120 villages. Through their innovative intervention in NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) they have managed to cut down the village migration by 95% there by achieving a tremendous improvement of 90% reduction in school dropout rates. On the academic front the over all pass percentages of children in the Sahanivasa centers over the past 10 years has gone up from 50%-60% to 97%-100%. Also 90% of the Dalit students in Sahanivasa centers go on to pursue their higher education after 10th standard as compared to a dismal 5%-10% state average.