Step-Up Centres for Out of School Children

Through the SUCs, Humana People to People India (HPPI) will address inhibiting factors to OOSC enrolment and retention, namely: lack of parental reinforcement, due to low awareness on their part; children ill-equipped to navigate the changing dynamic of relationships in formal school settings; and poorly financed mainstreaming initiatives that, in effect, compromise the functionality of accelerated-learning programmes and skills development. Therefore, the project proceeds with the rationale that by engaging a wide array of stakeholders, such as the child, parents, school and community, a conducive ecosystem for enrolment and retention can be created. Concretely, the SUC-model will employ a system of courses (guided learning), studies (self-navigated learning) and experiences (development of real world associations), divided into 11 periods over 11 months with the ultimate goal of preparing the student to be mainstreamed into formal government schools. The project will adopt the use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), composed of the State Government on one side and collaborating partners to sponsor the initiative on the other, to enable the scaling of programme outreach.

In terms of sustainability, the SUC project has been constructed without a beneficiary-based revenue driver. Instead, the project’s design requires needs-based PPPs with the government, NGOs and private partners. It is assumed that the government and private partners’ support for mainstreaming OOSC will continue to expand, especially in centres of urban growth.

*EAC would like to thank the Bharti Foundation for its generous co-financing contribution to this project.