The Children’s Learning Centers project involves establishing 1,000 new community learning centers (CLCs) in five districts.  The Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) has chosen the locations for these CLCs based on the areas of highest need, and the areas with the least provision of education. Each CLC provides education to 30 students at a time. DAM only enrols students who have either never been to school, or who entered the mainstream schooling system and dropped out. The project aims to enrol 40,000 out of school children (OOSC); select and train 1,000 teachers; recruit and train 159 staff; and train community members to effectively manage CLCs. Additionally, 1,000 Community Action Groups (CAGs) and 1,000 Center Management Committees (CMCs) are receiving training and ultimately, will be responsible for monitoring attendance, enrolment, and performance.

DAM’s long-term goal is to ensure that communities are able to continue to run CLCs with support from local government education authorities. The success of this approach will be strengthened by establishing an environment in which CMCs will take full ownership of the school. Project sustainability will be promoted through a stakeholder inclusion process from the beginning of the intervention in preparation for the community handover in the last year of the programme.