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Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India): LAMP Annual Progress Report (April 2014-March 2015) AGA KHAN RURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME (INDIA) A PROGRAMME OF THE AGA KHAN DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

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Page 1: Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India): LAMP Annual ......Children’s Festival in Bhimora In August, AKRSP(I) organized a children’s festival at Bhimora village for all LEP students

LAMP Annual Progress Report (April 2014-March 2015) 13

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India):LAMP Annual Progress Report (April 2014-March 2015)

AGA KHAN RURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME (INDIA)A PROGRAMME OF THE AGA KHAN DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

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LAMP Annual Progress Report (April 2014-March 2015) 1

BACKGROUND

Enrollment in primary schools throughout India has increased impressively over the past couple

decades, and especially since the passage of the landmark Right to Education (RTE) Act in 2009. In

many parts of the country, however, a variety of social and economic obstacles to universal enrollment

in high-quality primary school remain.

In Surendranagar and Morbi districts of rural Gujarat, poverty rates are high and adult educational

attainment levels are low. Many villages are home to high percentages of socially marginalized

families. Some of these families are caught up in seasonal migration cycles that take them away

from their home villages for months at a time. Moreover, the economy of this rural part of Gujarat is

dominated primarily by cotton, whose harvesting season often involves child labor and negatively

affects attendance at school.

AKRSP(I)’s educational interventions, collectively known as the Learning and Migration Programme

(LAMP), have been crafted to respond to this mix of social and economic challenges. In partnership

with the American India Foundation (AIF), AKRSP(I) implemented LAMP in 120 villages across

Sayla, Chotila, and Wankaner blocks of Surendranagar and Morbi districts from April 2014 to March

2015. Overall, the education programme aims to:

1) Increase community awareness of children’s right to education,

2) Build the capacity of school management committees (SMCs) and other groups to play

meaningful roles in school governance, and

3) Improve primary school students’ learning achievement.

OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES

To achieve these objectives, AKRSP(I) has implemented a variety of initiatives in its target areas.

These projects include:

• The Learning Enrichment Programme (LEP)

• RTE awareness activities, including bal melas and mass awareness campaigns

• Training SMC members, PRI members, and citizen educators for participation in school

governance

• Supporting village-level data collection for village education registers

• Supporting SMCs’ preparation of school development plans (SDPs)

• Holding workshops and events for SMC federation members

• Establishing seasonal hostels for migrant children

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2 Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)

REDUCING LEARNING GAPS THROUGH THE LEARNING ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME (LEP)

The primary objective of the Learning Enrichment Programme (LEP) is to enable children in Standards

III-V in target communities to achieve age-appropriate learning. AKRSP(I) has implemented LEP in

15 villages throughout Sayla and Chotila blocks of Surendranagar district.

Through a baseline assessment of literacy and

numeracy levels, students with the greatest need

for academic intervention in each village were

identified and enrolled in LEP. AKRSP(I) then

recruited and trained community volunteers (bal

mitras, or “child friends”) to serve as LEP

classroom teachers. Bal mitras provided two hours

of extra instruction on a daily basis to the selected

students over the course of two six-month classes

or “levels” (L1 and L2). To date, 525 students have

been enrolled in LEP classes; nearly 500 of these

children completed the full two-level cycle of the

LEP curriculum.

Bal mitras are trained to use child-centered,

activity-based methods and engaging, attractive teaching-learning materials to develop students’

core literacy and numeracy skills. Lessons are designed to maximize peer-to-peer learning through

grouping strategies and other interactive techniques. Along the way, AKRSP(I) provides in-depth

coaching and support to LEP teachers through weekly meetings to develop lesson plans, discuss

challenges, and reflect on teaching practices. Moreover, the project aims to improve the primary

school system through wider adoption of its methods and through outreach to parents as a

demonstration of quality teaching and learning.

Despite the challenging social environment in which LEP operates, it has ushered in some key

successes over the last year in terms of students’ learning progress. Improvements in student

achievement have been documented throughout the course of L1 and L2, as measured by AIF-

designed baseline, midline, and endline tests. The graphs below show the average increase in student

scores over the intervention period: from 10.9 to 33.7 (out of 50) in language and from 12.2 to 38.3 in

maths. In both language and math subjects, L2 endline scores were more than three times higher

than baseline scores. In practice, these data mean that, at baseline, the average LEP student could

barely do Standard I-level work; after a year of LEP classes, however, she was capable of Standard

V-level work. (L2 corresponds to Standards III, IV, and V in the standard government curriculum.)

Just as important as the test scores are other changes LEP has brought about in intervention

communities. In a recent evaluation of the project, parents reported positive changes in their

children’s level of interest in school, their homework habits, and their confidence in their ability

to learn. Furthermore, government teachers at five of the 15 partner schools have begun to adopt

LEP’s teaching-learning materials and child-centered techniques in their own classrooms. This

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LAMP Annual Progress Report (April 2014-March 2015) 3

“mainstreaming” of LEP’s effective approaches has multiplied its impact on students in rural Gujarat

and ensure the benefits of the project are sustained.

Average Language Scores, Baseline to L2 Endline

Baseline L1 Endline L2 Endline(Oct 2013) (Jul 2014) (Feb 2015)

Aver

age

Scor

e(ou

t of 5

0)

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Average Maths Scores, Baseline to L2 Endline

Baseline L1 Endline L2 Endline(Oct 2013) (Jul 2014) (Feb 2015)

Aver

age

Scor

e(ou

t of 5

0)

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

33.67n=49830.54

n=444

10.92n=499

12.15n=499

35.09n-445

38.32n=498

Children’s Festival in Bhimora

In August, AKRSP(I) organized a children’s festival at Bhimora village for all LEP students in the

seven villages of Chotila block. The primary objectives of the festival were to bring students and

LEP facilitators from different villages together and to provide opportunities for students to practice

their public speaking, cooperation, and communication skills through games, contests, and group

activities. Students from each class prepared a unique activity to share with the large group, which

exposed LEP teachers to new ideas to facilitate learning in their classrooms. Perhaps most importantly,

the students, some of whom had shown little interest in learning prior to the festival, were

disappointed when the event ended, suggesting that they had experienced it as a fun way to learn

new things and get to know new people.

RAISING AWARENESS OF CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO EDUCATION

A wide variety of RTE awareness activities have been carried out throughout the duration of LAMP

in the 120 intervention villages. This year, AKRSP(I) has employed two main strategies to spread

and amplify key messages related to India’s RTE Act. One has involved a focus on government

schools as the locus of RTE awareness activities and is exemplified by bal melas; the other has entailed

partnering with other organizations and groups to achieve maximum coverage.

Bal Melas

An example of the first strategy is the 60 children’s festivals (bal melas) AKRSP(I) has held in the past

year. A bal mela takes place at a government primary school and is a day-long event facilitated

jointly by AKRSP(I) staff and school principals. The twin purposes of these festivals are (1) to build

rapport with partner schools and SMCs and (2) to nurture students’ creativity and eagerness to

learn.

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4 Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)

SMC members and teachers act as co-

facilitators during bal melas, helping children

participate in activities and providing

encouragement, thus building school-

community relationships and normalizing

parents’ participation in school activities. Bal

mela activities also reinforce positive messages

while giving students creative outlets for

expression. For example, drawing contests are

often held in which groups of students

imagine and illustrate their schools or

communities according to themes such as

hygiene, the environment, and school attendance. Bal melas give students space and time to explore

their environments, work together in groups, and participate in activities that are both fun and

educational.

Partnerships

AKRSP(I) has recognized that reaching more

people with important information about RTE

requires strategic partnership. Awareness-

raising events, including RTE tent displays

and meetings with teachers to discuss

enrollment drive efforts, have been staged at

the Rajsobagh Ashram as part of a partnership

with Premni Parabh. In Wankaner block, RTE

messages have been incorporated into

AKRSP(I)’s long-standing work with self-help

groups (SHGs) and cotton farmer

cooperatives (part of the Better Cotton

Initiative project), whose members have, in

turn, become key advocates for universal education in their villages.

Woven through all of these activities, AKRSP(I) has also maintained a consistent awareness-raising

presence in the 120 intervention villages through frequent displays of the RTE tent, distribution of

pamphlets and handouts promoting RTE, and use of a roving vehicle equipped with a sound system

to project RTE messages to a wide audience. It is estimated that, through all of these activities,

AKRSP(I)’s mass awareness campaigns have reached over 10,000 people with information on

children’s right to primary education.

BUILDING A NETWORK OF UNIVERSAL EDUCATION ADVOCATES

Through its efforts to sensitize and train a variety of village-level actors, AKRSP(I) is systematically

building grassroots support for universal access to school. In the past year, the education team has

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LAMP Annual Progress Report (April 2014-March 2015) 5

facilitated training sessions with over 500 SMC members, over 300 members of local assemblies

(PRIs), and about 300 citizen educators (village volunteers) to:

• Increase stakeholders’ understanding of the roles and responsibilities of community members

in school governance,

• Provide forums for community-wide discussion of educational issues, and

• Motivate groups and individuals to take meaningful actions toward ensuring universal school

enrollment and attendance.

Taken together, these trainings have equipped community leaders to share important RTE messages

and advocate for universal enrollment and attendance in their villages. Further downstream, the

trainings and subsequent actions taken by SMCs, PRIs, and citizen educators, have wrought important

changes in attitudes and behaviors at the village level. Anecdotally, AKRSP(I) staff and other

stakeholders have observed the following changes:

• Parents of all backgrounds now visit schools more frequently and interact on a more regular

basis with teachers and principals.

• A larger number of parents now participate in special events held at schools, such as Republic

Day and Independence Day ceremonies.

• Increasing percentages of SMC members now insist that SMC meeting agendas and notes be

stated explicitly and orally before offering their signatures in the official records.

In short, this network of village-level groups have used their influence and the information gained

from AKRSP(I)’s RTE trainings to broaden parents’ participation in educational affairs and school

governance. Parents are now more likely to believe and understand that they share responsibility

for their children’s education along with teachers and the government—and are more likely to act

in accordance with this empowering belief.

Kanpar Case Study

Nyamakbahen, a native of Kanpar village in Wankaner block, was selected to be trained as a citizeneducator volunteer this year. As a result of the trainings she attended, she has embraced herresponsibility to serve her community and use her voice to improve the educational opportunitiesand outcomes for children in her village. At Nyamakbahen’s insistence, for example, the preschoolteacher in Kanpar agreed to keep the Anganwadi open more frequently so that Kanpar’s youngchildren could more consistently benefit from age-appropriate care and nutritional supplementation.This intrepid citizen educator has also initiated conversations with her neighbors to make sure theysend their children to primary school; at least one child in Kanpar is now attending school as a resultof Nyamakbahen’s efforts.

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6 Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)

ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL ACCESS AND RETENTION

According to AKRSP(I)’s school monitoring records, enrollment across all 120 intervention primary

schools stands at 97%, on par with the latest statewide and national enrollment figures. Attendance

at those schools averaged about 80% overall, with significant variations in attendance rates throughout

the year. These attendance figures compare favorably with national attendance rates (71% in 2014),

but are slightly under average rates in Gujarat state

(82.5% in 2014).1 The high prevalence of child labor

during cotton harvesting season remains a

persistent obstacle to more consistent attendance,

especially among the poorest and most vulnerable

families.

The following three stories illustrate AKRSP(I)’s

commitment to achieving universal coverage and

retention. Each case represents a different

approach to educational intervention, but the

results have been striking: improved access for

marginalized families; a greater focus on retaining

girl students; and better learning environments.

Samatpar: Ensuring Educational Access for the Marginalized

SMC-led actions in the village of Samatpar, supported by AKRSP(I), have expanded educational

access to many of the community’s most disadvantaged families.

The Case: At a Glance

1 ASER Centre. (2015). The National Picture: 2014 Annual Status of Education Centre Report (Rural).

• High rate of irregularschool attendance(80 students)

• Many families livingfar from the primarychool

CONTEXT

• Community meetingto discuss causes oflow attendance

• Request for transportfunding included inSDP

• Reduced rate ofirregular schoolattendance by 50%

• Increased levels ofparental involvementin SMC activities

INTERVENTION

RESULT

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LAMP Annual Progress Report (April 2014-March 2015) 7

Samatpar: The Context

Throughout its implementation of LAMP, AKRSP(I)

has remained focused on the people whose lives it

aims to improve: students and their families. The

story of the village of Samatpar illustrates

AKRSP(I)’s commitment to ensuring that all

children, especially those from socioeconomically

disadvantaged communities, have access to

education.

About 1,300 people live in Samatpar, a village

located 18 kilometers west of Sayla. A high

proportion of poor, lower-caste families (members

of the chuvaliya koli caste) live in Samatpar. These families have experienced social and economic

marginalization for generations and thus have low incomes and low levels of educational attainment.

Until recently, most such parents were unaware of their children’s right to education; some, too,

were unconvinced that school attendance is important and beneficial for children’s growth and

development and a key to their future success and prosperity.

When AKRSP(I) first started working with Samatpar and its government primary school, irregular

school attendance was extremely common and parental support for education was generally low.

In a school with a total enrollment of 256 (129 boys and 127 girls), about 80 children were identified

as irregular attendees and at high risk of dropping out of school altogether. Project staff developed

a strong relationship with the school’s principal, Mr. Ramchandrabhai Thakar, as well as with key

SMC and community members who believed in the promise and importance of education. The key

question that drove AKRSP(I)’s involvement in Samatpar was this: How can the organization most

effectively support community-led efforts to improve access and retention in school?

The Intervention

In conjunction with the school principal, SMC

members, citizen educators, and the local assembly,

AKRSP(I) hosted a community meeting in Samatpar

to discuss the importance of regular school

attendance and to understand the obstacles parents

face in ensuring their children go to school. After

listening to parents’ experiences, AKRSP(I) learned

that one of the main factors contributing to low

attendance at school was that many families,

particularly those with disadvantaged

backgrounds, lived far from the school—as many

as five kilometers.

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8 Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)

To address this issue, AKRSP(I) worked with Smatpar’s principal and SMC members to send a

formal request (through the School Development Plan process) to the district education department

for special transport arrangements to ensure that families living far from the school were not excluded

from education.

Results

Since this change was implemented, the number of students with irregular attendance records

has been reduced by 50%. As a result of the community’s efforts, supported by AKRSP(I), 41

children in Samatpar who were at high risk of dropping out are now attending school on a regular

basis. Instead of staying home or working in the fields, these children now have the chance to learn

how to read and do math, to interact with their peers, and, eventually, to become healthy, productive

citizens of India.

Moreover, as a result of AKRSP(I)’s relationship with Samatpar village, Mr. Ramchandrabhai reports

that parents have become more supportive of their children’s attendance at school, more involved

in their students’ learning, and more engaged in school governance activities.

Ultimately, this story illustrates AKRSP(I)’s vision for education in Gujarat: that every child would

have the opportunity to attend a school with a high-quality learning environment led by caring

teachers and supported by active, engaged parents. It is a vision worthy of India’s Right to Education

act, and AKRSP(I) considers it a privilege to be part of bringing about this vision in rural Gujarat.

Lunsar: Supporting Girls’ Education Beyond Primary School

Like many villages in rural Gujarat, Lunsar faces a critical shortage of educational opportunities for

students, particularly girls, who complete primary school (Standard VIII). Lunsar is home to 3,000

people of mixed caste and religious identities and a government primary school, but no secondary

school. Out of fear for their daughters’ safety, many parents are reluctant to send girls to high schools

outside their home villages. Most girls who finish Standard VIII, then, regardless of their academic

potential, are unable to continue their

education beyond the primary level. In

Lunsar, an average of 15 girls finish Standard

VIII each year, write their exams, and then

drop out of school to assume various

domestic roles.

To address the issue in Lunsar, AKRSP(I)

gathered a small group of citizen educator

volunteers, PRI members, and teachers to

visit the homes of parents of several girls who

had completed primary school and

encourage them to consider allowing their

girls to attend the nearest high school (about

22 kilometers away). Four families agreed to

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LAMP Annual Progress Report (April 2014-March 2015) 9

do so; within weeks, these four girls had gained admission to Wankaner High School. All four are

still attending and are about to finish Standard IX.

This simple intervention worked in Lunsar because AKRSP(I) had built a network of local partners

whom families trust. AKRSP(I) hopes to build on this success story to ensure equal access to

educational opportunities for girls throughout Surendrangar and Morbi districts.

Thoriyali: Supporting Educational Excellence

Among all of AKRSP(I)’s partner schools, the transformative potential of its education programme

is perhaps best illustrated in the village of Thoriyali. In partnership with AKRSP(I), school and

community leaders in Thoriyali have created an ecosystem that supports student growth, learning,

and achievement in exemplary ways. The school principal has nurtured a culture of professionalism

among his teachers, encouraging experimentation and positive teacher-student relationships.

Teachers employ child-centered and project-based learning methods that engage their students and

give them a voice in their learning process.

Members of the local assembly are deeply

involved in school governance and have taken

concrete steps to improve the school’s

learning environment. Indeed, Thoriyali

Primary School was named the Most

Outstanding School in Sayla block by

district education department officials this

year.

Critical to Thoriyali’s success has been

AKRSP(I)’s support, both through the LEP

and RTE projects. The community member

selected to serve as the LEP facilitator, Mr.

Rameshbhai Makwana, has embraced his role not only as a teacher but also as an advocate for

educational access and quality. Rameshbhai’s consistent presence and devotion to children has helped

many of Thoriyali’s most at-risk students gain confidence in their ability to learn. He has also

developed close relationships with school teachers, SMC members, and parents, mobilizing

community support for school initiatives such as water infrastructure improvement and the adoption

of new teaching-learning materials through LEP. Rameshbhai’s enthusiasm has effectively maximized

the impact of AKRSP(I)’s interventions, creating a foundation of community and institutional support

upon which further improvements in educational quality can be built. The future of Thoriyali’s

children is brighter because of these locally led efforts, and thanks in no small part to AKRSP(I)’s

bottom-up, relationship-driven approach to educational development.

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10 Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)

EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES TO EFFECT EDUCATIONAL CHANGE

Using Data to Write School Development Plans

According to India’s Right to Education Act (2009), SMCs are responsible for compiling data on

their schools and villages in the form of a Village Education Register (VER) and, in consultation

with primary school teachers, for submitting school development plans (SDPs) to their block resource

coordinators. In many rural villages, SMCs lack the capacity to carry out these functions. With

technical assistance from AKRSP(I), SMC members in 30 villages conducted comprehensive

household surveys to collect important pieces of data, such as the total population of children aged

6 to 14, the number of migrant families, and the number of children with special needs. This

information was compiled in VER form, presented to communities, and submitted to school

principals. Importantly, AKRSP(I) staff have made efforts to ensure that VERs can be accessed by

parents and other stakeholders at any and all times to promote transparency in school governance.

Instead of being kept under lock and key, as is typically the case in government primary schools,

registers are made available and visible in principals’ offices.

Furthermore, AKRSP(I) has supported these

30 SMCs to use VER data to write meaningful

proposals into their schools’ school

development plans (SDPs). SMC involvement

in writing SDPs has made the process of

educational planning more participatory and

user-oriented. In other words, it has given

parents and community members—those

with the highest stake in educational

outcomes—a chance to articulate their needs

and priorities for the allocation of government

resources. AKRSP(I)-supported SDPs have,

for example, called for additional spending

on school transportation for children from remote settlements, seasonal hostels for children of

migrant families, and improved drinking water facilities.

Mini-ASER Survey

In February 2015, AKRSP(I) field staff conducted a small survey of about 180 students’ learning

levels in 15 villages across Sayla, Chotila, and Wankaner blocks. The survey borrowed assessment

materials and sampling methodologies from the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), a yearly

survey of rural children’s math and reading skills led by Pratham’s research arm. The goal of this

undertaking was twofold: (1) to identify children’s current levels of learning achievement and

potential areas of future intervention; and (2) to serve as a way to start conversations with parents

about the quality of education their children are receiving.

Full findings from the survey are forthcoming, but early results indicate that significant percentages

of primary school children are not capable of doing grade-level math and reading tasks. As AKRSP(I)

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LAMP Annual Progress Report (April 2014-March 2015) 11

seeks to mobilize stakeholders around

issues of educational quality, these

statistics will serve as useful indicators of

current learning achievement levels

against which future projects can be

measured. Indeed, the survey was simple

and cheap to carry out, which makes it

highly replicable as a data collection

instrument.

Moreover, the ASER-style survey was

administered in families’ homes, not in

schools. This community-based approach

allowed parents to see firsthand the kinds

of skills their children are (or are supposed to be) learning at school. The survey tasks—including

reading words and sentences in Gujarati and doing simple mathematical calculations—gave parents

a glimpse of their children’s skill levels and allowed AKRSP(I) staff to initiate conversations about

the importance not only of attending school but of the quality of their children’s learning. Eventually,

as such conversations become more common, it is hoped that newly-empowered parents will be

able to better support, as well as demand, higher-quality education and better learning outcomes

for their children.

STRENGTHENING SMC FEDERATIONS

In addition to convening SMC federation meetings and trainings throughout the year, AKRSP(I)

has supported additional federation activities that have built federation capacity to address local

challenges and take meaningful collective actions.

State-Level SMC Convention

On 24th November, 2014, 125 SMC and

federation members from AKRSP(I)-

supported villages participated in an AIF-

hosted SMC Convention. Designed to

bring together SMC representatives from

various districts in Gujarat to share

experiences, discuss educational

challenges, and consider promising

practices and strategies, attendees listened

to and interacted with education officials,

experts, and stakeholders from across the

public and private sectors, including the

Education Minister of the Government of

Gujarat. Panel and large-group discussions

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12 Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)

provided members with the opportunity

to identify key challenges and highlight

solutions they have tried and found

effective in their respective villages. SMC

federation members expressed satisfaction

with the opportunities to meet, socialize,

and share experiences with parents from

other villages and other parts of the state,

and with the chance to raise concerns in

the presence of authorities, to be heard, and

to listen to others’ ideas for how to improve

education. Perhaps most importantly, the

convention helped members see

themselves as part of a larger network of

actors working toward the goal of improving education in Gujarat. The event represented a helpful

step forward in building the identity and self-efficacy of SMC federations and their constituent

members.

Seasonal Hostel Applications

Another area in which SMC federations have been active is in migration mitigation efforts. With

support from AKRSP(I) staff, all three SMC federations have consolidated information from village-

level SMCs and filed formal petitions with the relevant block resource centers and the state education

department urging authorities to follow through on their commitment to reducing migration rates

through the establishment of seasonal hostels. The seasonal hostel approach has been shown to be

effective in other states and requires government resources and partnerships to be properly

implemented. Thus far, the petitions have not yielded swift results; they have, however, united

SMC federation members in common cause around the important issues their community members

are facing, suggesting that federations are likely to continue to serve as important vehicles for

demanding and taking meaningful action to improve educational opportunities in Sayla, Chotila,

and Wankaner blocks.

REDUCING MIGRATION

Despite the best efforts of SMC and SMC federation members to establish seasonal hostels, only one

such hostel in Chotila block has thus far opened. As a temporary measure to reduce the burden of

migration on children, AKRSP(I) has called upon parents, PRI members, and SMCs to find ways to

retain migrant children in the homes of extended family members or fellow villagers. This strategy

has allowed 40% of children who would have migrated with their families to remain in their home

villages and continue to attend school.

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AGA KHAN RURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME (INDIA)A PROGRAMME OF THE AGA KHAN DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

9th -10the floor, Corporate House, Opp. Dinesh Hall, Off Ashram Road, Ahmedabad – 380 009, Gujarat, IndiaTel: 079-6631 2471 Email: [email protected] Website: www.akdn.org/India