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Learning Initiatives for India (LIFI)

place India + 1 more

पढ़ेगा हर बच्चा, बढ़ेगा हर बच्चा (Every Child Thrives): Access, Learn, Retain, Educate.

One in three children are not in the education system in India.There is a gap in the implementation of Government policies. LIFI’s LeAd UR India Fellowship coaches local youth to advocate for quality education and retention of all children in marginalised communities. The unique idea is we partner with existing organisations to build a collective for children wherever they are in the country.

Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2020

Established

1K

Children

1

Countries
Target group
Students basic
Updated
May 2023
My biggest learning is the fact that children are not dropped out of schools but they are ‘pushed out’. I envision this shift where the onus is not put on the children for choosing the difficult path. It is possible through a collective approach and this is what I am striving to achieve with a cadre of local youth and organisations coming together as a unit to work with children.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

My experience in a blind school, a Teach for India fellow, and now 11 years of work has made me witness the layered complexity of educational inequity.

At 23 years, I became a School Principal, where I met some children who didn’t enrol in schools or left midway.

In 2018, I worked in Haryana with 2000 children of migrant workers. The project shattered due to COVID-19 which led me to start LIFI.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

Our Fellowship mentors Youth Teacher Leaders (YTLs) to advocate at three levels addressing the root causes that deter children to access education:

1. Teaching the children daily to boost their morale, knowledge and skills to bridge their academic gap.
2. Engaging with the community to help them invest in their children’s education. They work with Government schools for staff capacity building, driving enrolments and retention, conducting remedial programs, and parent engagement by activating the school management committees.
3. Advocating for effective implementation of the existing education policies. Example - We are partnering with Government of India's flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education.

Since 2020, we have worked with 1000 children, 24 YTLs in partnerships with 3 non-profits. 85% of them have gone back to school with regular attendance. We are growing with collaborations with 2 state governments and 3 non-profits.

How has it been spreading?

Since 2020, we have worked with 1000 children, 24 youth in partnership with 3 non-profits. 85% of them have gone back to school with regular attendance. We are growing with collaborations with 2 state governments and 3 non-profits. We saw a 56% and 52% increment in language and numeracy learning outcomes, respectively indicating a two grade level growth in the children.

By 2025, our aim is to reach 5,000 children and ensure that 90% of them are in schools and retained within them with an average one grade level growth in their learning outcomes each year. This will happen through a collective of 200 youth and 5 partner organisations. We will partner with two state Governments to strengthen the existing initiatives for children who are pushed out of the education system.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

It’s simple - partner with us on a cost-sharing basis and become a part of the collective with LeAD UR India Fellowship. You need to contact - Gayatree Dey who is the Co-Founder and manages all partnerships.

We also become technical partners to build academic curriculum and facilitate trainings catering to teaching, learning and leadership. One can partner with us in that capacity too.

Implementation steps

Understand LeAD UR India Fellowship and LIFI
These are initial conversations, followed by site visits and signing of an understanding letter with clear roles of both the partners.
Raise funds to be able to run the Fellowship
The partner organisation raises funds for the youth stipends, remuneration for the manager, classroom materials, travel and other miscellaneous expenses to run the Fellowship seamlessly.
Establish partnership with Government or community
Partner with local Government schools or community centres where the youth will be teaching. This happens through collaboration with the state governments or local village panchayats and signing partnership understanding letters (for a minimum duration of two years).
Recruit local Youth Teacher Leaders (YTLs)
The YTLs are recruited through a four-stage selection process: first interview, demo teaching, aptitude test and final interview.
Induction and orientation of the YTLs
LIFI inducts and orients the YTLs and the partner's Manager to the Fellowship. It is a 10 day induction program both online and then a residential bootcamp.
Teaching, Learning and Mentorship Support to YTLs
The YTLs start teaching the content that is designed by LIFI. Through the 20 weeks content, LIFI and the partner together mentor the YTLs to increase their teaching effectiveness. This happens through weekly trainings and ground observations. LIFI leads master training sessions catering to pedagogy, content and leadership enhancement of the YTLs while the partner provides more on-ground support to the YTLs. During this journey, the YTLs interact and work with other stakeholders as well.
Mainstreaming of children in schools
In cases where children are not in schools, they are mainstreamed back to schools. In cases where they are already in schools, the children are further pushed to be at par with their grade level outcomes. This happens towards the end of one year intervention program. In either case, the children are supported even further so they remain retained in schools.
YTLs prepared for 2nd year of the Fellowship
In the second year, the YTLs are pushed to identify their interest areas as well which will help them stay in the education sector. The children advance to the next stages in their learning levels and the YTLs continue to teach them through the 20 weeks content.
YTLs graduation from LeAD UR India Fellowship
The YTLs graduate out of LeAD UR India Fellowship post finishing 2 years completely. New YTLs are recruited in their place who lead the ship with the children. The YTLs continue to remain in the education sector in various capacities.
Renew Partnership
The partnership is renewed for 2 consecutive cycles (4 further years) on successful completion of the first cycle fellowship. Post successful completion of 3 cycles, LIFI continues to be an Advisor for the partner while the patterns continues to independently run the Fellowship.

Spread of the innovation

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