We saw many young people, especially from vulnerable backgrounds, leave school after Class 10 due to misaligned interests, academic failure, pressure to work or lack of guidance. Thriving Centre began in 2010 to offer a safe community space where they could access learning, build life skills and prepare for real-world pathways. The centres enable thriving for all young people.
The Thriving Centre is an ecosystem where young people from vulnerable backgrounds access life-skill–based, experiential learning through programmes such as Life Skills 360, Skills Up, Learning Assist, Launch Pad, Mentoring, Yuvatharanga, Support Calls and Alumni Connect. Each journey is personalised, non-linear and rooted in care, agency and listening. The innovation lies in creating safe learning spaces beyond academics to build confidence, wellbeing and purpose. Impact is tracked through Life Skills Assessment Scale (LSAS), Socio-Emotional Wellbeing Scale (SEW) and qualitative evidence from stories and feedback. In 2024-25, 95.7% of participants improved their life skills scores with an attendance and retention rate above 90%. The global SEW score in the Thriving Centres increased from a baseline mean of 73.13 to an end line mean of 74.05 (Mean Difference = 0.92, p < .001), indicating a meaningful enhancement in students’ overall emotional health and social functioning.
The Thriving Centre has grown through youth advocacy, with 59% of new enrolments in 2024–25 coming from community engagement. Platforms like Anavarana and Alumni Connect amplify youth voices and build strong peer networks. At Anavarana 2025, 141 young people and 116 stakeholders celebrated diversity and leadership. Alumni Connect continues to foster collaboration and mentorship. The plan for the next 2-3 years is to deepen our impact by amplifying youth voices, advocate for inclusion in our programmes, support young people to transform into changemakers and engage with the community to be the co-partners in creating thriving journeys for the young people. The goal is to share these insights with the larger system to promote life skills to enable thriving in young people.
You can begin by understanding the needs of your target group and learning from organisations doing similar work. Map the community, build local partnerships and design a values-based programme. Hire and train facilitators in life skills facilitation, conduct outreach and contextualise the programme to diverse learners. To collaborate, contact pavithra@dreamadream.org.
