Children from deprived, dispossessed communities and their development on the front of education, nutrition and access to a protected environment are at the centre of every initiative that ActionAid India supports.

As part of our attempts to improve the overall situation of education in India, we were part of a nation-wide study on the status of Right to Education Act, covering 1,100 schools. The findings of the study and recommendations were shared with a wider constituency of civil society and government for future course of action. Similar initiatives were also held to address and improve the conditions of street children. On the ground, our teams monitor schools for proper functioning, ensure enrolment of children in school and facilitate scholarships for higher education to children.

Nine-year-old Sandhya, a class 5th student at the Panchayat Union Primary School, wants to become an IAS officer. Her school is in Nemmeli Village in Tamil Nadu, where ActionAid began its intervention soon after the massive Tsunami of 2004. We are proud to say that every child in Nemmeli village attends school.

ActionAid India’s achievement in recent years:

• 30,000 children were enrolled into schools, 40% of them being girls.
• 1706 cases of malnutrition among children addressed.
• 1467 children rescued from child labour and reconnected to schools.
• 7176 children from marginalised background received scholarship for higher studies with 35% of them from Muslim communities
• Around 1500 schools are being continuously monitored for basic amenities and quality of education.
• Successfully campaigned to make 350 Anganwadi centres effectively functional.
• School Management Committee were strengthened across all our operational areas aiming towards effective functioning of schools.
• Ensuring appointment of 132 dalit women cooks in schools in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.