The decision to migrate to a big city is one born out of distress, not choice. Drought and debts typically push families out of their homes in rural India, in search of livelihoods. In the city, these migrant communities have little or no access to education, healthcare and basic amenities.

Children from these communities are unable to attend school on account of multiple barriers - from physical access, existing learning deficits and language/cultural barriers. Even if they are able to attend school, non-learning in under-resourced government schools is a further dampener. This leads to poor school outcomes and ultimately - to dropouts.

The new National Education Policy (MHRD 2020) acknowledges that over 30 million children still remain out of school in India. In a modern economy, this only perpetuates the cycle of poverty for the family.

We argue that this is as much of an urban crisis as it is a rural one. Each interconnected program in our Education portfolio supports the marginalised child in the city on their journey through schooling. Our Community programs assist the families with healthcare, documentation and with accessing other welfare benefits.