Campaign Story
About the project
8 unauthorized slums near the railway lines in Surat, Gujarat, lack access to government security programs. Anganwadi centers provide limited preschool education to a few children due to space constraints. Parents are unaware of the importance of education and refrain from sending their children to school because of the long distance. Child labor and child marriage is prevalent in this community due to low awareness levels and high poverty.
Making a difference
CRY America’s project in Surat works toward facilitating access to education and support for children living in the 8 urban slums of Surat. Key activities under this project include identifying dropout children, counseling them to re-enroll in schools, setting up remedial classes, providing parental counseling, and collaborating with school authorities to regularize and retain children. Another key focus area is forming children’s and adolescent girls’ collectives to raise awareness about child marriage and child labor in the community.
The way forward
● Conduct monthly learning assessments of 240 children.
● Link all 54 families and children with government programs.
● Set up 3 remedial centers to facilitate support classes for 240 children.
● Organize meetings with officials from the education department of 11 schools to develop a plan for regularizing children.
● Organize awareness campaigns in 15 villages on child labor and child marriage issues.
● Train 15 village-level Child Protection Committees on their roles and develop a child protection plan.
Project Impact
123
Children enrolled in 1st grade
60
Dropout children aged 6-18 years enrolled in school
84
Children qualified in 10th and 12th board exams
16
Adolescent collectives attended meetings on education and child rights
98
Members from 8 women’s groups joined discussions on education issues
59
Members participated in forming 4 new boys collectives
Current Year’s Approved Grant (April to Dec 2024) $15,854
Last Year’s Grant Disbursed (Jan to Dec, 2023) – $297,425
