Upkram Educational Foundation is a non-profit organisation working to develop conducive spaces to strengthen the foundational language and literacy of children from underserved communities of Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh to improve learning and life outcomes.
The Indian school education system is one of the largest in the world with 84.71% of the 1.5 million schools in India being rural schools, the limited quality of education and lack of access to educational resources continue to remain a huge challenge.
In Uttar Pradesh, 26 million students at the primary level study in rural government schools where most of them come from underserved communities. Sonbhadra is the second largest district by area in Uttar Pradesh, which is also one of the bottom 20 districts on Education ranking on NITI Aayog’s Aspirational Districts Programme and home to the highest tribal population in the state
The educational scenario in Sonbhadra is stated below
Children from underserved communities face challenges in critical foundational skills, which lead to poor learning and life outcomes. This also reflects in the later years impacting their confidence to thrive. Realising the significance of the problem, we are working on a threefold approach by engaging children, youth and teachers.
Our engagement is ensuring, we are building communities that drive community welfare and education in their villages and help transform the way a government school is perceived in society.
We have collaborated with the Department of Education, Sonbhadra and through our programs directly impacted
In Sonbhadra, especially in the Hindi medium school, nothing was done so far for the children to make learning enjoyable. After Upkram came in, the activities have also turned into a medium to teach. In which most children enjoy engaging with new books and art. Children are learning a lot through the library. There is an increased enthusiasm among children and an urge to learn. New energy can also be seen in teachers due to these changes. We have worked on a year-long school plan with Upkram team to improve the school’s functioning.