Hippocampus Kindergarten and after school Primary Education Centres were launched in villages in 2011 to provide good quality education and a meaningful learning experience. From 82 villages in 2012 we aim to open 40 more Kindergarten Centres in newer villages by June 2013. Our project aims to provide early learning which is critical during this cognitive and emotional developmental period in a child's life and is often not available in villages.
Surveys paint a grim picture of the quality of education in rural India. Almost 90% of children in India do not have access to kindergarten. School enrollments are almost universal in the Primary Schools but due to the poor quality of education children drop out. Only 45% reach the 10th grade and only 60% of children in rural India pass the 10th grade, leading to a failure of the education system and lack of further opportunities to study or find a job and they continue to remain marginalized.
Hippocampus Learning Centres recognizes that early learning is critical to the cognitive and emotional development of the child and lays the foundation for the years ahead. Through fun and interesting materials developed internally, we aim to foster the curiosity, wonder and creativity of children,and strengthen their interest in learning to prevent them from dropping out of school due to inability to cope. Young local women selected and trained as teachers are continually supported by HLC.
By June 2013 we intend to add another 40 villages to the existing 82 villages reaching out to over 3500 children and providing employment to over 200 village women. By 2015, we will reach out to over 9000 children across 200 villages providing employment to around 450 women in villages.Our solution is important because its a local community based approach and cost effective as recurring costs are borne by the community. The solution also better prepares the child for school learning.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
