Free 750 Indian families from debt and deprivation

Passing exams

We wanted more young people from the marginalised Arunthathiyar community to pass their school exams at age 16, giving them better career prospects and an escape from the low grade jobs that many of their parents experience.

Some 86% of girls and 83% of boys passed their 10^th standard exams. Ninety-five per cent of children in the project area are fully attending school.

Supporting children’s organisations

We aimed to have 60 out of 117 children’s clubs working well. Staff visited the clubs regularly and helped with any weak points. The outcome was 65 clubs functioning well. But there are another 52 which still require improvement. The clubs encourage school attendance and aim to raise young people’s aspirations.

Training volunteers

We planned to train volunteers from women’s groups to help strengthen the children’s clubs in 30 villages. We found it hard to find volunteers and the ones we did recruit struggled to work with older children. We will now try to find volunteers among the older children.

Further education

Of the young people who stayed in school to age 18, some 92% passed their 12th standard exams. Nine went on to a college education. More work is needed to motivate and inspire these young people.

Under-age marriage & child labour

The project monitors exploitation of children. Three out of six marriages below the legal age were prevented. Seven cases of child labour were identified but only two were ended. One child abuse case was discovered and the perpetrator was jailed.

Scholarships

These are available for this marginalised community. Some 1,095 young people were awarded scholarships. More youngster could have had scholarships but for poor school attendance records or inadequate identity documents.

• A children's club monthly meeting (PDF)