Dalit children in India suffered greatly during prolonged Covid lockdowns. Their beleaguered communities were overlooked for government support, and deepening poverty led to increased abuse, trafficking and child labour. Critically, without the means to access online learning, the education gap between impoverished Dalits and more privileged children widened further.

The ALMT is providing a final year of support to enable Children on the Edge, and their local partner Navjeevan Education and Social Welfare Society Digha (NESWSD), to deliver a much-needed and comprehensive back to school programme for 1000 children. Excitingly, this final grant from the ALMT also enables the project to embed secondary education for approximately 50 older children with the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). It is extremely rare for Dalit children to complete primary, let alone obtain a secondary education, so this will greatly improve Dalit children’s life chances. During the prolonged school closures during the Covid pandemic, many children were forced to work and with schools closed they became more vulnerable to trafficking, child marriage and abuse. Funding education is the most powerful way to help Dalit communities overcome oppression and discrimination and gain economic and social equality. Education also raises aspirations and encourages people to strive for a better quality of life. This project enables around 1000 Dalit children (age 6-14) in the centres to receive a high-quality primary education enriched with rights education and confidence-building activities.