Bernard van Leer Foundation India Strategy Summary

This document describes the India strategy of the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF), its two overarching goals, and how it proposes to reach them. "The two goals in India are:

1. Increased access to quality multilingual pre-school education services for tribal children aged 3-5 years in Orissa
2. Reduced rates of malnutrition and morbidity among young children growing up in urban slums.

...This summary gives an overview of the goal choices, key outcomes and strategies, and the assessment and evaluation metrics for each goal."

Concerning the first goal of reaching young children in tribal areas: "The current strategy concentrates more intensively on pre-school (rather than having a dual focus with primary school) and includes new approaches. The major areas addressed include improving the quality of pre-school services, including the integration of children’s mother tongue as a language of instruction, the development of policies that recognise multilingual pre-school education as a legal right for tribal children, and the financing of the pre-school system in Orissa." Plans for implementation of the first goal include:

1. Fund preschool centres and train teachers within existing preschool services - including teacher training and resource materials and inclusion of family members in centre operation.
2. Set up prototype preschools to act as resource centres for multilingual preschool education - including creating 5 model centres as demonstration schools.
3. Create demand for preschool education - through advocacy with village councils, a mobile vehicle campaign, and organisation of a state-level civil society convention.
4. Influence policymakers, legislators, political parties with evidence-based findings, including advocacy for legal entitlement to multilingual education.
5. Mobilise the media to cover the issue of multilingual preschools.
6. Conduct budget analysis and cost analysis to estimate financial requirements to provide quality preschool services.
7. Track allocation and use of financial resources for the implementation of the preschool.
8. Disseminate relevant findings on resource allocation to advocates, politicians, and media.

Plans for implementation of the second goal include affiliating with two programmes working on urban renewal and slum upgrading initiatives: Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). "Three main sets of strategies will be pursued in a staggered approach:

• Community organising and demonstration projects designed to strengthen the civic engagement of slum dwellers in issues of slum upgrading, urban renewal and child welfare
• Advocacy and technical assistance designed to move existing government resources towards the environmental health of slum children, and
• Dissemination designed to scale up successful experiences to other cities over time."

Objectives and strategies to achieve them include:

• Increased visibility of young children’s and women’s needs in slum communities; increased levels of collective self-efficacy among slum dwellers; decreased levels of income poverty among slum families with young children. Routes to these goals involve: promote civic engagement, particularly through community-based organisations (CBOs), especially those run by women; strengthen savings and loan schemes for women and children; and promote children’s voices as agents of change within slum communities through: children's awareness campaigns within slums on issues of environmental health and child rights; a volunteer fellowship programme for young people living in slums who will help mentor children’s groups, work as slum reporters, and engage in community theatre projects to raise awareness about environmental health problems; local children’s councils to create a formal structure for children to join in the decisions about community affairs.
• Increased utilisation of statutory entitlements among slum dwellers including food rations, girl child subsidies, and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) centres. Strategies include: use the Right to Information Act and other negotiating tools to increase access to local entitlement schemes and solicit 'Anganwadi (early childhood development centres) on Demand'.
• Increased level of collective civic engagement among slum dwellers in relation to slum upgrading and urban renewal programmes. Strategies include: federate CBOs at the ward level; raise awareness through these federations about the potential to access resources; support slum dwellers to engage in community vulnerability mapping; and invest in leadership programmes, such as though that would train, coach, and mentor slum dwellers in leadership.
• Increased amounts of government funding for urban renewal and slum upgrading assigned to child-friendly infrastructure development such as improvements in housing, water, sanitation, drainage, and spaces for play. Strategies include: provide technical assistance to city officials in the process of designing alternative plans for slum improvements; monitor to make sure that plans receive funding and that young children benefit from the improvements; advocate for child impact statements as a legally binding requirement in processes of urban renewal and slum upgrading; and set legal precedents in planning and management policies from a children’s health perspective.
• Scaling approaches to using JNNURM and RAY funds to benefit young children’s health and welfare. Strategies include: monitor and document urban renewal implementation and funding from a child perspective; disseminate model processes on urban renewal that can benefit children, using audio-visual and written documentation; put cities and slum leadership in partnership ; and build a cadre of child-friendly designers and planners.

Evaluation is to be conducted, including tracking key indicators on:

• For preschools: school readiness and learning outcomes in early primary school; access to pre-school services where mother tongue is used; quality of pre-school services; and policies and available funding
• For child health in urban slums: prevalence of diarrhoea, respiratory infection, and malnutrition; coverage of improved housing, water, sanitation, and play space; child poverty; and funding streams for slum children.

See also: Multi Lingual Early Learning Programs for Tribal Children in Odisha India - Video