EDUCATION

Pilot Programme Update (Mumbai and Pune)
Current Programme Overview (Delhi)

Introduction

India is home to 40% of the world’s poorest children – with 130 million living on less than $1 a day. It also has 24 million school drop-outs. In some parts of the country more than half the children do not complete basic schooling. Good school leaders can have a significant impact on school quality and help keep children in school.

ARK believes that through excellent leadership in schools, the quality of education can improve and young people can succeed irrespective of their background. School Leaders for India (SLI) aims to transform the lives of children from low income backgrounds, helping them receive a better education by training India’s next generation of exceptional head teachers. The programme was inspired by and builds on the expertise gained from Future Leaders, an innovative, accelerated leadership training programme for urban schools in the UK.

The pilot SLI programme which took place in Mumbai and Pune last year identified, trained and developed 12 teachers to become outstanding primary school leaders. In the programme’s next stage ARK has created a partnership with the Delhi Aided Government Schools Network, an association of 250 government aided urban schools. Over the next two years ARK will train school leaders who will help to improve the quality of education delivered in these schools which collectively have over 120,000 pupils. The partnership with government-aided schools is an exciting opportunity for ARK to move towards helping reform the government funded sector on which 85% of underprivileged children in India rely.