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SAATH education initiatives bring basic education to the most vulnerable – young children in slum areas and child labourers.

SAATH Balghars (Pre-schools)

Balghars, or pre-schools, provide basic education, health and nutrition support to children between 3 and 6 years old. SAATH operates seven pre-schools that reach out to 245 children in slum areas. Balghars use the Montessori teaching method, meaning teachers adapt the learning environment to each child’s development needs. Home Visits are a unique feature of the curriculum, helping to monitor parent’s participation in the child’s welfare.

In addition to providing the children basic education, Balghars provide local women the opportunity to work as teachers and be respected professionals in the slum community.  And, as part of SAATH’s emphasis on co-investment, a nominal fee is collected from Balghar students to make them service users, not aid recipients. 

SAATH Child-Friendly Spaces for Child Labourers

In India, 250 million children work to support their families’ meager incomes. Most of these children are rag pickers, domestic servants, tea stalls workers, road side dabhas, and vegetable sellers.

To ensure that child labourers can get an education while contributing to daily earnings, SAATH designed Child-Friendly Spaces, a unique, 4-hour non-formal education course.  SAATH teachers work with employers and families for the child’s development, so children are more likely to attend class. Long-term, we aim to enroll child labourers in formal education or trade school. Initially, families were hesitant but now support the program with a monthly fee of INR 10 per child, realizing that education is a platform to break the vicious cycle of poverty where they find themselves trapped.

History|

SAATH’s started Balghars in 1992 in the Vasna area of Ahmedabad.   After the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, SAATH opened 7 Balghar centres in Juhapura, an affected area.  

SAATH launched Child-Friendly Spaces in 2009, because of numerous requests from SAATH Urban Resource Centre members. Today, three centres in Ahmedabad slum areas serve about 100 child labourers. 

Future Goals |

Currently, SAATH does not offer a free meal as part of Child-Friendly Spaces, but we would like to help make nutrition support part of the program.  As we expand our Urban Resource Centres to 200 slum areas in Gujarat, we would also like to expand Child-Friendly Spaces to bring basic education to child labourers across the state.

Future Goals |

Currently, SAATH does not offer a free meal as part of Child-Friendly Spaces, but we would like to help make nutrition support part of the program.  As we expand our Urban Resource Centres to 200 slum areas in Gujarat, we would also like to expand Child-Friendly Spaces to bring basic education to child labourers across the state.

 Leadership |

Chinmayi Desai, Director of Urban Programs

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