In India, about 51 million people are living in extreme poverty, and more than 19 million children are affected by the same. In such cases, being unable to provide care for their children, many families abandon their children who have no means to fend for themselves.
Over the years, many NGOs and non-profits have been helping these children rehabilitate, giving them the means to find an education and a future. One such NGO has been ensuring the holistic development of children in all its ‘villages’ with the support of its mothers, aunts, and volunteers.
Established in 1964, SOS Children’s Villages of India provides children without parental care or at the risk of losing it, a value chain of quality care services that goes beyond childcare alone, ensuring comprehensive child development.
“Our customised care interventions are aimed at transforming lives and enabling children under care into self-reliant and contributing members of society. SOS Children’s Villages of India is goaled to empower vulnerable families in communities to become financially independent, thereby enabling them to create safe and nurturing spaces for children under their care,” shares Sumanta Kar, Secretary General, SOS Children’s Villages India.
Today, over 6,500 children live in more than 440 family homes, inside 32 SOS Children’s Villages of India, in 22 States/UTs, from Srinagar to Kochi, and Bhuj to Shillong. They are cared for and nurtured by over 600 SOS Mothers and Aunts. In fact, the NGO directly touches the lives of around 35,000 children every year.
For over five decades, SOS Children’s Villages of India has been providing children without parental care or at the risk of losing it, a chain of quality care services beyond childcare alone, ensuring comprehensive child development.
“Our long-term customised care interventions such as: Family Like Care, Family Strengthening, Kinship Care, Short Stay Homes, Foster Care, Education & Youth Skilling, Emergency Childcare and Special Needs Childcare are aimed at transforming lives and making children into self-reliant and contributing members of society,” Sumanta says.
He adds, “We empower vulnerable families in communities to become financially independent, thereby enabling them to create safe and nurturing spaces for children under their care.”
In its flagship programme, Family Like Care, children remain in its care till the age of 23. Education, higher education, vocational training, skilling, reskilling, and upskilling are secured as per aptitude, capabilities and interests. Tutorial support and support for encouraging practising extra-curricular activities, as per interest, are also extended.
“In the Hermann Gmeiner Schools, children from the neighbouring Children’s Villages and communities are welcomed. More than 6500 children study in these schools, where they are not only imparted with curricular amenities but also extra-curricular know-how and skills so that talent and skill sets are built upon from an early age. Skilling is also introduced in schools as early as class 5 (basic). Some of the schools also serve as Vocation Training Centres post school hours,” shares Sumanta.
Since its inception, 68,000 beneficiaries have been indirectly impacted and around 38,000 children have been directly impacted as part of the Family Strengthening Programme. Over 2500 youth have been skilled, 110 + differently abled children are being brought up in the Children’s Village Khajuri Kalan; over 15,000 children have been reached under the Emergency Child Care Programme. 40+ children are being extended Individual Foster Care in trained and equipped foster families.
Ensuring that everything runs smoothly, there are around 1800 employees serving the organisation.
BYJU’S Education for All has joined hands with SOS Children’s Villages to provide free online resources to the children.
“With access to BYJU’S, children can now have learning content at their fingertips. With the free access to this content, they are able to improve their learning with accessible content that not only regulates and personalises their studying but also helps them grasp concepts faster,” shares Sumanta Kar.
Sumanta further explains that the children have been using the tablets in doing their homework and other assignments. With the help of the BYJU’S app, the children were able to clear all their doubts faster and didn’t have to wait for their peers to finish their work to explain it to them.
The mothers were also happy to see their children using this facility and shared how fast the children were becoming equipped with the tabs.
“Children studying in classes 6-10 need a firm foundation. Children of this age have good grasping skills, and things learnt at this age tend to retain in their memory for a long time.
Thus, SOS Children’s Villages of India decided that the children of this age group were given the right platform to learn and grow. Hence, BYJU’S content designed to make learning easy and fun were loaded on the tablet and distributed to each home,” he adds.
“At SOS Children’s Villages India, we not only secure childcare but wholesome child development. A very important part of this is quality and holistic education. Education helps an individual to not only be ready for life, but also for becoming a contributing member of society,” Sumanta signs off.
BYJU’S Education for All has partnered with over 175+ non-profits and impacted over 5.5 million children in over 400 districts. Together, with our NGO partners, we hope to reach 10 million children by 2025.
BYJU’S Education for All is on a mission to empower 10 million children by 2025 with education. Through the BYJU’S Give programme, you can contribute to this movement and help children with quality digital learning. You can donate an old device, which we will refurbish, and then use the money raised to buy a new device. In case you do not have a device, you can also donate to an NGO partner, who will use the funds to buy devices for children.
In both cases, we will load our BYJU’S Think & Learn premium content onto these devices and distribute them to children in need.
Also read: Supporting Children’s Dreams and Aspirations: ARCH Development Foundation
Anju is a peace-lover, a video-game addict, and a childhood doodler who imagined that the scribbles were words. This storyteller enjoys a good read, some doodling, and learning new languages. One day, she hopes to write her own story someday, and hopefully in the French language, too! She never loses hope of making the world a better place to live in.
Arya C is a 4th grader who talks about her transition from the US to India and how BYJU`S has helped her at that. She also loves how BYJU`S has made learning a lot more fun.
Meet Sourabh who has a ton to say about his BYJU`S learning experience. His love for quizzes, games and other fun activities are paying off!
V Shriya is a class eight student who has been using BYJU’S for a year now. She shares her experiences with using the app and how it has helped her in improving her academic performance.
Aanvi from class 9 has been with BYJU`S for just 6 months and hear what she has to say about her learning experience with the app.
