Project Mala seeks out working children in remote villages of eastern Uttar Pradesh, India and gives them quality education in four R’s reading, writing, arithmetic and respect. In the three year course we cover grades 1-5 of the national education standard. We are governed by the National Open School who provide certification at grade five level so children passing out can enter the state secondary system if they wish. In addition we give instruction in personal hygiene and respect for others and care of their environment. We also provide some training in life sciences in order for them to make the most of their lives within the primitive environment of their rural village.

• Vocational Training
  We help the children’s rehabilitation after schooling by providing some occupational skills, including sewing, kitchen gardening and food preservation. We also arrange visits to local industries, hospitals, post offices, etc.
  
  Other Activities
• We also try to make their school days happy and enjoyable through sports and cultural activities

Healthcare

We provide the children with school books, stationery, school bags, two sets of uniforms every year and one sweater at the time of enrolment. We do not yet provide shoes but we are considering this as most children are barefoot.

Since our formation

• we have enrolled 4,745 children from 45 villages
• 2,699 children who have completed the three years non-formal education have been streamlined in Government secondary schools
• we hold regular parent/teacher meetings in all our schools
• we have conducted two impact studies to monitor the effect of our work on the community (see independent reports)

From left to right - M. P. Singh (Administrative Supervisor), Anil K Sahu (Finance & Administrative Officer), Annu Shukla (Education Officer), Ankit Kumar (Sponsorship Secretary) & Dhananjay K Singh (Education Supervisor)

• The organisation has highly motivated, dedicated and trained staff to teach the children. Regular in-service teachers training is compulsory. Two community workers have a close rapport with the parents
• The head office at Guria, Varanasi and six schools is supported by
  • Finance and Administrative Officer
  • Education Officer
  • Two Teachers Supervisors
  • Sponsorship Secretary
  • Two Social Workers
  • 23 academic and vocational teachers
  • 25 Support staff
• The Education Officer is a qualified teacher with a Masters degree in Education (M.Ed) and a Masters degree in Psychology (M.A.) from Banaras Hindu University. The teachers are not trained teachers but have reached graduation level in education. We hold professionally run teacher training courses twice a year. The Social Workers are the liaison between parents and schools.
• The schools have all been newly built and have large classrooms to accommodate 50 children. Each school has a sports field, dining hall, kitchen facilities, sick bay and library.