T he overall aim of the ‘1,000 Schools Programme’ of Tata Steel is to create a replicable and scalable model of Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) within the Right to Education (RTE) framework which addresses three critical aspects of schooling – Access, Learning and Governance. It aims at ensuring every child is in school and on track to school completion till Class X, addressing the issue of learning deficit among first-generation learners, creating effective learning environments in schools and strengthening School Management Committees (SMCs) to strengthen local governance. Physical and social access to education is still elusive in parts of India, especially tribal areas. Retention and transition are widespread problems. Quality of learning remains a key issue. Hence inequity and quality, the twin challenges that India is grappling with, are also the issues that the 1,000 Schools Programme is trying to address. The programme implementation began in Odisha in January 2015 and extended to Jharkhand in November 2016. The programme runs in eight administrative blocks in four districts of Odisha and Jharkhand where Tata Steel has its business operations. 53 to 84 per cent of these districts are predominantly tribal and challenged on educational indicators. Of the eight programme blocks, seven are Educationally Backward Blocks (EBB). Forested and mining areas pose their own challenges. Very few youths in these areas are able to go to college or learn much, leading to poor livelihoods and a depressed socio-economic scenario. The attempt is to lift this situation starting with education. Tata Steel has gone beyond its peripheries, to revitalise school education in the entire blocks in a saturation coverage mode. Tata Steel believes that addressing the three key aspects of schooling – Access, Learning and Governance – simultaneously and at scale will bring momentum and sustainability to the work.
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Revitalising school education
