The Government of India’s emphasis on universal elementary education has ensured that 93-95% of children ages six to 14 years are now enrolled in school. However that still leaves 7 to 8 million hard-to-reach children out of school. Most of them are poor and vulnerable, belong to the urban slums and rural areas and a majority are girls. It is largely acknowledged that innovative approaches through local non-governmental organizations are required to bring these extremely difficult groups of children to school and to retain them.

USAID complements the government’s efforts towards universal education through its Reaching and Educating At-Risk Children (REACH) program. Operating in the slums of three major Indian cities and in the rural areas of three Indian states, REACH works with local non-governmental organizations (NGO) to:

• Expand and replicate successful programs that identify and prepare out-of-school children for entry into formal school systems;
• Build the capacity of less experienced local organizations to develop effective strategies for enrolling and keeping vulnerable children in school ;
• Improve teacher's skills and access to classroom resources, improving children's learning experiences;
• Mobilize communities to send their children – especially girls – to school;
• Create a forum for non-government organizations to share research, real-life experiences and effective ways for educating the country's most vulnerable youth; and
• Develop a computerized tool to allow local organizations and governments to track at-risk children's school and learning progress.

The project provides grants and technical support to these local organizations to attract and retain vulnerable, out of school children into formal, alternative and bridge schools. There are two kinds of grants – direct service delivery grants and capacity building grants. The direct grantee NGOs work directly on the project objectives, while the NGOs receiving capacity building grants build up the capacity of smaller and less experienced NGOs to provide these services.

The project has proved particularly effective at reaching those children that are most difficult for the government to reach. This includes the disabled, street children, children of sex workers and tribal girls in remote villages. The project has provided educational opportunities to more than half a million hard-to-reach children through various NGO interventions. Over the years, the project has also created a network of dedicated NGOs and developed their capacities in effective program management and delivery. This tried, tested and credible network is now available for effective partnership with the central and state governments.