In the villages of eastern Uttar Pradesh, a child’s access to education is shaped less by their ability and more by where they were born, what caste they belong to, and whether they are a girl. For communities that have faced generations of exclusion, the path to school is rarely straight.
Jan Vikas Sansthan has worked in this region for over 25 years, partnering with families, schools, and local institutions to make education a lived reality for children who are otherwise left behind. Our work does not stop at enrolment. We stay present through every stage, addressing the social, economic, and institutional barriers that pull children out of classrooms.
We believe that when a child stays in school, and grows into a young person who understands their rights and their potential, something shifts in the community permanently.
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children enrolled in education
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adolescents in vocational and skills training
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scholarships facilitated
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active youth groups across the region
We begin where exclusion begins, at the door of families whose children are out of school or at risk of falling away. Our teams build consistent relationships with households, help navigate enrolment processes, and follow up wherever attendance is slipping. Alongside this, we work with school leadership and parent bodies to build environments where every child, regardless of caste or gender, is treated with dignity and given a genuine chance to learn.
For adolescents, particularly girls navigating the years between twelve and eighteen, staying in school is rarely just an academic challenge. It involves negotiating family expectations, economic pressure, safety concerns, and a set of social norms that often position education as optional for girls. We work with young people in structured group settings to build life skills, health awareness, and the confidence to advocate for themselves. Boys are part of this work too, because changing how a community thinks about girls requires changing how everyone in it thinks.
For those who have already left school, the question is not how to undo the past but how to open a future. We support young people in accessing vocational and skills training, building practical capabilities, and finding pathways to income and independence that do not require them to leave their communities or their aspirations behind.
We also invest in the systems around young people, activating school governance bodies, engaging district and block education departments, and building a generation of peer leaders within communities who carry this work forward with credibility and ownership long after our direct involvement in any given area.