Background
This case study explores the initiatives and interventions of Yuva Unstoppable (YU, or Yuva) as aligning with SDG 4.
YU is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) serving educational and social needs of children in India. It was founded and managed by entrepreneurial young leaders committed to serving India and contributing to her sustainable development. It works in partnership with public and private sector organisations to address a key developmental challenge for quality education and inclusion, thereby enabling value creation for individuals and society.
YU currently works in collaboration with 1,500 government inner-city schools in India. It has worked in Indian schools since 2005, initially focusing on programmes that enhanced hygiene and sanitation (WASH), as well as mentoring of students. The projects now include better toilets, improved drinking water, scholarships, digital literacy and life skills training. YU has implemented a Technology-based Education (or EdTech) initiative called the Smart Classroom programme, which is aimed at upgrading schools with state-of-the-art learning technology since 2017.
A key strength of YU’s success is through the power of strongly committed youth volunteers. With about 150,000 volunteers, Yuva is able to benefit over 6,00,000 underprivileged children across 14 states of India. The NGO aims to reach 10,000 Schools by 2025.
Historical Overview
Yuva Unstoppable was an initiative by five enthusiasts in Ahmedabad, India. In 2005, they came together to provide support on a small scale to schools in the city. The organisation was formally incorporated in 2006, and they focused their attention on a mass mobilisation of volunteers. This program was named “True Heroes”, wherein students and professionals were invited to contribute their time to teach in government schools. By 2009, they had mobilised 50,000 volunteers to spend two hours a week in schools in 25 cities in India. This further grew to 100,000 volunteers across 40 cities by 2012.
The next stage of Yuva’s growth was driven by the suggestions and feedback from its volunteers. They conducted surveys in the schools they were operating in order to better understand the interventions that would help enhance the conditions for, and empower, the students and teachers. Based on the studies they conducted. In 2013, Yuva decided to prioritise projects on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools. The lack of sanitation facilities was a cause of concern for both the students and the volunteers. Yuva launched the “School Transformation Programme” to upgrade 200 schools, for which they mobilised 120,000 volunteers across India.
In 2017, Yuva expanded its programme to include enhanced learning outcomes for the students as a priority area. In collaboration with donors and IT partners, it worked to create Digital Classrooms in 850 schools in India, as a part of the School Transformation Programme. By introducing innovative technologies such as the K-Yan (detailed later) into schools, YU has worked to increase the quality of education being imparted in the schools. By integrating technology aids with the school curriculum, the smart classroom empowers the teachers to be able to deliver higher quality education within the existing framework.
Growth and Vision
The organisation has grown organically, from a small volunteers’ collective in 25 schools to just under a thousand schools. Through its interaction with donors, advisors and schools, they have narrowed down three focus areas that they believe are crucial for the transformation of schools.
First, is Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, under which they build high quality sanitation infrastructure in schools. This is important to increase enrolment in schools.
Second is Smart Classrooms, for enhancing learning outcomes, through the delivery of high quality education and training.
The third area of focus is Scholarships, to provide financial assistance to students who lack the resources to complete their education. Under their “Educational Scholarship Programme” they have already supported 1300 students with finances.
YU aim to continue the expansion of the schools they operate in, at the rate of 14% every year. At this rate, they want to scale up from 1500 schools in 2019-20 to 10,000 schools by 2028-29.
NGO Benchmarking Report_YUVA Unstoppable
WASH Infrastructure
WASH, or Water, Sanitation and Hygiene has been found to be an important enabler of education in developing countries. There is strong evidence from India that building hygiene and sanitation facilities increases student enrolment and attendance (Adukia, 2017). Any EdTech programme will require the foundation of basic infrastructure, especially sanitation. This is important from the perspective of inclusion, as sanitation facilities are more important for girls (Adukia, 2017).
In the year 2012-13, YU first conducted a survey in 35 schools and understood that they lacked a number of important facilities that are needed by a child for a proper education and out of all the problems they narrowed down to the following:
- Proper sanitation facilities
- Hygienic access to water (Dishwashing area, drinking water area and water tank)
- The schools did not have a vibrant and motivating campus
Due to a lack of WASH facilities, several problems were observed. These included the exposure of students to water-borne diseases, a general lack of motivation amongst students and teachers, and absenteeism. Absenteeism was a greater problem in adolescent girls during their menstrual cycle.
To address this, YU partnered with schools to construct and upgrade facilities for sanitation and hygiene, under the School Transformation Programme. An assessment of their program in 50 schools carried out by faculty from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad found major improvements in the hygiene levels and availability of sanitation facilities in schools after YU’s engagement with them.
Digital Classroom Programmes
Digital Classrooms have been offered by Yuva under two similar models- Smart Classroom (SC) and Google Future Classroom (GFC).
1.1 K-Yan (Smart Board)
The centrepiece of the digital classroom project is the K-Yan, or Knowledge Vehicle technology, developed in collaboration with IIT Bombay and donors. Both of the models classrooms include the installation of the K-Yan. The K-Yan combines a hi-tech projector with a PC, a DVD writer, a TV tuner, in-built speakers, a 500 GB HDD, 3G-Internet, a wireless keyboard and a mouse in one box. This allows the easy conversion of traditional classrooms into digital classrooms. It converts the existing wall into an interactive teaching surface, on which one can write, draw and highlight the content. The installation of the K-Yan requires no additional infrastructure and serves as a powerful group-learning tool.
While the Smart Classroom model is built on a budget of INR 3 Lakhs, the Google Future Classroom requires INR 11.7 Lakhs. Both programmes include the K-Yan, refurbishment of the classroom, a three-day training workshop with the teachers, support with administration, troubleshooting and monitoring and evaluation. The GFC, in addition, includes the provision of Google Chrome Notebooks to all students in the class, and assigns a Google Trainer to the school to facilitate the adoption and use of the technologies in the classroom.
3 Days Teacher Training for Digital Classroom