In January ’18, The Economist had a cover article on India titled “India’s missing middle class” which had a chilling statistic- Poor diets mean that 38% of children under the age of five are so underfed as to damage their physical and mental capacity irreversibly, according the Global Nutrition Report. The comparable number for Sub-Saharan Africa is apparently lower at 35%. India has the largest number of stunted children in the world, at 48.2 million. In the state of Madhya Pradesh more than 60% children are malnourished. In some impoverished tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh it is as high as 90%.
While the enrolment rate in government schools across the country in the age-group of 4 to 14 has increased to more than 97%, the learning outcomes in the specially deprived tribal pockets which are marked by first-generation learners have remained dismal as shown by many reports like the ASER. While the ‘No Detention Clause’ in the ‘Right to Education Act’ coupled with the Mid-Day-Meal Program in Government Schools has ensured that children continue to be enrolled in the Schooling system till age of 14 (Grade 8), there is no effective continuous measurement of learning outcomes. Moreover with government schools running for not more than 150 – 175 days, there is need for alternate supplementing spaces for ensuring better learning, socialization, development of world-view, and civic virtues coupled with value education to the children as they grow up. The Seva Kutirs combines two key themes most crucial for children in interior rural areas in the country – malnutrition and education.
