Department for International Development
 
  Next stop: Delhi's bus school  
 
Photo: Nick Cunard

Teaching India's most vulnerable children

A bright yellow bus is helping to knock down the barriers to primary education faced by many of Delhi's poorest children.

The bus is run with the help of DFID money, as part of the Indian government’s successful Education for All programme to get children who've dropped out of school back into the classroom.

“If the children can’t make it to school, we have to take the school to them, to their doorstep,” says Sudama, 25, the Bus School teacher.

Equipped with a TV screen, books, puzzles, and toys, the children rush to meet the bus every morning as it arrives near the four slums where they live.

Read more | Watch the video (YouTube, opens in new window)
 

Parents are encouraged to bring their kids to the Bus Schools, where they often have classes outside. Click on the image to view the film. (Photo: Nick Cunard)

'Mission to admission'
With DFID support, the Indian government plans to increase the number of Delhi bus schools to 25 – providing an education for an estimated 5,000 more children a year, and a bridge to full-time primary education.

Fighting poverty through education

A commitment to education for all

In April 2006, the UK Government committed to spend £8.5 billion over 10 years in support of education in developing countries. Our long-term commitment is helping poor countries in Africa and Asia to prepare ambitious and credible long-term plans to achieve the education goals by 2015.

DFID is working with developing countries, international organisations, civil society and other donors in tackling obstacles preventing children from going to school, such as tuition fees, the lack of teachers, over-crowded classrooms and inadequate facilities and teaching materials. Find out more in our Education In Depth pages