For children in migration-prone communities, staying in school is only part of the challenge. The rest is ensuring that learning does not stop when attendance becomes irregular or families move for work.
Behind every statistic in these communities is a real child trying to keep up with their dreams. When eleven-year-old Sujatha said, “I want to speak English fluently,” it wasn’t just a wish. In rural Karnataka, Sujatha stayed back in the care of her grandmother so she could remain enrolled in school while her parents migrated to Bengaluru for work. Though balancing her studies away from her parents presented initial challenges with reading comprehension and homework, Sujatha remained determined to learn.
Her turning point came through targeted community outreach and dedicated support. When the team visited her home, Sujatha spoke eagerly about her lessons with her Learning Resource Center facilitator, Venkata, who used interactive games and visual media to bring English concepts to life. Through daily support sessions focused on foundational phonics, reading, writing, and active classroom participation, Sujatha built her skills step-by-step. Today, she not only introduces herself with confidence in English, but reads, writes, and participates actively in her Grade 5 classroom. Foundational learning support is helping unlock her full potential.
To address these learning challenges at scale, in the Devadurga block of Raichur district, Karnataka, AIF’s Learning and Migration Program (LAMP)—supported by the Guru Krupa Foundation—establishes community-based Learning Resource Centers (LRCs) as central educational hubs. Acting as core intervention sites, these LRCs deliver targeted academic support, digital learning tools, and remedial instruction directly to migrated and at-risk children while extending support to surrounding ‘spoke’ schools.
Through this hub-and-spoke model, the three-year initiative has already reached 9,180 children across five LRCs and 15 spoke schools, with 1,338 students in Grades 1–8 receiving targeted support in the first half of 2026 alone.
From the start of the 2025-26 academic year to the end, average scores across all subjects rose from 49% to 57%. This is the US equivalent of going from a C+ to a B average.
Education in migration-affected regions requires a holistic approach. Through home visits, attendance tracking, and coordination with government schools, more than 150 irregular or out-of-school children have been re-enrolled in formal education. Additionally, parents, community groups, and School Development and Monitoring Committees actively participate to strengthen local ownership of children’s learning
Access to school alone is not enough. Children need continuity—in learning, in personal support, and in the community systems around them.
AIF is grateful to the Guru Krupa Foundation for supporting this work in Devadurga, Karnataka, ensuring that a parent’s migration for work does not mean a child’s education is left behind.
