State policies towards education for disadvantaged children are significantly impoverished due to the lack of structural or political will to innovate, essentially miring the process of social transformation for marginalized children in a ‘catch-22’ situation. An intensity of focus, a grassroots presence and skilled personnel have combined to make CSOs the ideal vehicles of social experimentation in models that can be replicated at a national level for a successful overhauling of the system.
CSO initiatives in education have sought to circumvent the most prevalent setbacks faced by public sector education systems (i.e. spatial disparity, high drop out rate and an ossified curriculum), through grassroots initiatives in conjunction with the community. This report draws out case studies that examine some of the techniques that have been used to avoid and overcome issues that impede quality education availability for working children and the girl child. The case studies address practices that have been employed to remedy areas of concern in public sector education, underlined by all key personnel interviewed i.e. financial and good practice sustainability, spatial distribution of schools, the drop out phenomenon and curriculum development.
