Current Projects

ACTIVE PROJECTS

PROJECTS BROCHURE

Education is the right of every child. Every child under the age of 16 should have access to free and quality education. It is our endeavor to ensure that every child receives this right. While ILP targets both rural and urban communities, our priority is in rural areas where the developmental work by the state is minimal.

ILP funds projects of the following types:

• Back To School These programs ensure that children who have either dropped out of or never enrolled in schools can go back to school.
  • Evening - NFE centers
  • All-Day Bridge Schools
  • Residential Bridge Programs
  • Early Childhood Education Centers such as Balwadis

• Strengthening Main Stream Education/Quality of Education: The aim is to improve quality of learning to prevent drop-outs and low levels of literacy. We accomplish this through
  • Community mobilization towards ownership and Management of Schools
  • Training Para Teachers for schools
  • Providing Supplementary Teaching for school going children
  • Focusing on Quality of Education

• Mass Literacy Initiative: ILP is supporting new initiatives intended to raise literacy levels over large geographic areas( state or district or block). This integrated education cum literacy program addresses children from 0 to 14 years, non-literates in the productive age group of 15-35 years. These programs ensure effective utilitzation of government resources, educate and empower the community to take ownership of ensuring every child is in school and is learning.

• Functional Adult Literacy Programs: At ILP, we believe that all adults have a right to receive functional literacy skills which would enable them to develop their full potential as human beings, good citizenship, participative democracy and to learn appropriate skills to enhance individual capacity and productivity. Literate adults are also more likely to keep their children in school. Our programs focus on
  • Literacy-cum-skill training
  • Entrepreneurship development

 

Evaluation & Monitoring

ILP has evolved a rigorous evaluation process called the Participatory Evaluation Process (PEP), which is used by its reviewers to review the progress of the project against the defined milestones.

The PEP process is explained in the following sections.

• Project Process Overview
• Pre-Funding Assesment
• Project Monitoring and Reviews
• Deliverables
• Financial Transparency

Pre-Funding Assessment

Every NGO is selected by ILP after a rigorous pre-funding assessment process which includes field visits. A participatory process of assessment is carried out before funding any project.

This includes:

• An assessment of the need of the area
• Review of the Organizations Approach and Philosophy
  • Community Participation
  • Community Mobilization
  • Government Interface
  • Non-partisan and secular
  • Integrated approach to the issue of education
• Vision of the organization for the community
• The Constitution of the Board
• Organization's systems of participatory planning
• Project Monitoring, Reporting and Documentation capability
• Review of the Financial Systems: book keeping and accounting practices, accounting systems used, funds disbursement process etc.
• Other Funding Sources
• Membership of Networks

The pre-funding assessment report is sent to the National Coordinating Committee. Once the implementing organization is selected, the project planning process follows a three-step process:

• The organization develops a tentative three-year plan based on the needs of the community and submits it to ILP. The plan includes an activity calendar and a detailed budget for the first year with identifiable goals.
• ILP reviews this plan with respect its own philosophy, its assessment of the needs seen in the area, and contemporary approaches in the geographical area and constraints based on the socio-political environment, replicability and sustainability of the model.
• The plan is finalized for the first year in consultation with the implementing organization. Funds disbursement is in two installments for each project. At the end of one year, a field evaluation is conducted. A decision on extension of funding or withdrawal is taken by the National Coordinating Committee.

Project Monitoring & Reviews

ILP uses a participatory review approach to measure the progress of the project against predefined indicators. As a developmental support organization ILP helps the NGO establish and develop programs to achieve the desired social change. The ILP India National Coordinator conducts project reviews along with special consultants. The reviews will be conducted twice a year.

The review process involves:

• Visiting the centers and assessing the learning levels of the children
• Meetings with the community
• Meeting with teachers of the government schools
• Following up with the children who have been readmitted to schools
• Review of the systems and procedures at the center: e.g. attendance registers, progress cards, stock inventory
• Discussions with the staff to understand field problems
• Review of the internal monitoring and reporting mechanisms
• Financial review of vouchers, books and ledgers.

Deliverables

ILP has evolved standard guidelines for progress reporting to be used by all our implementing organizations. Progress Reporting is done once every six months and the progress report is available on request. A consultant appointed by ILP visits the project site and evaluates the progress of the project annually using the PEP. This report is submitted to the project facilitator and the NCC for further action. Each project also sends a semi-annual progress report, financial statement, photographs, list of children and other documents. At the end of the project period and the financial year, the implementing organizations are expected to send the following documents:

• Project Progress Report
• Audited Financial Statement
• Annual Report
• FC-3 for foreign funds received by the organization
• Photographs and press clippings

ILP volunteers also visit projects as often as they can and submit their impressions about the project. These are documented in the newsletter and circulated to the donors.

Financial Transparency

ILP's National Coordinating Committee (NCC) in the USA is responsible for the overall planning, budgeting and management of finances. The Finance Coordinator is the member of the NCC. The Finance Coordinator is directly responsible for tracking funds flow from national and chapter levels. All funds raised in the USA are sent to projects in India. The Finance Coordinator ensures that necessary statements are filed with the IRS every year.