BPF worked with 32 Govt. schools to provide quality holistic education to children from poor economic backgrounds. These schools were under a special category called ‘Alternative Innovative Education’ schools (AlE schools) because they sought to explore different alternatives in education. Such schools continue to encourage the spirit of enquiry in a child and help them make their choices based on nurturing the child’s interest and learning. A lot of importance is given to the child’s psychology at an early age so that they lose the psychological fears or complexes they may have towards learning. This encourages children to think independently and become more responsible. Most of these schools are engaged in creating and using innovative teaching methodologies that ensure that rote learning does not happen. As an example – some schools have developed excellent language teaching methodologies. Others may use creative games and experiments to explain difficult concepts in Maths or Science. Some schools have changed the classroom structure to encourage better children and teachers’ interaction. Such creativity is typically missing in the conventional education stream practiced by majority of schools in India.

AlE centers that BPF supported  “UDAAN CENTRES” were especially created to not only address the pitfalls in the conventional education system but also ensure that children from poor socio-economic backgrounds are not deprived of the opportunity for high quality education. AIE schools assist children in taking the mainstream government exams. We achieved a 100% success rate in mainstreaming children till Mar 2008. We created libraries at 35 centers to encourage reading and learning through storytelling. All these centers have also been provided with PCs under our innovative ‘e-udaan’ project for infusing technology at the centers. Both these projects have had a tremendous impact on the attendance and learning of the children at these centers. Our long-term plan is to create a mobile school for encouraging underprivileged children to read, write and use the computer.