Scaling Up Nonformal Educational Centers in India

The Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF) commissioned a team of SIPA students to help develop the organizational capacity and structures for scaling-up of its Gyan Setu Non-formal Education Center (NEC) pilot program. SHEF is an organization founded with the objective of providing equal access to quality education to all children in India. The SIPA team undertook field research in Lucknow, India, which comprised of visiting centers, conducting workshops and attending trainings for teachers. The SIPA team worked with SHEF staff to define immediate, short term and longer term goals, as well as a pathway for change to occur culminating in a three-phase framework for scaling to take place.  The framework begins with the systematization of operations and capacity building and over the course of 5 years, the SIPA team suggests that the NEC staff implement a monitoring and evaluation framework, as well as pilot innovations in its Kolkata centers.   Ultimately, the SIPA team hopes that this framework will facilitate a successful scaling up of the NEC program.