We are a team of passionate educators and social development professionals committed to enhance the quality of education for all children and build capacities of teacher communities. We aim to reduce social inequalities in accessing quality learning and development for children and youth in socially disadvantaged communities. We believe education is a vital means for unleashing the potentialities of a human to emerge in a positive direction, so that they live with dignity and be self-reliant. Access to quality education is and always has been a key to freedom from subjugation, fear and want, it serves as a weapon to break the cycle of poverty.

Access to good quality education continues to be a challenge for many children living in poverty. Currently the Indian education sector is facing a severe crisis, the learning poverty has shot up from 54% to 70%. Over 17.7 million children are not enrolled in school. Even those who attend school receive uneven education, with issues related to good teachers and access to transport and poor infrastructure. As per the Indian govt, UDISE report 2021 nearly 38 lakhs children drop out from class1 to 8. Nearly, 33% children from SC, ST and OBC drop out in class 10.

More than 100,000 schools across the country have one single teacher catering to all grades (1-5) and responsible to deliver all subjects. In some states, 65% of schools do not have even a School Principal. Our country also faces struggles with a shortage of close to 1 million teachers. Meanwhile the private sector has taken advantage, their cost has shot up by staggering 175% in the last 6 years. India’s spending on public education is just 3.3% of its GDP compared to an average 5.8 percent in developed countries. Lack of commitment from leaders, and access to quality education results in exclusion and missing lots of opportunities to lift oneself out of poverty.

A collective strength of leaders consciously working together at all levels of the system to provide an equitable and quality education to all Indian children, particularly to lift those who live in the peril of poverty. I-4 Connect Foundation believes in the inclusion and integration of all children for equitable education, critically looking at existing education crises and coming up with innovative solutions and to create a larger impact for the society. As a team we are committed to fuelling this transformation and build leadership capacities of school leaders and teaching communities by collaborating with resourceful people who are committed to this cause in the public, private, civil society and corporate sectors.