ACADEMIC PROGRAM
We run throughout the year and conduct daily teaching sessions for 2nd - 12th grade. We give our children a month-long vacation in the month of May. We teach students from Maharashtra State Board, English, Marathi, Hindi and Semi-English medium. Admissions for 11th std start shortly after 10th board results are announced. We conduct selection tests for students who wish to take up Science to ensure that they will be able to cope with the syllabus. Students from Arts and Commerce are also tested for their Maths skills before taking up Maths as a subject in junior college.
Our full-time teachers are ably supported by an excellent team of dedicated volunteers who conduct classes with our students on a regular basis. The volunteers are mostly from the Powai community while some are from the IIT Bombay NSS group. We could not have done justice to the wide variety of subjects and grades being taught at LCCWA without the crucial support of our volunteers and we are truly appreciative of their active involvement through the pandemic despite any challenges they may have faced.
30+
Number of teachers
300+
number of students
By the generosity of our donors, we have recently acquired 29 state of the art desktop computer on which the children from class 5 to class 10 learn the basics of Computer usage. All our classrooms are wifi enabled and have LED TVs for using as teaching aid.
Board Results
14 students wrote their SSC exams and 17 students wrote their HSC exams last year (academic year 2022-23). All our students passed and performed very well. We are very proud of our students for their consistent hard work and determination to succeed.
Problem statement
Children living in Mumbai’s low-income areas lack the basic facilities needed for them to learn, grow and become responsible citizens contributing to the progress of the nation. With almost a quarter of all children in Mumbai living in these conditions, the future of the city will likely be defined by how it takes care of their development.
COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the lives of many underprivileged families. The already challenging environment of these children has deteriorated further, in some cases due to loss of a family member, key earning member and in many cases loss of key source of livelihood.
Background of beneficiaries
Children living in the bustees of Powai, like any other, come from extremely appalling socio- economic situations. Their parents mostly work as construction workers, house-maids, auto- rickshaw drivers, labourers or road-side vendors. Some are supported by single mothers deserted by their fathers, some have migrated from villages in search for a better life, some are suffering because of their parents’ alcohol addiction and it is not uncommon to have family returning from jail after spending time behind bars. What all of them have in common is that they have minimal resources and an uncertain future. Some of the children have lost their family members to COVID and a large number of their parents have lost their livelihood due to the pandemic.
Challenges faced
Whilst academic support is an important area where children from under-privileged background need support, there are many other related issues holding them back;
Lack of proper nutrition alongside improper health and hygiene habits (especially menstrual hygiene for girls) made it difficult to focus on education well;
The need for extra-curricular activities and computer literacy were other key restrictions keeping these talented kids from achieving their full potential;
The last but not the least important issue is the environment in which children live, making them highly susceptible to negative influences leading to an unhealthy and unproductive lifestyle.
Success stories
All of our students serve as an constant source of inspiration for us. They face challenges from all fronts and even more so, in the period of the COVID19 pandemic, they have proven to us how incredibly determined and resilient they are as individuals. We would like to highlight the achievements of some of our older students who have performed exceptionally well and have high ambitions for the future.
Komal joined LCCWA when she was in the 5th standard. Her father is a
taxi driver. She aspires to become a journalist because she wishes to
change people's thinking through her writing. She is also keen to work for
women's empowerment and is interested in reforming systems in the
government. She attributes her talent in writing to the encouragement
that she has received at LCCWA. She completed her 12th std this
year, scoring 81% in Arts. She recently enrolled in Bachelor of Arts in
Multimedia and Mass Communication at Mulund College of Commerce.