Educating the urban poor: a case study of running preschools in non-notified slums of India

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recently reported that the world's population is shifting to its cities. India is no exception. Throughout the country, an increasing number of migrants are leaving agricultural lifestyles in search of economic and educational opportunities, often relocating to non-notified slums. Despite the fact that many families move in search of better schools, in reality, children living in non-notified slums lack access to high-quality early childhood educational opportunities, a situation that can disadvantage them throughout their lives. This paper describes an intervention implemented in an Indian non-notified slum in which local residents were recruited to run preschools. The authors reflect upon initial data that both elucidate the challenges associated with serving transitory early childhood populations and suggest that the programme shows promise as a scalable model appropriate for addressing them.