Christel House Bangalore

The Christel House Learning Center in Bangalore is a remarkable institution. With a drop out rate of less than 2 per cent (it is 25-28 percent in government schools), all its students are from slums, low-income neighbourhoods or shelters with family incomes at a maximum of 2500 (approximately US $62) per month.

Founded with a mission of helping children break out of the cycle of poverty to become self-sufficient and contributing members of society, the Learning Center began with 320 students in 2001 and in 2004, moved to its own campus in the northern side of the city. A distinguishing factor of the school is that all its general and administrative costs are borne by Christie DeHaan, making it possible for 100 per cent of all contributions to go to programmes.

At first, running the school was a challenge as students spoke many different languages and were not used to a structured school environment. A testiment to Christel House's success is that students are now fluent in English, well mannered, technologically savvy and can compete artistically, athletically and academically with students from the best schools. The education provided at Christel House is multi-faceted with training in languages, computers, the arts and music, field trips and inter-house competitions.

A recent audit report on the Learning Center carried out by three independent educationalists in Bangalore found that "students are very happy and involved with their education" and that the "staff, in addition to the students, shares a positive attitude about the school."

The basis of Christel House's success is the fact that the school takes responsibility for the students from the time they enroll until they find a job. This responsibility not only includes education, but regular meals, physical and psychological health programmes, life skills training and enrichment activities. Since many of the childrendo not have health records or immunisations, the school also provides these services.

The school also gets parents involved with regular parent-teacher conferences. Since all the children come from background where education beyond a certain point is not possible, the students often learn things their parents did not know. Therefore, parents are not only updated on their children's education, but they are also informed about how they are integral to their child's development in areas such as socio-cultural skills, hygiene and civic awareness. Christel House also conducts programmes for parents and the community on skills such as saving habits, environmental awareness and health issues such as AIDS.

Giving students the skills to succeed becomes a living motto with examples such as the Christel House film team. Three students were educated on film making in a four-day workshop. The students decided to take the skills learned and create a documentary based on how Christel House changed their lives. One of the students, Rakshita, narrated her story; and the documentary, Rakshitha's Story was born. The film was among 57 from around the world selected to be screened at the Kids for Kids International Film Festival in Naples, Italy. At the iEARN conference in 2007, two Christel House student films were judged the best in their categories for documentary and animation.

With a growing student body being equipped to enter society as skilled and confident people, Christel house is reaching its goals of giving children the tools to break out the cycle of poverty.