Over View

Balwadi is a pre school non formal education program. The Balwadis we run in the city of Mumbai provide the slum children with a bridge program that enables them to mainstream into formal government run education institutions. It also facilitates children with both physical and learning disabilities.

The need

Balwadis are run to help children access basic educational and developmental therapy. Over 60% of families in Mumbai are below the poverty threshold, living on pavements or in urban slums. Some children in the balwadi programs spend a significant proportion of their time unsupervised on the street. These communities do not see the value of education. The mid day meal provided in some balwadis, are for some of the children the only meal of the day.

The Work

Balwadis were first started by NLMET in Dharavi, Yogi Nagar and Ambewadi slums of Mumbai, (Dharavi is the largest slum in Asia) Our commitment to meet the needs of these underprivileged communities has helped us today to reach nearly 2830 children in over 54 locations in and around Mumbai.

The holistic approach in our work enables us to provide each child with good quality education, which includes health and hygiene, mid day meals, creative education, play time and self worth enhancing activities which are a part of the daily program.

Transformation Stories