The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations in Primary Education: A Study of Six NGOs in India. Working Paper.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in education in India are professional resource centers and innovators able to reach children who are educationally disadvantaged. The Indian government could improve the effectiveness of primary education by increasing its collaboration with NGOs. India has an arduous task ahead to provide good quality schooling to all 6-14 year olds. India's elementary education system is already one of the largest in the world, but despite this, 35 million children are outside schools and an equal number do not complete even five years of schooling. This report examines the importance of government-NGO partnerships to hasten universal primary education and to enrich its quality. The report presents case studies of six NGOs working in different spheres of elementary education and explores the paths they have taken to scale up and replicate their models in the government system. It brings forth the NGO sector's concerns and perspectives on the state of primary education in India. The report's data from the case studies rest on the feedback, information, and perspectives shared by the NGOs; the data reaffirm critical areas for action from the perspective of the NGOs surveyed. (Contains 26 notes, 9 text boxes, a glossary of acronyms, and a 108-item bibliography.) (BT)