'Dalit' ('Untouchable') children face a poverty trap because of illiteracy. They often lack the self confidence or domestic support to join mainstream education and remain in school. Illiterate parents can't help with homework, leading to early dropout. This is especially the case for girls when they reach puberty and become 'eligible' to be married, in a culture where child marriage persists despite being illegal. Child marriage leads to illiterate mothers that perpetuates the cycle of poverty.

We provide a gentle pathway into mainstream education through Community Learning Centres (CLCs) in deprived areas of south Nepal. Run by local college students from the same caste, CLCs offer non-formal classes before and after school, the extra tuition supplementing rather than replacing school attendance. We pay tutors modest salaries that allow them to cover their own college fees that provides a pathway into higher education or good employment.