1. Little Stars Project Funding Proposal
Project Stewards: Vishak Venkataraman and Sagaree Jain

2. Aims for the School
Little Stars School (1996): to educate children from poor families, free of cost, in small classes with dedicated and fully trained teachers, to ensure that they have the best opportunities to break out of the cycle of poverty.
2) Shanti Niketan (2004): a shelter home for street, orphan and needy girls aims to provide a save heaven for disadvantaged girls, to educate them and ensure they are being raised in a family atmosphere. -

3. About the School and Shelter
Little Stars School:
405 Males and 495 Females ranging from 3-18 years old
48 Teachers and 23 other staff. All teachers except for nursery teachers have a BA (honors) education
Teachers are told to be more interactive with children, when compared to traditional Indian Government School
Bilingual education: half classes in Hindi and half in English
Classes cater from pre-K to 12th grade
Shanti Niketan:
Shelter for 35 street and orphan girls
Spreads awareness to important issues such as the environment

4. Success of the Program
174 sudents passed the class 10 UP board exams in the past 6 years
Many sudents go to Hindi medium universities to study in various fields
These students find work in shops or find other skilled positions
3 girls came back to teach at Little Stars after completing their BA
Some students even pursue professional or graduate education

5. Little Stars compared to Gov’t Schools
Holds more subjects in English. They believe English provides a competitive edge
Smaller class sizes, to provide students with individualized support
Highly trained, dedicated teachers
The provide special attention to girls finishing school as women in the community as they are marginalized.
The local community believes that Little Stars School provides a higher quality education than the government schools in the community.

6. Salary for Teachers and Staff

7. What Asha is funding for
They are using Asha’s funding to help attract and retain teachers. Little Stars School prides themselves on their excellent teachers, and they want to maintain that high level in education.

8. Funding Proposal

9. Site Visit 2014
Amrish Garg from the Princeton Chapter of Asha for Education was the last site visit Little Stars School had from Asha for Education.