EDU-KICK AN INITIATIVE TO FOCUS ON PRIMARY EDUCATION

EduKick

EduKick, conceptualized to address the 4th Sustainable Development Goal, is an initiative by Slum Soccer which focuses on the promotion of primary education for the children from the underprivileged section of the society who don’t get a chance to attend school and also for those who attend schools but their learning achievements are very poor. Project EDU-KICK aims to improve and build upon the existing educational outcomes and to improve its efficacy.

The uniqueness of this model lies in utilizing existing resource to reach a new point. The proposed impact however does not exist to direct beneficiaries of the project but also teachers and coaches at the school. This project is an innovation in a way it uses technology very uniquely.

The use of sports to teach life skills is nothing new. However, sports being used to increase educational outcome is just being considered a pedagogical tool with many implications.

We have designed soccer games based to teach Mathematical topics such as Number

System, Tables,Even - Odd Numbers, BODMAS, Profit - Loss, etc. Through this program, we target children coming from slum areas and villages where they do not get good primary education and as a result they are ignored by the mainstream society. By using this program we would like to work on one of the MDG of UN which says that every child has a right to primary education and it also comes under the right to education act in the constitution of India.

Projects Objectives

• Improving educational outcomes and increased engagement in learning through football
• Improving life skills and facilitating personal development
• Reducing dropout rates in schools through increased engagement in learning
• Combining sports and education in a single program thereby creating a unique program

The project is currently being run in altogether 50 schools of which 40 are from Nagpur and 10 schools are from Mumbai.

Diving into Slum Soccer

Slum Soccer is a FIFA - awarded Football for Development organization that uses football as a tool to educate, empower and provide opportunities to diverse and underprivileged communities throughout India. Founded in 2001, Slum Soccer started with the simple idea that football promotes participation, inclusion, and unity. Today, we work with thousands of children and youth from underserved communities to increase participation in sports while creating a platform to explore social issues such as gender equality, health, education, leadership, and communication.

Through our programs, we are empowering participants to improve their conditions and strengthen their communities using sports education to drive impact.

It is a registered society and trust under the Bombay act and societies registration act Mumbai. 1860 The organisation has both FCRA and 80G and also approved by Maharashtra Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Intriguing Story of Slum Soccer

Slum Soccer was founded in 2001 by Vijay Barse, a retired sports teacher in Nagpur. Since his work was not making a huge impact on the society as a whole, he was not satisfied with it. Being a sports teacher, he knew how sports can inculcate life skills and morals into someone. It was then, through football, he reached out to children living in slums and redirected their energies from wrongdoings, including theft, addiction, etc to football.

That’s how Slum Soccer came into being.

His primary influence in starting the initiative was when he coached a few children in the nearby slums to play football.

He observed that these children would gather every weekend just for the love of football. He coached about a dozen kids in the neighbouring playground and was able to see how these kids came together to learn a new sport.

He could see that the children liked having a purpose and were only too happy to find someone who could guide them. This was when he realised that football could be the means to transform the children living in the slum.

Zopadpatti football, as it was dubbed in its initial days, aimed at bringing in youngsters from underprivileged and difficult backgrounds such as drug abuse, anti-social activities, poverty, social alienation, and personal struggles.

What started as a simple weekend session coaching initiative is now an organisation with fledged football coaching camps, educational and healthcare workshops.

Today, Slum Soccer has seven programmes and has had an impact on nearly 70,000 children across six states in the country, in the past 10 years.

Societal development programmes is bringing a positive influence among men, women and children in over 63 districts around the country.

Focus Areas

Focus areas of work include:

• Using football to teach and improve educational outcomes in schools
• Football and coach training
• Life skills development
• Talent showcase platform through organizing of football tournaments at various levels
• Leadership development through sports
• Women empowerment through football

Rewarding Program

They started various other rewarding programmes for the little magical wonders.

• Shakti Girls

Using football as a means to bring girls together and help them

develop an identity and self-confidence. The platform is utilized to

impart knowledge on various topics viz. women’s rights, nutrition,

women’s health and so on

• MHM (Menstrual Health Mgmt.)

Program for adolescent girls with specially designed activities and games (using football) to teach them about MHM and associated topics

• Community Centers

Program focused on providing a safe environment and space for children to come together and play football and learn life skills

• Tournaments

Various themed tournaments, providing a platform to demonstrate skills while bringing together people from diverse strata of society with a purpose

• Homeless World Cup

International platform for youngsters from Slums to represent India

: To raise funds for the education of the unprivileged kids through the use of football

: Slum Soccer is a renowned organization which has been changing lives since a long time now.