A child at school can do everything right and still drop out over something small: an exam fee the family cannot spare, shoes that have fallen apart, a uniform outgrown mid-year. Project Muskaan exists to remove those barriers, one child at a time.
We began with simple stationery support and quickly saw the real constraint was affordability. Muskaan grew into a longer-term adoption model: today we work across 14 short-term-care (STC) centres and two orphanages, and more than 500 children have come through the programme since 2020, mapping needs early and delivering consistent, dignified support across the year.
children kept in class since 2020, across 14 STC centres and two orphanages, supported through the whole academic year.
Dropout peaks at 12.6% at the secondary level, where the practical costs of staying bite hardest.
Source · UDISE+, 2021–22
