India, Khelo Rugby

Overview

Khelo Rugby is a programme run by the Jungle Crows Foundation in Kolkata, North East India and is supported by the Atlas branch Atlas Asia. In some of the most deprived communities and slums, education was seen as an unaffordable luxury. Our partners at Khelo Rugby are changing that, using rugby as a vehicle to teach key life skills, including leadership, respect and equality. Khelo Rugby’s commitment to improving the lives of the communities is mirrored by their commitment of regular, fun rugby sessions to build the trust of the children. After developing an understanding with the children, the sessions then explore motivation, education and employment, empowering the children to lead some of the sessions themselves and seek out opportunities.

Khelo Rugby has received many recognitions over the years for the impact it has made, being awarded as an official World Rugby ‘Spirit of Rugby’ partner in 2017 and again in 2019.

Education Pilot Project with Jungle Crows

Jungle Crows have begun sourcing an educational virtual platform that can facilitate the children’s educational needs. It can be difficult for children to access extra help with their studies due to the deprivation in the communities but a partnership with an education provider can look to change this. If successful, the program will offer the chance to use electronic devices at the centres in Kolkata and Saraswatipur where the platform for English speaking will give the children an identified advantage for further and higher education, as well as a leg up in the current job market.

Impact

Khelo Rugby operates in more than 30 communities in Kolkata and has since expanded to other townships including Sarawatipur, North of West Bengal, Bengaluru, and Jarmundi while supported by Atlas. Schools are very poor, but through the support of Khelo Rugby’s education programmes, graduation rates have increased from 15% to 80%. In most of the villages, no one went to university but with Khelo Rugby’s help, 20 children are now enrolled in further education and as more children choose to keep engaging with their education, cycles of deprivation and child marriage have decreased by 85%. With the support of Atlas, Khelo Rugby’s reach to more communities means over 300 children are regularly helped each week.

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