A field action project started in June 2022 “TISS- Balaji Foundation Fellowship Program” anchored by the Centre for Criminology and Justice, School of Social Work, TISS, Mumbai, to encourage and nurture TISS Social Work alumni to explore fresh ideas in the field of Criminal Justice anywhere in India. It is a two-year intervention-based Fellowship. The idea behind the Fellowships is to encourage social work alumni to engage in the field of criminal justice, with a focus on vulnerable/marginalised populations towards protection of their legal rights and/or rehabilitation.

District Level Support on Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) for Telangana State

The project seeks to build capacities of middle and secondary school newly qualified teachers (NQT) in science and mathematics for fostering inclusive higher-order learning in their classrooms. It aims to pilot the Connected Learning Initiative (CLIx, https://clix.tiss.edu) innovation, developed and scaled in India, to new contexts in Bhutan, Nigeria, and Tanzania, through a South-South collaboration, and research its effectiveness and potential for scaling. CL4STEM is funded by the IDRC under the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE-KIX) and is one of the ten awardees of the reputed global KIX awards.

This project will implement elements of two innovative approaches on Teacher Professional Development (TPD) developed by the Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education(CETE), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). It is designed for under-resourced and developing contexts where it will be collaboratively adapted to suit the national contexts of the participating countries in South Asia. It will entail the usage of diverse technologies and modalities for TPD that are context-appropriate, combined with action research and social learning through the formation of Professional Learning Communities while building on the communities of practice that exist or get developed through mobile-based chat groups.

The CLeaR project is a research study on human resource development in inclusive education with a fundamental aim to ensure a more sustainable means of contributing substantially to the knowledge and practice of inclusive education, with a special focus on the education of children with disabilities. The study is intended to go beyond ascertaining challenges and bottle-necks in teacher preparation and focus on specific areas and needs to inform teacher education, both at the systemic level and in the classroom contexts.

TISS’s off-campus, Hyderabad is the knowledge partner of the State Resource Centre for Women (SRCW) with the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Telangana to set up under the scheme of the National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW).

The Connected Learning Initiative (CLIx), is a collaborative project working to strengthen the ecosystem for quality in education in India. CLIx is a multi-state, multi-partner initiative seeded by the Tata Trusts, and led in phase 1(2015-2020) by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, INDIA (TISS) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA (MIT). CLIx is now in phase 2 of its journey and the Tata Trusts continue to be our anchor partner in this new phase. CLIx aims to improve teaching, teacher professional development and student learning through the use of ICT-enabled Open Education Resources (OER), and thoughtful use of interactive technologies. Driven by the Tata Trusts’ commitment to serving disadvantaged communities in India, CLIx draws on MIT’s leadership in platform-based, blended-learning and interactive technologies in education, and TISS’ experience of impactful field action programs for underserved and marginalized communities in school and teacher education to ensure equitable access to educational technology and opportunities to improve learning outcomes. CLIx won the prestigious 2017 UNESCO-King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education for its outstanding contribution to the theme “Use of ICT to Increase Access to Quality Education’’. In 2019, CLIx was awarded the Open Education Consortium’s OER Collaboration Award for Excellence.

Millions of households in wealthy countries support non-profit organizations whose aim is to alleviate poverty in the developing world. International child sponsorship is one of the most popular approaches taken by ordinary households in wealthy countries to help impoverished children overseas. Child sponsorship organizations use these funds to provide school uniforms, tuition, nutritious meals, and programming that directly benefits sponsored children. They also pool funds to invest in programming and infrastructure that benefits children in the community more broadly. Donors are drawn to child sponsorship because of the personalization of the relationship between sponsor and child but child sponsorship in India actually benefits sponsored children has not been studied. This research was undertaken with the following objectives: (a)To study the extent of inclusion of sponsored children in the sponsorship programming; (b) To study the effectiveness of sponsorship programming in the lives of sponsored children; and (c) To study the effectiveness of sponsorship communication in the lives of sponsored children.

Rehabilitation and reintegration of children in conflict with law is a crucial objective of the juvenile justice system. The Juvenile Justice Act provides that the Children in Conflict with Law be sent to Observation Homes once they are apprehended by the police and the CCLs remain there until they get a bail or are allowed to leave by the JJB. The CCLs are hence provided institutional care at the Observation Homes instead of being sent to regular jails so as to adhere to the objective of providing child friendly space and environment to the CCLs. In furtherance of this objective, reformative and rehabilitative services are provided by the Observation Homes for effective reintegration of the child into the society. The skills inculcated and the environment provided by these homes have a significant impact on the lives of these children. The objectives of this study are (a) to explore the functioning of the Observation Homes, (b) identify the unmet needs of the children, (c) understand the challenges faced by the Observation Home staff and (d) suggest appropriate recommendations.

Conditional cash transfer schemes (CCTs) are a recently-introduced measure by the state to curb the persistent and widespread social phenomenon of child marriage in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Early marriage of girls, that is, below the legal requirement of 18 years of age, or child marriage, as the issue has been historically and widely known, continues to be a widely- prevalent and persistent social problem. In recent times, state interventions such as conditional cash transfer (CCT) schemes in order to delay the age at marriage have been a popular measure to address the issue. Focusing on the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, this study aimed to explore whether the CCTs have the potential to delay the age at marriage and thereby serve as a welfare measure to address the systemic discrimination and gender inequality inherent in the practice. The research sites chosen on the basis of recorded rates of high prevalence of child marriage were the districts of Jogulamba Gadwal in Telangana and Anantapur and Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, corresponding to the three distinct agro-economic and socio-cultural regions of Telangana, coastal Andhra, and Rayalaseema in the erstwhile united state of Andhra Pradesh. The specific objectives were as follows: (a) To understand the perceptions of key stakeholders such as government functionaries regarding the conceptualization of the CCT schemes, the perceived benefits accrued from the schemes in delaying/preventing child marriage, and the difficulties and challenges in implementation of the schemes; (b) To understand the perceptions and experiences of families who have availed the benefits of the schemes; (c) To document and delineate the process of implementation of the CCT schemes in the two states; (d)To understand the reasons for the widely-persistent phenomenon of child marriage from the perspective of front-line workers such as the Anganwadi workers.

Child Abuse is an act that destroys the happiness, love, innocence of childhood as well as deals a grievous blow to the trust reposed by children in the adults around them. Beyond death, physical injury and disability, it can lead to stress that is associated with delayed cognitive development, mental health problems and suicide attempts. This study (a) documented the perceptions of children about ‘child abuse’ and ‘safety’, (b) documented the perceptions of adults about ‘child abuse’ and ‘safety’ and (c) recommended appropriate strategies and programme interventions for the prevention and reporting of child abuse. The research design was Qualitative Perception Research and, hence, not macro trends but varied perceptions in varied life contexts were explored.

The Early Literacy Initiative is a university-based initiative that performs a nodal function in terms of domain building by coordinating a range of systematic and well considered initiatives in early literacy in different parts of the country. The span of the project is three years.

Sakhi One Stop Center is centrally sponsored scheme intended to provide rescue and referral services to the women affected by violence in private and public spaces, within the family, community and at the workplace. One Stop Centre (OSC) is an Initiative of the Government of India, Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, and at State level the Department of Women and Child Development Government of Telangana is responsible for overall support, supervision, direction and implementation of the scheme. Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Hyderabad campus as the knowledge partner entrusted with the overall responsibility of training, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation of the Sakhi One Stop Center Project implementing in 33 Districts of Telangana.

a three week leadership development training programme (2 weeks domestic and one week foreign training)

To build capacities of existing higher education leaders and administrators and to draw fresh talent into the management of higher education systems, it is proposed to administer training programs for Higher Education (HE) leaders through a leadership academy

To develop higher education leadership training content framework for central and state universities and institutes of national importance

To offer scalable and sustainable quality teaching and learning experiences for English, mathematics and science with values and hands on learning, enabled through technology, to strengthen the foundational competencies and confidence of students and teachers, critical to their success in the 21st century.

a joint initiative of the Institute and Nagaland Gandhi Ashram financially supported by The Hans Foundation, New Delhi

Develop skills, competency and knowledge of students to intervene in an equal and sustainable manner in the social and economic development of people. Foster socially conscientious students grounded in respect for people and concerned about the welfare of others. Gain a Certificate/Diploma in a specific career oriented domain in addition to receiving a Degree in the field of study.

iCALL - Initiating Concern for All, is a pioneering and an empowering mental health project which was started in 2012 by School of Human Ecology, TISS - Mumbai. iCALL endeavours to provide professional and free counseling via telephone, email and chat to anyone in need of emotional support, irrespective of age, gender, sexual orientation or race, and transcending geographical distances while ensuring confidentiality.

an overarching scheme, operated in mission mode for funding the state universities and colleges in order to achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence

The focus of the programme is on reduction of poverty and improving the lives of people in rural India.

A week long in-service training programmes for Mid-career AIS (All India Services) officers

Saksham has three major grants in the area of HIV & TB counselling, capacity building and community engagement.

aims at reconstructing public infrastructure in Taru Village and in coping with the consequences of the disaster

NHERC is crafting systematic evidence-based research studies engendering knowledge and insights to inform higher education policy.

A think tank that specialises in macro and micro labour market, household sample surveys, working and living condition surveys and macro labour market analysis