DRF’s Yuva Centers are community-based adolescent youth learning centers established in various urban slums in Hyderabad to help bring long dropouts and working children back into mainstream education system. The Yuva Centers aim to include all children in the neighborhood who are forced out of mainstream education system. Through these Centers, DRF works with adolescents to wean them away from exploitative work and helps them continue their education and regain their self-esteem. The program empowers young people to take charge of their personal and professional growth so that they can gain secure and stable employment and build successful futures. In particular, girls with little or no formal education are encouraged to join the Centers.

The Yuva Centers offer academic, counseling and other job-related training programs for youth (13-18 years). They prepare the students for the Class 10 Board exam so that they can obtain formal academic certification. Recognizing that not all children will obtain formal Class 10 academic certification or pursue higher education, these Centers also provide career counseling and job-related training in fields such as Early Childhood Education and Care, Mechanical and Electrical Technology and basic computer skills, so that these young people can directly enter the workforce and pursue sustainable employment opportunities.