SMART started its journey in Mewat , when the literacy levels among women were just about 8 % and among men 24 %. The rate of school dropouts was high, most of the girls were either school drop outs or out of school. A number of NGOs had been blacklisted for various reasons. The environment was hostile. But the need to provide basic literacy to the children was there. 

In this scenario SMART started its Chalo School Chalein program. SMART did a house to house survey in three of the 6 blocks of Mewat and convinced mothers to send their children to school. SMART also ran 10 non formal education centers and started the process of building credibility and providing quality education. The idea was not to create parallel schools but to prepare the children for regular schooling. This enrollment drive was very successful.