Advocating For An Educational Change

What motivated you to advocate for the education of girls in India?

One of the main reasons that led me to support girls' education was my personal experience as I faced a break in my education, but with the help of some incredible individuals, I managed to complete my studies. Another reason is my passion for education. Sixteen years ago, when I started working in the field of education, people didn't fully understand the importance of learning but I was compelled to advocate for girls' education as it is considered the best investment according to the World Bank. 

The Sustainable Development Goals and Millennium Development Goals further reinforced my idea that educating girls can have a significant impact on their lives. Lastly, the most crucial reason for me was the belief that education is a fundamental right for everyone. It was disheartening to see so many girls in our country being deprived of this right, which motivated me to work towards ensuring equal educational opportunities for all. 

In what ways does your organisation ‘Educate Girls’ facilitate a shift in the conventional norms that display bias or limited access to girls' education?

Girls' education holds immense significance and the main reason for the educational gap stems from the biased mindset prevalent in society, which hinders girls' access to literacy and higher education. When we started Educate Girls, one of the challenges was finding girls who had either left school or never enrolled due to unreliable data and various complexities. Changing mindsets was crucial, so we visited villagers' homes to encourage them to advocate for out-of-school girls. We conducted surveys, similar to a census, targetting girls and found that they were concentrated in specific areas rather than evenly spread out. With this data, we allocated our resources effectively and started our educational support. Our methodologies helped us reach out-of-school girls in districts like Uttar Pradesh or Bihar before we even started working there. We then build a team of dedicated Balika volunteers to promote girls' education in their communities. After the girls return to school, we offer a bridge course to address any learning gaps, focussing on literacy and numeracy skills in English, Hindi and Mathematics. 

The journey we embarked on years ago now carries on in the digital era, utilising predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to precisely pinpoint the girls in need, thereby advancing Educate Girls' primary objective of empowering girls through education.

What campaigns conducted by Educate Girls contributed to reaching the objective?

Our organisation's objective was achieved through a range of activities, including graffiti, door-to-door campaigning, information dissemination, large gatherings, village-level meetings and neighbourhood meetings. The approach we took depended on the size of the village and the scale of the issue at hand. For instance, if there was a concentration of girls not attending school in a specific area, we would organise a community meeting in that neighbourhood to persuade the residents. However, if the problem extended throughout the entire village, we would arrange village meetings and other similar initiatives. The responsibility of carrying out these campaigns and mobilisation efforts primarily fell on our team ‘Balika’ which includes about 20,000 community volunteers who acted as representatives of the community. Furthermore, our partnership with the government, specifically collaborating with sarpanch, ward punch, headmasters and teachers, played a crucial role in implementing a comprehensive strategy that effectively changed traditional mindset and boosted our endeavours.

Can you provide further information about your collaboration with the government?

Our collaboration is primarily with the state governments as education falls under their jurisdiction and our efforts are in line with the National Policy and the Right to Education Act. We receive support from the government machinery at various levels, starting from the village level, progressing to the block level, district level and ultimately the state level. This ensures that both the government and our organisation are working towards the same goals. It is important to note that the government primarily focusses on the supply side, such as building schools, hiring teachers and developing educational materials. However, our role comes into play at the village level, where we strive to create a demand for girls' education. Therefore, there is a strong synergy between the state governments and our on-ground initiatives.

Can you elaborate on the Educate Girls' programmes?

There are significant components to our work. The first one covers grades one to eight, which is in line with the Right to Education Act. This includes primary school and middle school education. Our programmatic activities involve establishing a village-level team of female volunteers, who act as local gender champions. We provide support for all learning activities, including a foundational literacy and numeracy curriculum for third, fourth and fifth graders. Additionally, we offer English, Maths and life skills programmes for older girls in grades six to eight to enhance their learning outcomes and boost their confidence. For girls beyond grade eight who face challenges such as educational gaps due to various reasons, we provide a second chance programme at the village level to help them continue their education and pass their 10th-grade exam. 

Explain the impact of Educate Girls on society.

Over the past 16 years, we have successfully connected with approximately 1.4 million girls by persuading and mobilising their families to reintegrate them into the education system. Our educational curriculum has positively impacted around 1.9 million children, including both boys and girls. Moreover, our second chance programme, which initially started with 300 girls, has now grown to include over 11,000 participants this year alone. The increase in our numbers has been remarkable, showcasing our commitment to expanding our reach and influence. What initially began in a few villages in Rajasthan has now expanded to include other states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Our programme covers nearly 24,000 villages in these states, thanks to the invaluable support of our team Balika.