Help Educate Girls in India

Summary

We believe in equal education & when women are educated, their whole community benefits. Wher we work, uneducated women & girls are targets for sex traffickers & ruthless opportunists yet, 10 years after India's Right to Education Act guaranteed education for all up to 10 std, 30% of girls have never set foot in a classroom. Our schools play a vital role in encouraging & supporting girls to complete 12 std & enroll in higher education, providing them knowledge, self-belief & hope.

Challenge

In our state, 75,000 are missing school, only 47% of girls start & just 2% complete 10 std. Girls are missing due to supporting their families, child marriage & pregnancy, lack of menstrual hygiene & boys education taking priority. COVID has closed all schools & colleges & Malala Fund predicts that 20 million girls will never return to the classroom. By continuing their education & keeping in contact through online classes we are ensuring that this is not the case for the girls we support.

Solution

We educate at least 500 girls, including the daughters of sex workers, rape victims, rescued child brides & slum dwellers, through our English medium, slum & local schools & colleges each year. We work with Malala Fund, schools, colleges & communities of local women & girls & have recruited nearly 100 peer mentors to raise awareness of their rights & advocate for improved equality in education locally & nationally & in the past 5 years they have reached around 40,000 girls, teachers & parents.

Long-Term Impact

In the slums where we operate there is 100% school attendance which means no child labour or marriage, & our girls have achieved a 400% increase in A & B grades. Our English school has also achieved a 100% pass rate in 10 std. Recruiting Malala peer mentors has helped raise awareness of the challenges girls face & promote equality in education. This gives them financial independence, choice & security which ultimately helps in breaking the devastating cycles of poverty & exploitation.