Education for girls in India
Education for girls in India The situation Certain communities and sections of India’s population are highly marginalized and deprived due to inherent societal structures and systems such as caste, religion and gender. Many children and especially millions of girls are disadvantaged from birth and don’t have access to a proper education. Even though the legislative framework is in place, the social norms of society have not changed much. Discrimination of schoolchildren from disadvantaged groups continues and poverty compels parents to engage children in work as they often fight for daily survival. They need every helping hand in the house and on the fields. These children are much less likely to reach primary schools and much more likely to become school drop outs. The girls are likely to be married off at an early age as well.
UNICEF priority intervention In the particularly severely affected state of Bihar, UNICEF is focusing on making education accessible, addressing parents directly and raising their awareness of the importance of school education. Based on learnings from past programs for the prevention of early child marriages, UNICEF has identified the following priority areas of intervention: Make education accessible and joyful – using a bus as metaphor for change UNICEF and partners have come up with an innovative project where a Bus reaches marginalized children of the Musahar community in 50 villages to ensure their enrolment, retention and transition in schools. It is a unique initiative to promote the empowerment of deprived communities and to create awareness about the importance of education among children, parents and the community – with a special focus on girls. Being a storehouse of knowledge, the bus creates an enabling environment for children hailing from text deficient environments. In most homes there are no print materials and since the Musahar live outside the main community, they have no access to such materials available in public places. The mobile learning center is painted with education messages, features a library with relevant story books, a computer and sitting arrangements. Moreover, girls groups will be formed and trained to be change agents among their peers and provide support to other girls to sustain efforts. Engage with parents and elders to enhance the value of the girl child and to ensure the transition of girls to higher education The mobile learning Bus not only attracts children, it attracts the adults as well. The same bus, along with the facilitators, accordingly becomes an awareness vehicle. Messages on the value of the girl child and the importance of education will be shared with parents, especially mothers, to ensure they become supporters of their daughters’ education. UNICEF involves local communities as partners, especially parents and works with local self-government structures. Such local partnership will result in the sustained involvement and investment of the people who are impacted by the initiative, giving them ownership.
Create an enabling environment to retain girls in schools Once out-of-school children are identified, they are enrolled into courses at NonResidential Learning Centers run by the local government of Bihar. They are designed to support these children in such a way that allows for them to be mainstreamed into regular schools. The courses are run on school premises by school teachers with the support of field level workers. Once the child completes the courses – ranging from six months to two years in order to obtain age appropriate learning levels – the child is mainstreamed into the respective classes in the same school. Ensure that the communities have access to livelihood options and social protection measures to come out of the vicious cycle of poverty and deprivation Through the facilitators and village level workers of government departments, marginalized communities will be oriented on available livelihood options and social protection measures. Awareness-materials will be prepared and field level workers trained to share the messages with the community – also by way of the mobile learning bus. Advocacy work with government will ensure that communities have access to available social protection measures.