project
Empowering Schools and Communities in Rural India
people served
6,909
themes
Education
Gender Equality
location
Sangamner, Maharashtra
What are the challenges?
Poverty and cultural beliefs around gender are key barriers to girls education in India. Girls are viewed as a financial burden to their families and are often at risk of being taken out of school and married off early, thus increasing their vulnerability to domestic abuse. A large number of girls are taken out of school at the end of their primary education and are not allowed to continue into secondary school, limiting their chances to finish their education, access decent well-paid work and ensure future financial stability.
Those who make it into secondary education, face other challenges including the lack of menstruation hygiene knowledge, the absence of adequate facilities which result in many girls skipping school during menstruation, and safety concerns regarding travel to more distant schools.
What is the aim of the project?
To enable primary and secondary school girls from marginalised communities to continue their education and complete secondary school to transform their lives and secure their future.
What are the main activities?
- Working closely with parents and communities on awareness-raising and sensitisation projects that promote female education, including setting up village-level child protection committees
- Creating “girls-together” groups at the local level, which provide leadership training for young women and adolescent women’s health training
- Providing gender sensitisation training to teachers, village leaders and school management committees
- Building and repairing girl’s toilets at secondary schools and providing sanitary pads to adolescent girls
- Providing safe transportation to school for adolescent girls, including the distribution of bicycles to the poorest girls
