Girls' Education Program

"Educate a man, and you educate an individual. Educate a woman and you educate a whole family."

90 million girls in India are illiterate

Regardless of the laws, policies and schemes available for the education of girls, one wonders why girls are not in schools? Several research studies show that poverty, child marriage, disinterest in schooling, distantly located schools and lack of safety in schools and on the way to schools are some of the leading reasons why girls, especially from marginalized communities, are out of school.

Social and cultural norms pose a lot of restrictions too, due to which girls are unable to enjoy freedom. Girls experience multiple forms of discrimination and violence in different contexts. They are forced into early marriage by their families as they are considered to be a big liability, and their safety issues, especially after puberty, is another big reason.

Samarpan Trust

According to a recent report, India ranks first in terms of the number of child brides in the world, with around 27 percent girls being married off before their eighteenth birthday. Poor educational opportunities for girls, especially in rural areas, also increase the vulnerability of girls to be forced into child marriage.

In addition, a majority of girls are either engaged in agricultural activities or household chores, specifically being in-charge of sibling care. Hence, they don’t get the opportunity to attend school. The girls who manage to attend school are given free education only up to eighth grade, after which they are required to pay for their own books, uniforms and other educational supplies. Therefore there is an alarming dropout rate of girls after eighth grade.

Samarpan's Girls' Education Program (GEP) focuses on improving the conditions by which girls, especially those in the marginalized communities can access quality education. Education is an important tool that enables women and girls to participate in decisions that affect their lives and in improving their social status. Through our program, the community and parents of girls are now beginning to understand the importance of educating girls.

WHAT ARE WE DOING TO HELP?

Samarpan's Girls' Education Program (GEP) focuses on improving the conditions by which girls, especially those in the marginalized communities can access quality education. Education is an important tool that enables women and girls to participate in decisions that affect their lives and in improving their social status. Through our program, the community and parents of girls are now beginning to understand the importance of educating girls.

GEP provides technical support while working through the formal school systems as well as through the integrated programs of Samarpan. GEP is committed towards enabling effective implementation of education provisions and policies for rights, entitlements and empowerment of girls from most marginalized sections of the society in safe and secure, inclusive and gender responsive environments.

Since Samarpan's GEP intervention, the drop-out rate in our community has reduced by half. Our goal is to ensure 100% enrollment rate and 0% drop-out rate for girls in our community.