Thanks to Global Giving community for your generous support of girls’ education in India. I would like to share the story of Asmeena, a 12 year old girl in one of CARE India’s Udaan schools. It might be very difficult for us to understand how sending their daughters to school is a very big act of courage for parents in Mewat because most of us have always taken education as an undeniable reality of our lives. But for Asmeena and many girls like her, the reality includes only the burden of household chores and sibling care. It is socially accepted that education for girls is irrelevant and unimportant.
Asmeena, like many 12 year olds in a village in Mewat district of Haryana state, spent most of her days helping her mother with household work. There is a primary school in her village but she preferred staying home because most teachers in the school are men and her community doesn’t look very well upon girls being educated by male members of the community. Asmeena got another chance to study when CARE India brought Udaan to Mewat. She was one of the first few girls to be inducted in the school and while many girls have been going home and coming back, she has stayed in school without leaving except during holidays.
Asmeena has, in many ways, challenged the boundaries that society has placed on her. Contrary to what is expected of girls in her community, she plays sports, rides a bicycle across the school campus and encourages other girls to study. It takes time and hard work to change the way people think and the only way it can be done is by showing the actual proof of education in the lives of their children. These baby steps that Asmeena is taking to study, to play and to express in more than one ways is actually a giant step in the transformation of her community.
To learn more about CARE’s work in India, please visit http://joinmyvillage.com/
Links:
Thanks to Global Giving community for your generous support of girls’ education in India. I would like to share the story of Asmeena, a 12 year old girl in one of CARE India’s Udaan schools. It might be very difficult for us to understand how sending their daughters to school is a very big act of courage for parents in Mewat because most of us have always taken education as an undeniable reality of our lives. But for Asmeena and many girls like her, the reality includes only the burden of household chores and sibling care. It is socially accepted that education for girls is irrelevant and unimportant.
Asmeena, like many 12 year olds in a village in Mewat district of Haryana state, spent most of her days helping her mother with household work. There is a primary school in her village but she preferred staying home because most teachers in the school are men and her community doesn’t look very well upon girls being educated by male members of the community. Asmeena got another chance to study when CARE India brought Udaan to Mewat. She was one of the first few girls to be inducted in the school and while many girls have been going home and coming back, she has stayed in school without leaving except during holidays.
Asmeena has, in many ways, challenged the boundaries that society has placed on her. Contrary to what is expected of girls in her community, she plays sports, rides a bicycle across the school campus and encourages other girls to study. It takes time and hard work to change the way people think and the only way it can be done is by showing the actual proof of education in the lives of their children. These baby steps that Asmeena is taking to study, to play and to express in more than one ways is actually a giant step in the transformation of her community.
To learn more about CARE’s work in India, please visit http://joinmyvillage.com/
Links:
The use of the PCs in the comfort of a classroom provides a safe space for girls to develop social networks amongst themselves. Outside of the home, schools are one of the only places girls may meet with other girls in a social setting. The secure environment provided by the school helps girls in developing their confidence without fear of outside intrusion. Thus, schools provide the only safe space, outside the home, for girls to meet with each other, learn together and share ideas. The ease of access to the internet and computer training should help girls link with their counterparts globally, enabling them to expand their worldviews. Through these connections, girls can develop methods for engagement in civic action projects, further increasing their social networks and development of leadership skills.
The CARE-Intel collaboration has helped in fostering positive change via the following outcomes:
CARE has provided computer training to teachers and students. The computers have been used for classroom instruction and after school for extra-curricular activities such as computer clubs. CARE helped in enhancing learning opportunities and leadership skills particularly of girls, proving great opportunity for girls to network and practice extra-curricular activities.
CARE has helped enhance learning opportunities and leadership skills in India through expanded computer use. The acquisition of the computers significantly increased resources and learning opportunities for students as it helped in bringing the computer-to-student ration close to 1-1. The extra resources helped in solidifying students’ reasoning and analytical skills and the computers also provided the students with opportunities for extracurricular activities such as developing social networks online.
Teacher training workshops aimed at providing school-based academic support to instructors. While most of the teachers in the schools have a basic knowledge of computers, the trainings intended to ensure they are using the technology to its full potential in the day-to-day teaching-learning process in the classroom using the teacher-laptop and classmates.
Acquiring leadership skills through computers further empowers girls by building their confidence, enabling them to make informed decisions about their lives. Girls were also given the opportunity to develop social networks using the computers in their classrooms. Within this framework; Computer friends groups have been formed under the supervision of the IT teachers in the schools.
Ultimately, the CARE-Intel partnership is leading to increased instructional capacity of teachers, computer literacy skills for students and the creation of girls’ active social networks.
