Education India Project #13310

Support Girls' Education in India

by Room to Read

Project Report | Mar 17, 2014
Story from the Field: Meet Shabnam, a Girls' Education program participant

By Susan Haynes | Project Assistant

This report features Girls’ Education program student Shabnam, an 11^th grade student who lives in Rajasthan, India. Shabnam was interviewed for our most recent Girls’ Education yearbook. You can view the whole yearbook here. The stories in this yearbook are done in an interview style, and girls are interviewed by someone from their community. For this story, Shabnam was interviewed by Noor Mohammed, Founder of the Alwar Mewat Institute for Education and Development (AMIED). This story is a great example of the impact that the Girls' Education program has on both its participants and their communities.

In the Mewat region of India, where Shabnam lives, the female literacy rate is only 6 percent. Most girls in Mewat do not receive a formal education and are expected instead to remain at home—looking after siblings or their own children. Shabnam made history in 2011 when she became the first girl in her village to graduate from 10th grade.

She joined school after completing an intensive bridge course set up by Room to Read and our local partner organization, AMIED, and she has been thriving ever since.

Noor Mohammed: How would you describe the village you grew up in?

Shabnam: In Mewat, education is hardly given any importance. Girls are not allowed to study at all. The general mindset of the community is that girls have to look after household affairs and bear children; school is never prioritized. At least, not until you and AMIED started working here—visiting our homes and talking to the elders in the community.

NM: So tell me, how have things changed now?

Shabnam: Well, we definitely have more girls coming to school. Also, no one in the community ever wanted to talk to our didis (social mobilizers). Now they are treated with great respect.

NM: What about your own family? Do they support your education?

Shabnam: My parents work on the farm all day and there are six children in my family— three boys and three girls, so there is a lot of housework to keep me busy in addition to my studies. I have to clean the house, cook, look after my siblings and help my mother feed the buffaloes in the field.

My mother has supported my education the most. Neighbors have told her that letting me go to a co-educational school and interact with boys is against the conventions of Islam, but she always supports me. During my 10th grade final exams, my father was completely opposed to letting me travel the 20 km (12.4 mi) to the exam center. He said I needed to finish my household responsibilities first, and my brothers refused to help out on the farm if he continued to allow me to study. It was very difficult to negotiate with them and explain how life changing these exams could be for me. The results would determine my admission into engineering college, and I had imagined a new future for myself—one where I would earn money, have a job and be able to take care of myself. It has taken many years to convince my father, but slowly he has started to come around.

NM: Now that you are in the engineering college, what is a typical day like for you? Has anything changed?

Shabnam: The biggest change is that I livealone in a one-bedroom apartment. I wakeup, cook food for the day and wash myclothes. Then I study for an hour and leavefor my engineering classes, which are aboutan hour’s walk from home.Classes end at 3:30 p.m., and I usuallystop by the market on my way home tobuy vegetables. Then I finish householdchores and try to study before work. I don’tget a chance to see my parents very oftenbecause the village is far away.

NM: You are so independent. Are you scared of anything in the future?

Shabnam: There is no fear. A lot of girls didn’t get an education before, but now things are changing, and girls have an opportunity to prove themselves. I do think sometimes about what would happen if I were not able to study. You know, my family sacrifices a lot to pay the rent for my apartment. I just pray that I am able to finish my education. I have this daydream of being in an office, sitting in front of a computer!

NM: So what exactly would you say education means to you?

Shabnam: Education is the tool through which I can become independent in my life—both financially and emotionally. Through education, I can judge right from wrong. It helps me solve problems, express my opinions and stand up to my brothers and father. I can tell them, “look at what I am capable of achieving!”

NM: What are your plans after graduation? More school? Work? Marriage?

Shabnam: I will get my bachelor’s degree in technology and become an engineer. After school, I will pursue a government job so that I can help build facilities and infrastructure in my village. I know a lot of girls look up to me for inspiration now, so I feel I have a responsibility to succeed in life and help them. When I am an engineer, people in the community will be convinced that girls can study and have a right to build a future for themselves.

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Dec 16, 2013
Story from the Field: Meet a Girls' Education program participant

By Susan Haynes | Project Assistant

During the reporting period, the Girls' Education program team continued implementing the activities and program components reported on in our previous GlobalGiving reports. In this report, we want to deeply thank Global Giving donors for your support and generosity by sharing a story from the field. This story features B., a Girls' Education program participant in India.

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For years, B. Beemamma wanted to become an officer with the Indian Police Services, but her father, a daily wage laborer, had decided she would get married. When B. was 11 years old and in the 6^th grade, we launched our Girls’ Education Program at Zilla Parishad High School, her school in Mushrifa village.

From the beginning, our field team began implementing GEP activities such as providing material support (school fees, uniforms, notebooks, etc.), remedial education, tutoring, medical camps and meetings for parents and the community. The social mobilizer who looks after the GEP girls in Mushrifa got to know B. and the challenges she faced. She made home visits, met her parents and encouraged them to participate in the quarterly parents’ meetings. As a result, B.’s parents have attended every one of these meetings which are a vital component of our program. It is during these meetings that parents learn about the importance of girls’ education, the adverse effects of child marriages, and the impact of the program on girls in their village.

As B. thrived in her studies, actively participating in the science and math fairs, life skills workshops, and other competitions, her parents truly began understanding their daughter’s interest and promising future—so much so that B.’s father decided to encourage her to continue her education. Her older brother, a university student, helps with her studies and serves as one of B.’s greatest inspirations. She is now one of the top students in her 8^th grade class and, very recently, with the encouragement and support of our field team, won first prize in a singing competition.

Your support and generosity is helping provide resources and opportunities to girls just like B. Thank you!

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Sep 10, 2013
Girls' Education program in India: Progress Report

By Susan Haynes | Project Assistant

Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program in India had an exciting past few months. Girls in the program participated in field trips to New Delhi Metro Museum, Nehru Planetarium, Dolls Museum and National Bal Bhawan (a state-sponsored center featuring an exhaustive array of recreational learning activities), all of which exposed the girls to locales quite different from their own neighborhoods. At The Lady Irwin College, New Delhi University, they learned about consumer rights, sexual harassment, ovarian and breast cancers, food science and nutrition. A particularly noteworthy event was a meeting with New Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit. During this coveted time with the Chief Minister, the girls shared their views about girls’ education in India and also their personal experiences with our Girls’ Education program.

Over the last 3 months, community and parental co-investment remained a strong focus in the program. The GEP team in India hosted several parents’ meetings, which covered content such as family-centered challenges to girls’ education and promoting attendance for tutoring. Parents also received examination criteria and benchmark overviews to further inform them of the details and progress of their daughters’ educations. Other workshops raised awareness about HIV/AIDS, gender-based discrimination, domestic violence and holistic female empowerment (educational, economic and spiritual).

Looking forward, our teams anticipate facilitating regular tutoring sessions in math, science, business, remedial tutoring, and life skills workshops that cover adolescence, reproductive health and career plans. We are also excited to begin personalized venture enterprise plans for girls (where they brainstorm and devise business plans), development camps, and more enriching field trips and alumnae meetings.

Thanks to your investments in our work, the Girls’ Education program in India has raised $1450 – the equivalent of a year of education for almost 6 girl or 29 bicycles for girl scholars. With your continued support, we will be able to continue providing girls in India with the educational tools and support they need; we look forward to updating you on our project activities in the next report.

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