HELP EDUCATE 750 GIRLS IN RURAL INDIA

This is the impact of IIMPACT - in a few words:

MUNFIDA - Dares to Dream   

Eighteen year old Munfida resides in Chobasai, a remote village in Alwar. Her father Rasool Khan is a farmer and her mother a home maker. She has a very large family - 5 older brothers, all of whom are married and 3 sisters. Munfida’s brothers are very much against her decision to continue with her education. Munfida has not allowed their opinions to deter her.

Munfida graduated from IIMPACT’s Learning Centre ‘Chorbasai’ located in Kishangarh Block of Alwar in 2010. A determined young girl, Munfida not only continued with her secondary education but also continuously persuaded and motivated other young girls to enroll themselves at IIMPACT and to continue to pursue their studies. Munfida’s enthusiasm and her personal academic progress motivated and inspired other young girls to study further.

Munfida currently studies in Kishangarh College where she is pursuing the Bachelor of Arts- 1st year program. Munfida has always been highly competitive by nature and has actively participated in any competition coming her way. She discovered the thrill of playing Kabbadi and is now a much feared opponent in inter college Kabbadi tournaments. She has regularly been voted the best player in the college team!

According to Munfida it is the education and learning experience gained at the IIMPACT learning centre that shaped her personality and helped hone her competitive, academic and sporting skills.

Munfida wants to come back as a teacher at IIMPACT so that she can help young girls follow their dreams – just like she is doing today.

SAHAJU - A simple milk man - making a big difference

Sahaju, is a fifty years old milkman and an active community member in the village of MahuaKhurd in Alwar. He has been associated with IIMPACT since its inception. Though uneducated Sahaju is progressive in his thinking. His children, 2 girls and 2 boys, are all educated. Both his sons are now in the Police Service.

Sahaju, a keen supporter of IIMPACT’s education program, makes it a point to discuss the benefits of girl child education with various family members during his door-to-door milk delivery visits. The affable Sahaju continuously motivates non school going girls to go to school and also actively follows up with local Government School teachers and the IIMPACT graduate girls enrolled there about their individual academic progress.  

The irrepressible Sahaju devotes much of his personal time encouraging community members and parents to participate regularly in community meetings. He plays an important role in voluntarily coordinating IIMPACT’s special events such as Republic Day, Independence day, Children’s Day and so on.

According to Sahaju it is the high quality education provided at the IIMPACT learning centre that enables its 5th Class graduates to directly enroll into 7th and 8th class in the local Government Schools. He is also of the firm opinion that because of IIMPACT’s presence in MahuaKhurd more and more families are realizing both the importance and powerof education.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from IIMPACT!

It is with great pride and satisfaction that we have entered the 15th Year of IIMPACT.

As you already know IIMPACT Girls Education Project was started by the Alumni of IIM, Ahmedabad  (a leading Business School in India)- 1978 batch. Under this project, IIMPACT has identified rural out-of-school girls in different regions in 11 States with low female participation in education. IIMPACT’s single minded focus is on providing quality primary education to rural out-of-school girls. IIMPACT has identified problems plaguing girls’ primary education in India and has developed a model that overcomes these problems viz. the IIMPACT Learning Centre model.

Under this model, IIMPACT establishes single-teacher primary Learning Centers in the villages with high concentration of out-of-school girls in the 6-14 year age group. These girls benefit from the learning center approach as they are near to their homes. Thus, IIMPACT takes the school to their door steps. The Learning Centers employ female teachers sourced from the local area who provide very high quality education through play-way methods. The Learning Centers are also a converging point for the local village community as they learn about the importance of education for girls and break age-old shackles in girls’ education.

Starting with just 450 girls and 15 learning centers in 2004, today IIMPACT is running this project in over 1686 villages of India, and has covered over 80000 out-of-school girls in its primary education programme. Around 20,000 girls from IIMPACT learning centers have completed their quality primary education cycle and most of them continue with their upper primary and secondary education.

We have observed that the girls who have completed their primary education from IIMPACT learning centers have very high levels of skills and competence. Many of the IIMPACT girls have now joined college level education and have demonstrated equal competencies there as well. Most of the girls completing their education from IIMPACT Centers are first generation learners from their families, yet these are the very girls who are bringing a big change in their families and communities.

By getting access to quality education and by continuing in higher education these girls will be the agents of development and change and thought leaders in their communities tomorrow - thereby Transforming Lives for the better.....

Thank you all for being such an important part of this amazing journey!

Regards

Urvashi