Approximately 40% of girls in India face significant obstacles to education, including socio-cultural norms, economic constraints, and inadequate infrastructure.
In line with this, the need for girl-child education has been highlighted in the recent budget. The pro-women and pro-skill development budget is a welcome move, which has the potential to aid millions of girls and women in India. The allocation of Rs 1.48 lakh crore in this fiscal’s education budget marks a 30% increase. This additional funding goes a long way in enabling women to realize their potential in the education and labor markets. Investing in education is central to uplifting women and strengthening rural communities.
There are several women who have established organizations with the aim of transforming the education space for girls in India. Through their unyielding efforts, these female founders are breaking boundaries, empowering communities and making sustainable change.
This article features three exceptional female founders who are doing amazing things to improve girl-child education in India, beginning with Educate Girls.
1. Educate Girls – Safeena Husain
Safeena Husain is the founder of Educate Girls, which has been focusing on improving educational outcomes for girls in rural India. Community mobilization and creating awareness about girls’ education are the main areas of focus for Educate Girls. The innovative concept by Safeena comprises community-based volunteers called Team Balika; people who put all their energy into ensuring the re-enrollment of out-of-school girls and academic support for them. As a result of her leadership, hundreds of thousands of Indian girls were able to get enrolled in school because their learning results improved at Educate Girls.
Key Initiatives
– Educate Girls involves various segments; the local communities and leaders for the purpose of promoting girl child education, by addressing socio-cultural challenges that hinder girls from attending school.
– Team Balika has trained volunteers who are always engaging in direct enrollment of girls into schools and providing support at every step to make sure that they excel academically.
2. Pratham – Dr. Rukmini Banerji
One of the largest non-governmental organizations in India is Pratham, that concentrates on providing quality education to underprivileged children. There has been a focus on girls and it is Dr Rukmini Banerji’s push which has done the same. The emphasis of her work revolves around basic literacy and numeracy, so that girls are equipped with the right skills that will help them do well in school.
Key Initiatives
– The main aim of this initiative is to improve the basic reading and arithmetic competencies among children who will then be able to build upon them as they continue with their learning process.
– Pratham involves local communities in its educational programs, creating an enabling environment for educating girls.
3. K.C. Mahindra Education Trust – Sheetal Mehta
Sheetal Mehta is the trustee of K.C Mahindra Education Trust and she has made great efforts in promoting girl child education under the aegis of Mahindra.She stood for holistic support to girls such as providing books, computer lessons and extra curriculum activities that make them grow academically and personally.
