WUNRN
Via WOMEN'S FEATURE SERVICE
India - New Delhi
India: Poor Rural Girls Education
Program Success
Literacy, Improved Status, Later
Marriage +
By Anuja Agrawal
Saharanpur (Women's Feature Service) - For poor girls in rural India, to be
able to study even up to class five is often a distant dream. Many have never
gone to school and those who have been fortunate enough to begin their
schooling end up dropping out within a few years. According to the 2001 Census,
the female literacy rate in India is 53.67 per cent, with 46.13 per cent in
rural areas.
As an attempt to reverse this dismal trend, residential Mahila Shikshan Kendras
(MSKs), run under the aegis of the Mahila Samakhya (MS) programme, have been
set up to provide quality education for free till class five.
The MS programme was initiated in 1989 to translate the goals of the National
Policy on Education into a concrete initiative for the education and
empowerment of girls and women. Currently, it is operational in nine states,
including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. An estimated
200,000 women have been organised via this programme into collectives called
Mahila Sanghs (women's groups), which take up issues of development and poverty
alleviation in their villages. However, their greatest impact has been in the
area of girls' education.
And that's where the MSKs play an important role. In UP, there are 12 MSKs that
mainly focus on girls who have never been to school or have had to drop out. So
far, more than 450 girls and women, 90 per cent from poor Dalit (downtrodden)
families, have studied at the Saharanpur MSK, set up in 1996. It is currently
running its 14th batch of around 35 students, aged between 12 and 19 years.
The 'Kishori Profiles', prepared by the MSK teachers for the girls, give an
insight into the condition they live in. Many have both parents engaged in low
paid wage work and thus have to spend their day doing domestic chores; looking
after younger siblings; and working in the fields. It is not surprising then
that in their profiles many have stated cooking and washing dishes to be their
favourite occupations!
If the pressing need for domestic labour provides the immediate reason for
keeping girls out of village schools, the absence of adequately equipped
schools and motivated teachers reinforces the trend. Tina, 15, the daughter of
a brick kiln worker from the Ranimajra near Deoband, stopped going to school
after Class Two because nothing really happened in class. After joining the
Saharanpur MSK, she now wants to study as much as she can.
Sometimes, when parents take the first step of sending their daughters to
school, life situations intervene to keep girls back. Sharmila, 17, a Dalit
girl from Laundhora Gujar village in Baliakheri Block, had to drop out of Class
Two when her mother passed away. As the eldest daughter, she was responsible
for the family's welfare. Had it not been for the 'sahyogini' (facilitator) of
the village Mahila Sangh, Sharmila would never have gone back to school. Today,
she is in Class Seven at the local middle school and dreams of becoming a
teacher.
A 'sahyogini' facilitates the formation of Mahila Sanghs, which performs many
functions including running small savings groups and acting as a support group
for women, and also plays a vital role in making the MSK a success.
It takes a lot of persuasion for poor parents to send their daughters to the
centres. Most fend off any attempts by saying: What will she do after studying?
Why should she study if her mother hasn't? She is too old to be sent to school
now. But the 'sahyogini' painstakingly works towards bringing about a change in
their attitude.
Once they are convinced most parents are not sorry. Says one proud mother from
Laundhora Gujar, "At least my daughter is able to write, use the telephone
and read the bus route number. She will not be called an 'angootha tek' (illiterate)."
At MSK, the girls are taught about women's rights, gender equality, health and
hygiene, along with regular schoolwork that helps them pass the class five exam
conducted at the local school. The customised curriculum has been developed by
the Saharanpur MSK on the basis of the UP Board guidelines with the help of
teaching material prepared by NGOs and the National Council of Education
Research and Training (NCERT).
A typical school day begins at 5.30 am and by 10 am the children have
exercised, read the newspaper, prayed and had their breakfast to start the
various lessons. Breaking for lunch at one, the girls have classes till six in
the evening when they have an hour to play. They are then given time to browse
through books in the library for an hour. The day ends after dinner at nine.
As a result of the wholesome education, a slow but sure social change has been
initiated in the villages of the district. Most of the MSK girls are no longer
willing to marry in their teens, a common enough practice in the region. Most
recall the poignant song taught to them at the centre, reflecting the desire to
delay marriage to a more appropriate age.
Meri bali umar,
Mera rishta na kar,
Is rishte ko thukrane de;
Jo dukh tune jhele hain,
Maiya na mujhko jhelne do,
Abhi choti umar hai meri;
Meri shadi na karne do...
I am still of a tender age,
Don't get me engaged,
Let me reject this match.
The unhappiness that you have borne,
Mother, do not let me bear it,
I am still of a tender age,
Do not get me married.
The women of Laundhora Gujar say that the age of marriage in their village has
definitely gone up in recent times. While some of the older women claim they
were married even at seven, hardly any girl today ties the knot before she
turns 17 or 18.
There is another significant change in the attitude of the young women. They
harbour ambitions to take up careers like teaching and the civil services. When
eighteen-year-old Sangeeta's parents opposed her desire to continue with her
education, the women of village Mahila Sangh got together to support this Dalit
girl. "When I came to the MSK, I did not even know how to sign my
name," recalls Sangeeta, who is handicapped. She is glad that the
Saharanpur MSK took her in as she had discontinued her education because of her
handicap - physical impairment of the legs. Currently, she is in Class Ten.
Says young Lalita, another Saharanpur MSK student, "I want to grow up and
become an (police) inspector like the girl in the television programme
'Udaan'." ('Udaan' was a popular TV show whose main protagonist, a humble
small town girl, becomes an IPS officer.)
Definitely, it is the MSKs that have brought on this change. But it would not
have been possible without the dedication of the staff and teachers. Nisha
Chaudhry, who is in her early 30s, is the head of the Samakhya operations in
Saharanpur. She has set a fine example for the girls. Coming from a
conservative rural family, Nisha struggled all the way from being a telephone
operator to her present station.
For the MSK students, she provides a role model seconded only by their teacher
Rekha, 42, a Kumhar woman from the Nagal Block of Saharanpur, who has been with
the MSK since its inception. The students insist they do not miss their parents
as their 'didi' (elder sister) loves and cares for them. In fact, the girls are
so comfortable being at the Kendra that even the mention of the day when they
will pass out and leave its secure premises brings tears to their eyes.
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