Haridwar (HRW) Uttarakhand, India Program Report August 2015 1
EDUCATE TO EMPOWER UTTARAKHAND, INDIA Empowering Local Communities to Improve Girlsʼ Access to Equitable and Quality Secondary Education Education is one of the most critical indicators of human development and gender empowerment. Education (especially of the girl child) is an important input as well as an outcome indicator, influencing other development indicators like health, nutritional status, income and family planning. In fact, unlike any of the other social service inputs, it impacts all types of human development outcomes not only knowledge, but also family size, health status, nutritional status, and healthy living conditions. The benefits of education, particularly girlsʼ education, accrue from one generation to another. According to the United Nations, India has made significant progress in universalizing primary education. Enrollment and completion rates of girls in primary school have improved and are catching up with those of boys. India s efforts to make education available for all children ages 6 14 were backed by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program. Mid-day meals, distribution of various aids, scholarships and the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, 2015 (Save the Girl, Educate the Girl) initiative increased the participation of girls in education. However, the quality of education remains a major concern and and large numbers of children remain out of school and fail to complete primary education. Girlsʼ also lag behind boys in secondary school attendance, particularly in rural villages and in remote and low socioeconomic areas in India. And despite considerable improvement in the literacy status, India is home to the largest number of illiterate people in the world (over 280 million). Womenʼs literacy rates lag behind that of men, indicating poorer learning outcomes and opportunities for women even as young as 15-24 years old. More than one of five in India is illiterate and 64% of them are women. In government schools, problems like teacher shortage, absenteeism and lack of infrastructural facilities have resulted in an increase in low performance and gender disparities. 2
UTTARAKHAND TWO-YEAR PILOT PROGRAM HARIDWAR DISTRICT PROJECT TITLE Empowering local communities to improve girlsʼ access to equitable and quality secondary education in Uttarakhand, India. AIM OF THE PROJECT The aim of the project is to empower all major stakeholders to reform government schools through effective partnership with local governments and promote social and economic change by educating all girls. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION AND BENEFICIARIES Country: India State: Uttarakhand District: Haridwar (HRW) Number of School Covered: 50 Number of Girls Served: To be updated Number of Boys Served: To be updated Total Student Covered under the Project To be updated TARGET POPULATION Girls studying in grades nine through 12 in 50 identified schools School drop-outs and/or out of school girls ages 12-20 years Boys studying in grades nine through 12 in all 50 program schools MoU AUTHORITY AND SIGNING DATE A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between EGG and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) under the Ministry of Education, Uttarakhand on 12/11/2012 for conducting the sustainability project in 50 secondary schools in Uttarakhand. The project was extended into 50 new secondary schools in the district of Haridwar for a period of two years starting from May 2015 to April 2017. PROJECT DURATION AND START/END DATE The duration of this project is two years. The project implementation started on 5/1/2015 and is expected to be completed by 4/30/2017. 3
ACHIEVEMENTS AT A GLANCE HARIDWAR DISTRICT Activities Project Target (May 2015 - April 2016) Achievement (August 2015) Total Achievement (to date) Gap COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION Number of schools where a baseline survey was conducted Project Schools 50 0 50 0 Control Schools 0 0 0 0 Number of villages covered through GSS 254 58 124 130 Number of Gram Shiksha Sabha (GSS/village meetings) conducted 508 58 124 384 Number of community members sensitized through GSS Total 10160 1206 2782 7378 Women 7112 1119 2506 4606 Number of dropout/out-ofschool girls identified in the project villages 100% Men 3048 87 276 2772 ages 6 to 13 years 0 67 No target was set as ages 14 to 18 years 10 407 this is an ongoing ages 19 to 21 years 45 206 process Number of girls enrolled from the project villages 100% age 6 to 13 years (enrolled in primary grades) 0 0 age 14 to 18 years 0 0 age 19 to 21 years (enrolled in NIOS) 0 0 SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Number of SMCs elected through democratically fair procedures 50 50 50 0 4
Activities Project Target (May 2015 - April 2016) Achievement (August 2015) Total Achievement (to date) Gap Number of First Phase SMC training conducted 50 26 26 24 Number of SMC members trained in First Phase SMC training 900 426 426 474 Total number of Action Plans formulated by 50 SMCS 600 115 208 392 Action Plans completed by 50 SMCs 300 0 0 300 Action Plans under progress 300 0 0 300 Total proposals (WSDP) sent by 50 SMCs to RMSA/other state/ national authorities 200 0 0 200 Number of SMC meetings conducted 300 26 26 274 Average number of SMC meetings per month 50 26 26 24 GIRLS PARLIAMENT Life skills training sessions with GPs 200 0 0 200 Number of GP constituted 50 0 50 0 Number of GP meetings conducted 300 50 100 250 Number of actions/activities undertaken by GPs 400 50 50 350 Number of girls trained in Life Skill Camp 500 0 0 500 Number of girls participated in school sports 200 0 0 200 Number of girls participated in social-cultural activities in school 300 350 350 +50 Number of girls participated in science activities 50 0 0 50 5
AUGUST 2015 REPORT HARIDWAR DISTRICT This year marks India's celebration of its 69th Independence Day. Thousands of ceremonies were organized all over the nation on August 15. Children celebrate this special occasion with enthusiasm as they receive lots of love and sweets from their friends and caretakers. EGGʼs project schools also celebrated Independence Day with great enthusiasm. In general, the fl ag of the nation is saluted around 8.30AM and the national song is sung by all with due respect. The main event of the country is organized in Delhi with a speech by the Prime Minister. The issue of the girl child has always been an important agenda in all prime ministerial speeches and this time the Prime Minister again declared lots of schemes to protect the rights of the girl child. However, the blank scene in this picture shows that the benefi t does not often reach the actual persons in need. There is always one reason - lack of accountability. E d u c a t e G i r l s G l o b a l l y e d u c a t e g i r l s. o rg i n f o @ e d u c a t e g i r l s. o rg 6
India is now a progressive country and the girls are more sensitive and aware of their rights. However, in rural areas and villages, girls are still vulnerable to many social evils; and therefore, many of them are unable to complete their secondary education. Seventy percent of Indiaʼs population resides in villages and the contribution of girlsʼ population to total youth population is around fifty percent. Hence, there is still a long way to go to reach equality. EGG staff members in project areas are aware of these facts and are sensitizing the community and the school staff to cope with basic problems. The report for this month is discussed below in detail. A. School Management Commitee Meetings and Whole School Development Plans All 50 EGG project schools have established a School Management Committee (SMC). The main role of the SMC is to take care of all issues related to the school and to take into consideration suggestions from parents with the objective of making the school environment conducive for learning. In August 2015, 26 SMC meetings were held, of which two were completed without any discussion mainly due to lack of attendance. However, training sessions were held in all 26 SMCs for those who attended. Besides these trainings led by EGG staff, the issues discussed at the SMC meetings include the following: Construction of school boundary walls and gates Construction of separate toilets for girls and boys Construction of bicycle stands Repairs to school building roofs and toilets Lack of water supply in toilets Lack of safe drinking water Cleanliness of schools Dirty classrooms with insuffi cient space Lack of teachers Lack of classroom fans Computer facilities in schools Insuffi cient lab equipment and materials 7
Poor management of libraries Furniture arrangement Issuance of identity cards for all students From the SMCs that were successfully held in 24 project schools, 115 action plans and five Whole School Development Plans (WSDPs) were developed. One of the challenges faced by SMC members was that their ideas on solving these problems were limited to government funding. Other possible funding sources such as Mandi Samiti, Vidhayak Nidhi, Sansad Nidhi, Block Development Office, CSR components of companies, and other bank schemes were introduced by EGG staff. Out of the total SMCs visited last month, only five were categorized as level ʻCʼ. All others were found not up to the mark at the current stage of project implementation. The reasons the other 24 project schools were unable to hold an SMC meeting are because: a formal letter was yet required from EGG staff to organize the meeting a meeting will be scheduled in the near future the principal was out of school no specifi c information was received Still, in Haridwar district, it is encouraging that the first round of meetings are occurring at the village and school levels. Additionally, the parents are excited to find for the first time that someone is coming to their villages to make them aware of their childrenʼs education. B. Girls Parliament In August 2015, all 50 project schools held Girls Parliament (GP) meetings. In fifteen events, the school staff also participated. EGG staff organized and conducted all meetings. Girls are starting to come forward to speak out about the problems they often face in school. The following are some of the common problems raised by GP members in their schools: Irregular presence (absenteeism) of teachers in the classrooms Lack of action taken by teachers when a complaint is made by girls Teasing by boys and abusive words written on the walls No proper seating arrangements 8
No door or roof in classrooms No proper latching of school gates which allows students to easily leave school Students not coming to school in their full uniform (dress) It was decided to make GP a strong platform where girls can not only take the responsibility of facilitating many of the school activities, but they can also act as a pressure group to improve the school environment. The following activities were listed to be facilitated in the school: Facilitate the celebration of all important days and events, i.e. Independence Day, Teachersʼ Day, Childrenʼs Day Ensure uninterrupted teaching sessions in the school Ensure students are not moving around aimlessly Help school administration to organize monthly SMC meetings Check the quality of midday meals Make proper discipline at school Make neat and clean surroundings The school staff participated in some of the Girls Parliament meetings to ensure full cooperation in promoting GP as a workable platform in the schools. C. Gram Shiksha Sabha Community Meetings Gram Shiksha Sabhas (GSS) meetings were organized in 58 villages of the Haridwar district. In general, ASHA or Anganwadi workers in the village help out to inform the villagers about the day of the community meeting. The GSS participants include Anganwadi/ASHA workers, dropout girls, GP members in the village and common villagers. Since these village level meetings are held for the first time by EGG staff, a large part of the session is spent on introducing EGG and its objective. EGG staff explained to the villagers that although schools are operated by the government, the schools in their area belong to them. Therefore, they should be sending their children to school and take ownership of caring for their schools. 9
In Haridwar district, most of the dropout girls aged 19-21 work in small scale industries in their villages. According to their parents, the main reasons for not sending girls to school include: Poverty Big family sizes The school is too far from the village Lack of transportation facilities Unfavorable school environment Male dominance in the society Adolescents in Muslim communities are not allowed to travel away from home Lack of guidance A forest blocks the way to school So far, 180 girls from different villages in Haridwar district have been identifi ed as dropouts. EGG staff has observed during GSS that the dropout rate is found to be highest in Muslim communities followed by Schedule Caste Hindu families. reserved. ECopyright d u c a t e G i r l2015 s G l oeducate b a l l y egirls d u c a Globally t e g i r l s. o All rg rights info@ e d u c a t e g103015 i r l s. o rg 10
ABBREVIATIONS UTTARAKHAND, INDIA CSR EGG GGIC GHS GSS GP HS MLA NIOS PRI PTA SC SMC ST WSDP Corporate Social Responsibility Educate Girls Globally Government Girls Inter College Government High School Gram Siksha Sabha Girls Parliament High School Member of Legislative Assembly National Institute of Open Schooling Panchayati Raj Instititution Parent Teachers Association Schedule Caste School Management Committee Schedule Tribe Whole School Development Plan 11
GLOSSARY UTTARAKHAND, INDIA 1. Anganwadi Worker A village level employee of the State Department of Women and Child Development who is primarily responsible for preschool. The worker provides supplementary nutrition to pregnant women, lactating mothers and preschool children, counsels adolescent girls and participates in Village Health and Nutrition Day. 2. National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) Established in November 1989, this is an autonomous organization in pursuance of the National Policy on Education 1986 by the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD. NIOS provides a number of vocational, life enrichment and community oriented courses besides general and academic courses at secondary level. 3. Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) - This is a village level local governance orgamization. Based upon population, a cluster of villages or a single village elects a ward member and a PRI Head through direct voting. Among the ward members, one person is elected as Deputy Head through voting by ward members. PRI is primarily mandated to oversee development of the villages and catchment areas by augmenting infrastructure, providing drinking water facilities, improving education (both primary and secondary) and linking people with different government schemes. Educate Copyright Girls 2015 Globally Educate educategirls.org Girls Globally All rights info@educategirls.org reserved. 103015 12