https://sputnikglobe.com/20220308/indian-govt-launches-scheme-to-bring-missing-girls-back-to-school-1093677894.html
Indian Govt Launches Scheme to Bring 'Missing Girls' Back to School
Indian Govt Launches Scheme to Bring 'Missing Girls' Back to School
Sputnik International
The pandemic has disproportionately impacted girls' education, hitting the disadvantaged hardest, according to Right to Education Forum, a collective... 08.03.2022, Sputnik International
2022-03-08T12:41+0000
2022-03-08T12:41+0000
2022-07-19T10:42+0000
girl
unicef
gender neutrality
gender equality
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In a bid to bring girls back to school, who left education following the COVID-induced lockdown and various curbs, the government of India has launched a special campaign.Titled "Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav", the girl child's school admission initiative which aims to promote their education, was launched on the eve of International Women's Day in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Women and Child Development Ministry, and UNICEF.Women and Child Development Secretary Indevar Pandey on this occasion said that only 400,000 girls aged 11-14 years are visiting Anganwadis (rural healthcare centres) for nutrition, education and acquiring skills under the Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG).However, in 2018-19 there were 1.18 million girls who were beneficiaries of this scheme.The ministry has acknowledged that during the lockdown there has been a drastic drop in the number of girl students attending schools.Anganwadi workers would map the number of girls in each district and the list would be shared with the state education department, whose local officials would then ensure that each girl was enrolled either directly in the school system or in vocational training programmes, skill centres or open schooling, Pandey stressed.Speaking with Sputnik on the impact of COVID on girls dropping out of school, Ankit Arora, the founder of Saarthi Education, said, "In India, parents are biased against educating girl child and even before the pandemic, the dropout ratio of girls from school was much higher than that of the boys".He said there have been many factors behind it like — financial strain on parents, early marriage of girls, etc.Addressing how the government can boost its efforts, Mamata Sharma, former National Commission for Women chief, said that a massive digital awareness campaign — offline and online -- needs to be launched.Sharma also feels that as COVID has put financial burden on parents, the government needs to inform them that education is free of cost and "parents are supposed to bear any expense for sending their wards to school".As per a UNICEF India survey, out of the 90% students presently enrolled in schools, a third of them knew of at least one girl who has dropped out of school education. These dropouts are now either engaged in domestic work or have been married, said UNICEF India Representative Yasumasa Kimura.
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girl, unicef, gender neutrality, gender equality
girl, unicef, gender neutrality, gender equality
Indian Govt Launches Scheme to Bring 'Missing Girls' Back to School
12:41 GMT 08.03.2022 (Updated: 10:42 GMT 19.07.2022) Deexa Khanduri
Sputnik correspondent
The pandemic has disproportionately impacted girls' education, hitting the disadvantaged hardest, according to Right to Education Forum, a collective initiative of civil societies. If the government fails to take action in time, approximately 10 million girls might drop out of secondary schools.
In a bid to bring girls back to school, who left education following the COVID-induced lockdown and various curbs, the government of India has
launched a special campaign.
Titled "Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav", the girl child's school admission initiative which aims to promote their education, was launched on the eve of International Women's Day in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Women and Child Development Ministry, and UNICEF.
Women and Child Development Secretary Indevar Pandey on this occasion said that only 400,000 girls aged 11-14 years are
visiting Anganwadis (rural healthcare centres) for nutrition, education and acquiring skills under the Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG).
However, in 2018-19 there were 1.18 million girls who were beneficiaries of this scheme.
The ministry has acknowledged that during the lockdown there has been a drastic drop in the number of girl students attending schools.
"We are drawing a programme for out-of-school adolescent girls which will be driven by the Anganwadi system in close partnerships with education officers at district and block levels," Pandey explained.
Anganwadi workers would map the number of girls in each district and the list would be shared with the state education department, whose local officials would then ensure that each girl was enrolled either directly in the school system or in vocational training programmes, skill centres or open schooling, Pandey stressed.
Speaking with Sputnik on the impact of COVID on girls dropping out of school, Ankit Arora, the founder of Saarthi Education, said, "In India, parents are biased against educating girl child and even before the pandemic, the dropout ratio of girls from school was much higher than that of the boys".
"Pandemic made the situation worse, and all the campaigns launched by the government, civil societies backtracked due to pandemic in 2020," Arora said.
He said there have been many factors behind it like — financial strain on parents, early marriage of girls, etc.
"It's a serious matter and the government needs to ensure that all those girls who left the school join back and complete their education," Arora noted.
Addressing how the government can boost its efforts, Mamata Sharma, former National Commission for Women chief, said that a
massive digital awareness campaign — offline and online -- needs to be launched.
"Also, volunteers need to be appointed at grassroots level for door-to-door campaigning and speaking on behalf of the government. Moreover, if any of these volunteers manage to bring back girls to school, they deserve incentives," Sharma said.
Sharma also feels that as COVID has put financial burden on parents, the government needs to inform them that education is free of cost and "parents are supposed to bear any expense for sending their wards to school".
As per a UNICEF India survey, out of the 90% students presently enrolled in schools, a third of them knew of at least one girl who has dropped out of school education.
These dropouts are now either engaged in domestic work or have been married, said UNICEF India Representative Yasumasa Kimura.
