Supporting India's commitment to education for girls
Related pages: India country profile | Millennium
Development Goal 2: Education | Case study: West
Bengal District Primary Education Project | Hilary
Benn: Educating girls is investment in better future for all (January, 2005)
Image courtesy of Unicef
In India, 20% of children aged between 6 to 14, the majority of whom are girls, are
still not in school (Source:  UNICEF
website). To tackle this problem, the Government of
India amended its constitution in 2003 to make elementary education a ‘fundamental
right’. And that's why DFID is supporting the Indian government's universal
elementary education programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). This programme
is aimed at ensuring that by 2010, all children in India are receiving eight
years of basic education of acceptable quality, regardless of sex, caste, creed,
family income or location.
Bridging the gap through partnership
Image courtesy of British Council
Investment is important, but the education of girls in India isn't just a
matter of money. Caste, class and other social issues can mean that children are
denied equal opportunities. For example, the practice of child labour in some
parts of the country means that there is resistance to the idea of sending
children to school, particularly girls.
So DFID is working with a range of partners to support the Indian Government
to bring these hard to reach out-of-school children, especially girls, into full
time education.
How? The SSA programme has involved increased investments in class room
construction, teacher recruitment and development. But it has also involved
innovative projects such as ‘Education Camps for Girls’ (Balika Shikshan
Shivirs).
These camps give girls a second chance to recover the missed early years of
education by offering 'Residential Bridge Courses'. Out-of-school girls are
identified through community mobilisation programmes which can reach remote
rural areas.
The 7-9 month residential courses given provide the girls with the life
skills and preparation for re-entry into formal schools. The benefits of this
safe, supportive, learning environment - away from home - results in:
- Low drop-out rates
- Better academic achievement levels
- Improved health
- Increases in confidence and self esteem.
An estimated quarter of a million girls have benefited from these courses so
far. And that has contributed to the number of out-of-school children in India
falling to 13.5 million in 2005 - a reduction of 6.5 million in just two years
(Source: SSA Second Joint Review Mission, Aide Memoire July 2005).
Key facts
- Educating women is a priority for DFID because, in the developing world,
it makes an enormous difference to their chances of finding work, raising a
family and preventing the spread of diseases such as HIV and AIDS. The
UK is investing £1.4 billion on education over the next three years
- Enrolments for 2004/05 among the 6-14 years age group have reached 94%
(201 million children)
- The number of out of school children has fallen from 25 million in 2003 to
13.5 million in March 2005;
- DFID has committed £210 million (2004/05 – 2007/08) as part of over US
$1 billion in donor support programme for SSA, the largest multi-donor
supported education programme in the world.
- Previously, DFID supported the Lok Jumbish programme in Rajasthan (£34
million, 1999/00 - 2003/04) that originally piloted the Residential Bridge
Course approach.
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