A value-based education for girls combined with vocational training to help them stand on their own feet.
Based in a small village in Anupshahr in the State of Uttar Pradesh (three hours from Delhi) in North India, there is a school that has succeeded in creating a centre of educational excellence and provides education to the first ever generation of girls in this area.
The need for this project became evident when the Founder of the project discovered that girls as young as eight were being married off as their parents could not afford to care for them. Education for girls was not an option as average family income in this region was about Rs 400 (£5) per month. Whilst some parents strove to send their boys to school, the girls of this generation were denied education. They were, instead, expected to supplement the family income by working and were thus destined to spend their lives being treated as chattel.
In order to bring hope to a generation of girls who had very little future, the school developed a very unique model. Recognising that merely setting up a school for girls would not suffice as a solution in itself, a system of vocational training was integrated into the educational process so that by the time they were 18, the girls were able leave school with an education and a vocational skill. In addition to this, the school also provided a sum of around Rs 50,000 (£600) to help them kick start income generation activities. An example of this is the production of exquisite embroidery and linen furnishing that are currently being exported to Italy, France and South Africa.
This model has become so successful that parents from far-flung villages are now demanding for it to expand to be able to take in more children. Further, charities from different parts of India are keen to learn and replicate this model in other parts of India.