Kavita (name changed), the eldest of three sisters in her family, was facing pressure from her mother and extended family while she was still in Class 12. Kavita’s mother wanted to marry her as her father’s recent death was affecting her financially. pressure on the family. She wanted to use the money for Kavita’s marriage, instead of investing it in further studies, but Kavita was adamant on completing her studies. Feeling helpless, Kavita reached out to her teachers. Teachers immediately stepped in to support Kavita and were able to successfully convince Kavita to continue her education to her mother.
Kavita says she found the courage to stand up against family pressure because of the ‘life skill lessons’ she received as part of her Room to Read (RTR) intervention with her school. “It was there, that I gained an understanding of gender issues and developed a sense of trust with my teachers and mentors, which gave me the confidence to voice my opinion and interact with my family”.
Like Kavita, many girls found themselves in similar situations during the pandemic. Inspired by the economic vulnerability caused by the pandemic, families decided to pull their children, especially girls, out of schools. According to a study by the National Sample Survey Office, reportedly around 321 million Indian children were out of school (India Today, 2019) leading to severe learning deficits and exposing them to various safety issues. Girls faced a higher risk as families viewed educating girls as an added burden. In the context of Telangana, a recent study by CRY (a leading child rights organization in India) found that the incidence of child marriages has doubled in the 52 villages surveyed. (Source: Child marriages on the rise in Telangana during Covid: CRY – REPORT)
In view of these developments, Room to Read (RtR) proceeded to implement a multi-pronged, collaborative approach with the government to prioritize the continuity of education and safety of adolescent girls in the state of Telangana. Strategies to achieve this goal included mobilizing the community to support girls’ education, promoting life skills education, and strengthening support structures for girls to complete secondary education. To spread public awareness, in collaboration with Telangana’s Department of Women Development and Child Welfare (WDCW), more than 3 lakh posters were distributed in 14,000 villages of 33 districts to raise awareness on this. The issue of preventing girls from dropping out of school, The public was informed about the increase in dropout rate using micro campaigns and a local art form, Kalajatha (maintaining COVID protocols). Alternative media were used to reach remote villages including radio, television and digital media. With the support of the State Government, a collaborative approach was adopted to make the issue more visible. 7245 district officers from 33 districts participated in the virtual district meetings. State level virtual launch event, at The impact of the pandemic on girls’ education and the challenge of the digital divideHon’ble J Srinivasa Rao, Chairman, State Commission for Protection of Child (SCPCR) participated as the Chief Guest.
In these times, vital life skills education was planned as a means of supporting girls far and wide. These programs included developing skills around personal development, financial planning, health and hygiene management and emotional well-being. The existing digital divide proved to be a major obstacle in achieving this objective and radio became easier to overcome this challenge by providing wider reach. 32 radio episodes were produced and broadcast. 10 episodes were produced and telecast on local television through Doordarshan and private channels.
Shruti, a class 8 student of KGBV in Gadwal district, says, “I look forward to these radio programs every day, because with schools closed and lockdown, I have nowhere to go. After helping the family with household chores, there is little to do to keep myself busy. The stories in the show are so relatable and give me ideas to tackle similar situations.”
The aim of enhancing life skill education was to encourage girls to complete their education and to resist societal pressure to drop out of school and marry early. Like Kavita and Shruti, many girls from Telangana have benefited from these lessons. As seen from the number of adolescent girls reaching out to their teachers and social workers for support during the pandemic, it appears that RTR has been able to successfully build an effective support network. The teachers of 72 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) and the school administration received capacity building training to provide the girls with the practical support needed to resist the dropout pressure. Around 54 ‘Model Lifeskill Centres’ were set up to provide a safe space to discuss the challenges faced by the girls. RtR also designed a self-learning kit, ‘Lifeskills in a Box’, to help girls continue their education remotely. Through all these approaches, RTR reached out to 14,000 villages and supported over 5 lakh girls across the state. This massive project was made possible with the continuous support of the School Education Department of Telangana.
Room to Read (RTR) strives to achieve its vision of helping girls to complete secondary education and have the skills to negotiate important life decisions in future.
To read more about our programs, visit our website www.roomtoread.org
Disclaimer: Content Produced by Room to Read
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