Obstacles to Girls’ Education in India

The persisting challenges that girls face during their school years are so deep rooted that without urgent interventions we may disconnect an entire generation from education.

These challenges occur both at infrastructure and social levels. While the challenge at infrastructure level are basic and easily workable such as ensuring availability of benches, blackboards, painting schools, establishing computer labs and playscapes, the challenges at social level, such as- prioritising household work, early marriage and earning over education, are more complex and seek long term interventions targeting behavioural change.

These social challenges often complex the situation of how a girl child accesses infrastructure facilities at school. For example, an administrator who does not prioritise sanitation may do nothing to keep the washrooms clean making sanitation troublesome for girls. Similarly, a teacher who thinks girls should not play sports may not prioritise building of a playscape in school premises of an all girls school. In turn making the entire learning environment such that our little girls are not attracted towards attending school.

There is evidence that shows when we invest in girls’ secondary education the lifetime earnings of girls dramatically increase, national growth rates rise, child marriage rates decline, child mortality rates fall, maternal mortality rates fall and child stunting drops. Ennoble hopes to help society in realising these dreams through its infrastructural interventions to make schools the inspiring space of learning that they should be.

Support our work by following the details of our latest project with Mahindra Susten where we transform an all girls school in a village of Gajner, Rajasthan.