Girls’ Education Programme (GEP)
Formal Primary Schools
Alternative Schools and Approaches to Education
Udaan
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV)
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) - Working with the ICDS System
Power Within

Girls’ Education Programme (GEP)

Location: Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa & Chattisgarh

CARE’s Girls’ Education Programme (GEP) has been in operation for over 10 years and plays a vital role in achieving CARE’s long term goal of reaching out to 2 million women, girls, and other marginalised people to enhance their abilities to exercise greater choice in personal and public spheres by 2014. GEP seeks to improve opportunities for girls and women through their increased participation in formal and alternative education systems. 

GEP builds upon innovative pilot projects and strategic partnerships that have made important improvements in access to and quality of education for girls, especially among poor, marginalised and vulnerable girls.  Realising that there are multi-tiered bottlenecks around issues of access, availability and quality of education, the programme, in partnership with the government of India, addresses the problems on many levels, including both within the formal school system and though a number of alternative approaches to schooling. 

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Formal Primary Schools

Government primary schools are typically the only source of education for children in remote rural locations, and the quality of instruction is often poor. CARE has significant experience working with the government to improve the quality of education offered within formal schools and to reduce barriers to accessing these schools, particularly for disadvantaged children.  For greatest efficiency and impact, the government organizes primary schools in clusters of 10-12, and then designates one as a “model cluster school.” Innovative teaching practices (designed to improve accountability, increase student/teacher interaction and eliminate discriminatory practices) are first introduced in the model cluster school and, once successfully adopted, are then replicated by other schools in the cluster.  CARE plays an important role in supporting these model cluster schools and monitoring their progress.  Some of the tools CARE uses include: conducting student assessments to ensure that children are grouped according to their appropriate learning level and to allow teachers to plan lessons according to students’ needs; training teachers to use more creative and interactive methods to convey concepts; establishing school libraries; and providing sports equipment to encourage interaction between students from different classes and backgrounds.

This system has produced significant results; in the formal schools where CARE has worked, schedules have become more consistent, teacher absenteeism has decreased, and student participation, achievement and self-confidence have increased.  In Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, for example, second- and third-graders in CARE-supported formal schools demonstrated consistent improvement from 2006 to 2010 in both math and language achievement. Furthermore, a positive relationship based on mutual trust between CARE staff and teachers has grown over the project’s lifetime. 

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Alternative Schools and Approaches to Education

GEP has also developed a number of highly successful approaches for ensuring that marginalised girls have access to quality education outside of the formal school system.  A large percentage of the adolescent girls not in school dropped out or never enrolled because of household demands.  Many vulnerable girls marry as early as age 12, and their families do not see the relevance of education to their duties as wives and mothers.  These girls may shy away from attending regular primary schools because they are now older than everyone else, and innovative strategies are required to help them return to school and continue their studies. Udaan (Flight) school is one such model.

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Udaan

Udaan (Flight) school was piloted in Uttar Pradesh in the year 1999 in the district of Hardoi, through an accelerated learning model, for older out-of-school girls, ages 9-14, which allows students to complete primary school in 11 months in a residential setting.  Of the girls who have been enrolled in this residential bridge programme in each of the last nine years, 98 percent stayed through the year, 95 percent graduated by passing the government’s grade-5 examination, 80 percent enrolled in grade 6 to continue their education in formal schools and 30 percent of the first class went on to complete grade 7.  Udaan school in Uttar Pradesh has currently the eleventh batch of girls who are going to pass out of the school into mainstream formal schools. The success of this model has been replicated by CARE in another state, Orissa, in one of its tribal dominated districts, Mayurbhanj which targets the most disadvantaged tribal girls residing in remote inaccessible habitations.

Till date 12 batches of around 100 girls each have successfully graduated from Udaan in Hardoi and moved on the upper primary education and higher studies. In the second year, Udaan has enrolled 100 girls from primitive tribal communities in Mayurbhanj in Orissa. Lessons from Udaan have informed CARE India’s work vis a vis other government’s scheme. CARE has also now initiated Udaan in Bihar and Haryana states.

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Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV)

KGBVs are special residential schools started by the government under the Sarva Shaksha Abhiyaan (SSA) government umbrella programme, for older girls from socially disadvantaged communities who were never enrolled in or had to drop out of primary school.  CARE builds the capacity of KGBV teachers in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat to deliver quality education in an equitable manner. We provide training in mathematics, computers and language to addresses knowledge and skill gaps, and encourage schools to adopt more inclusive methods of instruction.

CARE’s work in these schools has contributed to high student achievement rates, better student/teacher relationships, and increased student self-confidence. In Uttar Pradesh, about 90 percent of KGBV girls assessed over a two-year period achieved language competence at a fifth-grade level, while 72 percent achieved fifth-grade competence in mathematics. Access and exposure to computers has increased overall levels of confidence among children, particularly girls, both within and outside of the classroom.  They have acquired a new spirit of questioning and logical reasoning, as well as the ability to interact freely with visitors and others from outside the school.  The success of introducing learner-centered instruction is evident from the fact that the main advocates of the approach are the KGBV teachers themselves.

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Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) - Working with the ICDS System

ICDS is the largest initiative of Government of India with a mandate of providing holistic services to young children for Pre-School Education, Health and immunization at the level of Anganwadi centers (AWC). The period of Early Childhood represents the most significant and demanding stage in the developmental continuum of an individual. The first 0 to 6 years of a child’s life are globally acknowledged to be the most critical years with the pace of development being extremely rapid. GEP has been actively operational in implementing programmes for ECCE. In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the devastation caused by Tsunami affected the services of ICDS. CARE collaborated with the Department of Social Welfare towards restoring the ICDS centers. This included the pre-school education component. Through setting up of a team of local resource persons - Anganwadi workers, supervisors and the Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) across the islands and building their capacity for regular onsite support, CARE India has ensured that technical inputs in ECCE are provided locally.

In Bihar, GEP is implementing an ECED programme known as ‘Linked for Learning’. The overall objective of the programme is to ensure that marginalised, especially lower caste children in the age group 3 to 8 have a smooth transition from home to formal schools.

Linked for Leaning intends to bring together the home, preschool (Anganwadi) and formal school to collaborate for making the three environments child centred, facilitate child’s transition from one to another and promote learning. It will develop 50 model sites along with the government; these will serve as demonstration sites lessons from which will be scaled by the government.  The key strategies of the project will include development of locally relevant child centred curriculum, training of parents and teachers and mobilizing communities and stakeholders.

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Power Within

CARE views education programmes for India’s marginalised children as a critical component of the fight against poverty. Power Within aims to enable 10 million girls around the world to complete their primary education and develop leadership skills that will empower them to work with their families, communities and countries to overcome poverty.  In India, Power Within has enormous potential to influence government at all levels, reach large numbers of girls, and address gaps in CARE’s development efforts, while building on and expanding the scope of our many accomplishments. 

Power Within focuses primarily on reaching girls ages 10-14 not only because girls generally complete primary school during this period, but also because these are the ages at which they are mostly likely to drop out.  This age range is a critical transition time between childhood and adulthood; with the onset of puberty, many girls are expected to marry and assume the heavy responsibilities of adult women. Power Within is grounded in CARE’s commitment to empowering women as a means to achieve sustainable reductions in poverty.   

CARE focuses on creating agency for girls, which refers to the aspirations, resources, actions and achievements of individuals themselves. CARE helps these girls to stand up to the dynamics of the broader social structures that condition girls’ and women’s choices.  These include the institutions that establish the ‘norms’ about who holds power over whom or what, such as kinship, economic markets, religion, educational systems, political culture, and ownership/control over resources. It also works with girls and women to negotiate their needs and rights with others, including men. 

Development of leadership skills amongst marginalised girls is a cross cutting theme, and CARE’s programme activities for leadership development is a part of strategies for quality education and community mobilization. The three pathways of leadership – diverse skill development, social networks and civic action are being weaved together to give girls a complete experience and opportunity for self development and growth.

The leadership programme is currently being implemented in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa states supported by a private foundation from USA. In Orissa a large corporate based in USA has also been supporting the leadership initiative through a project – Leaders of Tomorrow. CARE is just phasing out of a leadership project in Uttar Pradesh supported by USAID under the Global Development Alliance funding.

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