Gender Focus within Education

Girl children are often denied the right to education, when their male counterparts attend school. As a result of this imbalance, CYSD focuses on educating the girl child. This is done through a number of initiatives:

Awareness Raising:

In many of the communities CYSD works with, there is a low level of awareness regarding the importance of education. CYSD acknowledges that unless there is an effort to break community indifference and make the community carry the ownership of village primary education, there cannot be substantial improvement in school attendance of children, particularly that of girls. CYSD has organized a number of awareness campaigns regarding the benefits of both girl and boy child education. This has been done through organizing parent teacher association (PTA) meetings, orienting school committees on their roles and responsibilities and training local education cadres to promote the importance of education in villages.

Model School Concept:

Insufficient facilities often prevent children from attending school. For example, lack of toilet facilities may hinder the attendance of girl children in particular. CYSD has established a number of model schools which include basic water and sanitation facilities, quality teaching-learning material and effective Parent Teacher Associations. Girl child enrollment in these schools increases annually.    

Rights of Girl Child:

The CYSD office in Karanjia prioritizes the rights of children, and has set up a number of Children’s Groups and Children’s Assemblies in order to give children a platform to voice the problems and concerns. CYSD aims to ensure there is a gender balance of both boys and girls in the groups, and works towards building the capacities of both boys and girls. The Children’s Groups now issue quarterly magazines, where they write about issues affecting them. In the process, these girls and boys have become aware of their needs and rights and are working towards building right relationships within family, community and the society around them. Inter-group activities have opened doors for them to come in contact with many other children, to understand themselves and others better, and act accordingly.