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NGO Programs
Girl's Education
 

As students increase in age, the increasing cost to their families of staying in school includes the foregone wages and labor that they can provide.  Girls face an additional obstacle in that they are often pulled out of school to raise younger siblings, or are married off because they are perceived as a financial burden. Rather than being allowed the opportunity to join the economy as wage earners or influence household decisions as income holders, many women remain dependent on their husbands.

Mann Deshi believes that promoting girl’s education is the first step towards empowering women to be independent leaders. This program includes:

Scholarships and loans

The Bank, along with Mann Vikas and the Self-Help Group Federation, provides low-interest loans and some scholarships for girls to attend school.

The MDMSB will offer employment-generation loans in partnership with the Bank of India to help women start businesses after graduating. This loan program will give families an incentive to keep their children in school so that they can secure a position in a vocational training course and obtain a loan to start their business. 

Girls’ education competition

Mann Deshi Bank is also sponsoring a competition to encourage villages to achieve 100 percent enrollment of young girls in school – the Savitribai Phule Gram Puraskar Award.. Our goal is to increase girls’ enrollment rates, to ensure that girls get high quality education, and to ensure that girls are treated equally with boys.

Over the course of the year, Mann Deshi has worked with headmasters, teachers, local government officials and other community members to achieve a set of educational goals.  These goals include making sure that every girl in the village is enrolled in school, that all schools meet basic safety and building standards, and that all children have the opportunity to take the 4th and 7th standard scholarship examinations. Most importantly, one of the competition goals is that all girls in the village take the crucial 10th standard examinations, which are needed for continuing with higher education.

The village that wins the first prize for best achieving the educational goals will receive 50,000Rs (1,250$) to be used for educational purposes such as a new computer.  Three runner-up villages will be awarded 5,000Rs (125$) each.

Read the Girl’s education 2005 competition results.

Bicycle Program

In rural areas of India more than 50% of girls enrolled in primary school drop out by class 5. Although school is free, transport costs deter rural families from sending girls to school. For girls whose families live a few kilometers away from the school, the daily bus fair can pose a significant financial burden.  The transportation costs often determine whether a girl will be able to continue with her education.  Bicycles offer these families an affordable transportation alternative, allowing girls to continue with their education.

Mann Deshi gives loans at 0% interest for families who want to buy bicycles for their daughters to ride to school.  We also have a special fund allocated for those who cannot afford a loan but show a strong commitment to education, which donates bicycles to the girls.  The Mann Deshi Bicycle Program gives away 200-250 bicycles each year, helping girls stay in school.