Publication: Hindu

Author: Meera Srinivasan

Date: September 24, 2009

Title of the article: Focus on retention of girls in school

Today is ‘International Day of the Girl Child’; some agree education is still a challenge 

CHENNAI: “I was in Class VII, then. With six children, my mother was struggling to make both ends meet. There was no other option for me but to start working,” says J. Sakthi, who lives in Vyasarpadi. Soon after she dropped out of school, she went to the local fish market and started working.

From then, it had meant a lot of physical, mental and emotional stress for this young girl — till she received help from the Slum Children Sports Talent Education Development Society (SCSTEDS), a community-based organisation. A football enthusiast, she got trained in the sport to take it up at a professional level and simultaneously got back to academics. “Not all my friends were as lucky,” she says.

On the eve of the International Day of the Girl Child observed on September 24, Sakthi recalls: “My childhood friend Mythili was forced to get married when she was only 16. Her mother threatened to commit suicide otherwise.”

The issue of early marriage of girls is not uncommon in Vyasarpadi, according to P. Krishnamoorthy, deputy general manager, Development Support, Child Rights and You (CRY) — Tamil Nadu. The non-governmental organisation has been partnering SCSTEDS and working with four slums in the locality.

“Most of the adults are engaged in daily wage labour. Several young girls are employed in fish processing units or as domestic help,” he says.

In many homes, parents think girls reaching puberty should not go to school and instead, get them married in a few years from then. “It is often believed that early marriage or child labour is a problem in rural areas. However, the issue is very much there in cities such as Chennai and quite rampant in the neighbouring Kancheepuram district, too,” Mr. Krishnamoorthy adds.

Government school teachers agree that it continues to be quite a challenge for girls to complete their school education. A high school teacher says: “Some help their mothers, while a few other girls, hardly 10 or 11 years old, have the responsibility of taking care of their younger siblings.” Last year, a promising Class X student discontinued as her mother got her married. In 10 months, she was bearing a child.

Intervention

Government intervention has made a difference in some areas, according to activists. Karoline Davis, adviser, Gender and Development, World Vision-India, says the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme has made a marked difference to girls. “These residential schools come as a boon to girls,” she says, based on the NGO’s experience in working with communities in Kalrayan Hills.

While the enrolment of girls has improved over the years, the immediate challenge is retention. According to the State’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan wing, 5,88,627 girls have enrolled in Class VIII in 2008-09, constituting 48.19 per cent of the enrolment rate. With the State government recently launching the National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level, the focus is on retention of girls in school.