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Quest towards the education of the Girl Child

 In Mumbai Smiles

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Vasanti Godkhindi (name changed) had to abandon her studies at an early age of 13 years. As it has been happening for many years in India, her parents married her to the child of their family friend, who lived in the same vicinity and belonged to the same caste. Vasanti was the second daughter in the Godkhindi family. Vasanti’s parents had already paid a lot of dowry for the marriage of their first daughter and the obligation to pay dowry once again for the marriage of their second daughter almost ruined them. In India the family structure is patriarchal and patrilineal, which means that the lineage is passed on through the father and usually the young couple lives with the parents of the husband. If girls leave their homes to live in a foreign family, none of them will be able to provide support to their own families. Hence, many parents don’t give attention to providing education and training for their girl child since it is like an investment without returns. Vasanti’s situation was somewhat similar. She had to leave her home and live in her inlaws’ house post her marriage.

This situation is very common in developing countries. In emerging India, while 72% of the population has access to the mobile telephones (OMS, 2011), only 75.3% of men are educated and a modest 37.7% of women have access to education. The youngsters abandon their studies at a very early age of 11 years. Even among these youngsters, the girls abandon their studies much earlier. Despite the legal age of marriage being 18 years, arranged marriages are very frequent among minors in India. Further, the children who abandon their schools contribute substantially to the problem of child labour.

The Convention of Child’s Rights, which has now completed precisely 25 years, states that the signatory states (one of which is India) acknowledge the right to education for all children. India has made great advancements in this respect- it has enacted a law that makes education obligatory. Since years, numerous local and international NGO’s along with the Government of India have proposed to fight against this problem through different projects designated to facilitate the reincorporation of formal education.

Vasanti, is a beneficiary along with 21 other girls from the slum of Marol (Bombay) for one of these initiatives, which offers scholarship and a continued follow-up, in the academic routine as well as in the daily life. We hope that the recent change in Indian government will not affect such plans that are capable of making a significant difference in the poorest communities.

Further, we believe that with the efforts of all, it will not be necessary to wait for another 25 years so that girls like Vasanti can have access to a basic human right such as education.

Written by Jose A.Mansilla, Sonrisas de Bombay.

 

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