Girls from across the country are benefitting from residential schooling under Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas initiative, says Archana Awasthi & Mukta Agarwal
Sukmilla Marak from West Garo Hills district in Meghalaya flashes a confident smile as she dons her uniform to work at the Police Department at Baghmara. She comes from a very poor family and has scripted her success through many challenges. Then there is Sowjanya Patarlapalli from Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh who was the first literate in her family. She went on to become an engineer and works as Associate Software Engineer at WIPRO, Hyderabad.
From Rajasthan, Anita Sapera belongs to the Kalbeliya community where any girl rarely studied after primary school. She is a district-level Judo Champion, and Uzma Jan from an economically backward family in a remote village in the foothills of Peerpanjal mountains in district Kulgam of J&K is aspiring to become a doctor after securing 9.8 GP in class 10th.
All of them have one thing in common. They are KVBVians. The most recent KGBVian in news is Archana Devi, who was part of India’s ICC under-19 Women’s World Cup winning team. Coming from an extremely disadvantaged background, she was admitted to KGBV which provided her with the support and exposure to achieve this remarkable feat.
The primary aim of KGBVs is to provide access and quality education to girls from disadvantaged groups by addressing the challenge of gender and social category gaps at different levels of school education in educationally backward blocks.
It is said that women are half of society. It is a fact that when women thrive, the family thrives, society benefits and nations progress. Thus promotion of education of girl children is one of the thrust areas of the New Education Policy, 2020 (NEP).
It is seen that among the girls, those belonging to socially & economically backward groups are relatively in a poorer situation in terms of education and subsequently claiming their legal rights. Thus KGBVs work to support the girls predominantly from SC, ST, OBC, minority communities and BPL families in difficult areas. This scheme is being implemented in 30 States and has an establishment of around 5000 KGBVs all across the country with an enrolment of more than 6.5 lakh girls. Most of the girls enrolled in KGBVs have had a break in their schooling, either dropped out or have never been enrolled due to family compulsions or socio-economic circumstances. Although experience shows that various interventions at the primary school level improve the overall Gross Enrolment ratio (GER). As per 2021-22 UDISE data, at the elementary level, 101.1% of girls are enrolled against 99.3% of boys while at the secondary level, 79.4% of girls are enrolled against 79.7% of boys. In higher secondary, 58.2% of girls are enrolled against 56.9% of boys. It is heartening to see that the GER at all levels for girls is matching or even surpassed that of boys.
It is often seen that sending a girl to school poses many practical difficulties for a financially challenged family. In such circumstances, KGBVs offer a complete solution for girls and make provision for education and boarding in a safe and secure environment. These Vidyalayas have provisions for well-equipped residential premises, all meals, medical support, uniform, textbooks, sports facilities, remedial teaching, labs, libraries, self-defence training etc.
Besides the basic academic knowledge, there is a constant effort to provide an all-round development of girls through a holistic approach. For this purpose, Self-Defence training and vocational training are also provided to the girls of KGBVs. The KGBVs are aligned with Samagra Shiksha guidelines, which contain all components to meet 21st-century education needs. The focus is now on practical application-based learning. As envisaged in NEP, vocational education is being brought into mainstream academic education. In order to enable children to make a choice in accordance with their aptitude, competence and aspirations, vocational education is being integrated with academic education.
Most of the girls enrolled in KGBVs belong to Educationally Backward Blocks, where household chores are considered a priority for girls. To overcome and create a balance, girls of KGBVs are also trained in works related to sewing, embroidery, cutting and tailoring, painting, yoga, & basket making etc. under Specific Skill Training which connects them with their routine life schedules. It is time to look beyond gender stereotyping. Keeping this objective in mind, it is being endeavoured to equip all schools with ICT labs. Smart classrooms and the establishment of digital infrastructure are other priorities in schools. It will enable the girls to acquire digital literacy.
KGBV is a unique response to the need for girls' education with a focus on educationally backward areas. The New Education Policy 2020 has acknowledged its importance and given special attention by offering the upgradation of KGBVs from class 6 to class 12. Such a transformative and forward-looking programme enhances the efficiency of the state’s performance towards quality education for all.
(Archana Awasthi is Joint Secretary, School Education, Ministry of Education; Mukta Agarwal, is Director (School Education) Ministry of Education)