For the past three years, there has been a major transformation among tribals of Jharigaon block of Nabarangpur district. The girl child enrolment is increasing and slowly school dropouts are coming back to the schools, thanks to the implementation of a girl child education project , ‘Aamar Nani,’ by an NGO, Aide et Action South Asia. Bhavani Majhi (14), a tribal girl child is a native. She is the eldest among three girl children in the family, studying in sixth class. However, her younger sister Uvaasi Majhi (13) is a ninth standard student in the same school.
The stark educational difference between these siblings is attributed to the fact that the elder child of the family was involved in sibling care and household chores. Khem Singh Majhi (35), father of Bhavani says, “We are daily wage labourers without any land or regular income and depend on petty works to get our three meals a day. Having three children in the home, we felt Bhavani can take responsibility of her sisters and help in household chores when we leave to work”.
Sibling care and household chores are the primary roles for tribal girl children living in Nabarangpur district. It is also one of the main reasons for highest school dropout ratio at primary level education. The literacy rate for tribal girl children is around 6 per cent in 10 Gram Panchayats (GPs) including Chittabeda, Gurusingha, Kutrichhappar, Banauguda, Telnadigaon, Ekamba-B, Phupugam, Palia, Chaklapadaqr, Badtemra in Jharigaon block, says BDO Bijaya Kumar Sethi.
He says, “People are more likely to involve their children in household chores or in skilled works that benefit them financially rather than sending them to schools”. There is a huge gap in enrollment and retention of the students, especially of girl children due to practice of early marriage system, economic and social limitations, poor health facilities in distant villages leading to absenteeism in school during rainy season, lack of proper infrastructure in schools, poverty and high illiteracy rate among parents, Sethi says.
It is only after the intervention of Aide et Action South Asia, an International NGO in association with JOCHNICK foundation for strengthening tribal girl child education in Odisha, which initiated the “Aamar Nani” project (2011) in these 10 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in Jharigaon block, that major transformation has been brought about among tribal communities.
Aamar Nani project was able to improve access, assimilation and retention of the tribal girl children of communities in the primary education system with the help of various committees. Some of those include child clubs, star clubs (a programme that focuses on the talents of children), animators (motivating parents to send children to school), aamar nani committees ensuring strong monitoring on the implementation of the Right to Education in the project areas, strengthening the institutional capacities of the local CBOs, PTA’s, School Management Committees (SMC’s) and Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI).
Notably, Aide et Action’s Aamar Naani (Our Girl) project has been selected as one amongst the 18 best practices across the world by the United Nations Girl’s Education Initiative (UNGEI). It is the only project selected from India.