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Background
Project Nanhi Kali was initiated in 1996 by the K C Mahindra Education Trust (KCMET)
with the aim of providing primary education to underprivileged girl children in
India.
Anand Mahindra, the founder of Nanhi Kali, believed that educated women form the
foundation of a modern secular society and felt that there was a strong correlation
between the existing societal ills in India such as spiralling population rate,
dowry deaths, caste system etc and no education of the girl child. He believed that
empowering the girl child with education would result in huge benefits for the nation
in the long term. Studies conducted in developing countries have shown that this
is true and today, even the World Bank has acknowledged that there is no investment
more effective for achieving the millennium development goals than educating girls.
According to the World Bank some of the benefits associated with girls’ education
include reduction of child and maternal mortality, improvement of child nutrition
and health, lower fertility rates and improvement in economic production. Moreover
the benefits in the form of reduction of abuse and exploitation of females are huge.
So it was with the dual objectives of impacting the nation’s development through
education of the girl child & encouraging Indians to “give back”
in a focussed manner that Anand Mahindra began Nanhi Kali, a sponsorship program,
where individuals could support the education of a girl child in India.
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Partnerships
Since 2005, the project is jointly managed by KCMET and Naandi Foundation, (an independent
and reputed not for profit organization) with has an objective of providing 10 years
of quality education to girls from economically disadvantaged families.
Nanhi Kali project is working with 21 NGO implementation partners at the grassroot
level to ensure that the girls receive academic and material support. The K. C.
Mahindra Education Trust regularly monitors the NGOs giving technical inputs where
ever required to ensure that quality education is being imparted to all the Nanhi
Kali's.
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To view details about the Nanhi Kali partner NGOs click
here
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Support
The programme selects girls based on multiple criteria including enrollment in government
schools, family income, parents' educational background, social background and the
child's aptitude. A comprehensive sponsorship is created to take care of a range
of their educational requirements, providing not only academic support that enables
them to make a success of their schooling experience but also material support including
uniforms, school bag, shoes socks etc. to enable the girl child to go to school
with dignity. The material kit is ceremonially handed over to each child at the
beginning of the academic year. The Nanhi Kalis receive academic support through
a 1-2 hour class conducted before or after school hours called the Academic Support
Centre, where concepts in Maths, Science and Language are taught to bridge the gaps
in learning and enable children to attain grade specific competency levels. The
teaching methodology includes the extensive use of innovative teaching tools and
activities such as story telling, group games etc which make learning not only meaningful
but also fun. The Nanhi Kali team also works with the parents and community to sensitize
them on gender equity.
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Impact
- Project Nanhi Kali currently supports the education of over 57,000 underprivileged
girl children from poor urban, remote rural, tribal and conflict afflicted communities
across 7 states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh, Karnataka and New Delhi.
- The project has witnessed a significant increase in both enrolment of girls and
attendance of girls in schools.
- Drop out rates of girls have been curtailed to less than 10% within the programme
compared to national level figures of 30% at Primary level and 70% at
the Secondary School level.
- Further assessments done by a third party have reported an increase in learning
outcomes ranging from 40% improvement in tribal Chhattisgarh to 78% in Mumbai slums
within a period of a year.
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Goal
The goal of Project Nanhi Kali is to support the education of 100000 by March 2011.
Who can participate ?
Project Nanhi Kali is a participatory project where any individual or corporate
can sponsor the education of a disadvantaged girl child for only Rs. 1800 a year
(for a girl studying in Std. 1 - 7) or Rs. 2500 a year (for a girl studying in Std
8-10).
What does the Nanhi Kali donor receive ?
Each Nanhi Kali donor receives a detailed profile of the girl they sponsor along
with her photograph and two progress reports to keep them updated of how she is
faring in both academic as well as extra curricular activities.
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For more information - Click here
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