Education

NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) play a critical role in supporting education around the world. Some of the activities that NGOs undertake to promote education include:

• Providing access to education
• Improving the quality of education
• Supporting research and data analysis
• Advocating for education
• Providing financial support
• Promoting community engagement

NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) play an important role in promoting and supporting women’s education around the world. Some of the activities that NGOs undertake to promote women’s education include:

• Increasing access to education for women and girls, particularly those from disadvantaged and marginalized communities, through initiatives such as building schools, providing scholarships, and supporting alternative education models, including distance learning.
• Providing education and training opportunities for women and girls to develop skills and knowledge that will help them access better jobs, start businesses, and improve their economic and social status.
• Advocating for policies that support women’s education and gender equality in education.
• Combating gender-based violence, including sexual violence and harassment, which can be a barrier to girls’ education.
• Empowering women and girls by promoting leadership skills, encouraging participation in decision-making processes, and supporting women’s rights.

Rashtriya Dharm Hindu Sanghatan Kanya Sampoorna program for girls education is a novel intervention that focuses on the Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu. It is a cross-sectoral project with health, education and livelihoods components and a strong focus on awareness, access, and service deliveries. The program works with young and adolescent girls and women across age groups from age 0 to 30 years, covering a wide range of issues specific to the marginalized in the district; including:

• Pre-school education
• Early nutrition
• Primary education
• Adolescent life skills
• Leadership
• Career planning

Rashtriya Dharm Hindu Sanghatan STEM Laboratories program involves education projects that aim to build ‘thinking skills’ to equip the girl child with the ability to quickly learn and adapt. Projects like the Teacher Resource Laboratory project (TRL) in Uttar Pradesh and Innovator’s Laboratory in Bengaluru have successfully integrated key thinking skills like ‘research skills’ and ‘problem-solving skills’ within their curricular scope. The STEM Laboratories program for girls involves, among other elements:

• Enabling teachers with adequate support in the form of Teachers’ Resource Laboratories (TRLs) and allied infrastructure, experiment table, books, Science and Math kits and other aids.
• Addressing learning losses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic through customised STEM learning resources which include self-directed worksheets, mini, STEM kits, and educational videos.
• Establishing specialised laboratories equipped with experiential learning equipment, reference material, and digital devices to serve as STEM learning centres for middle school children and educators.
• Running school based and community-based projects aimed at building in adolescent girls the necessary knowledge, skills and aptitudes, and emotional resilience to help them engage with societal challenges as leaders.

‘Udaan’, meaning ‘flight’ is a part of Rashtriya Dharm Hindu Sanghatan efforts to promote education for girls of marginalized groups. Rashtriya Dharm Hindu Sanghatan works with local NGOs to manage the project in Uttar Pradesh (Hardoi district), Orissa (Mayurbhanj district) and Haryana (Mewat district near Delhi). It provides a learning opportunity to out-of-school girls aged 11–14 years who have either dropped out of schools or never enrolled. Girls graduating from Udaan are mainstreamed in grade 6 in formal government schools.