NEW DELHI, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- India is home to the largest number of adolescents in the world, and over 56 million of them are girls. Data from the status of 15-18 year old children as per CRY's report, 'Childescents of India: We are children too', reveals that between 15-19 years, 3.7 million girls are married and working, while 3.4 million girls are mothers.
The report shows that these girls are vulnerable to multiple constraints, having to do away with their aspirations to continue education, giving in instead to the social pressure to give up school; getting married and starting a family even before they turn eighteen. Nearly 20% of school going girls dropout in the secondary level.
CRY carried out a study 'Educating the Girl Child: Role of Incentivisation and Other Enablers and Disablers' across four states in India to assess what impacts girls' education. The study finds that in 15-18 years age bracket, 42% of dropouts and nearly 40% of the school going girls cited responsibility of household chores and unavailability of transport to schools as the main disablers in continuing school education.
However, the study also finds that among school going girls, the biggest enablers that motivated them to continue their education were self motivation to go to school and inspiration from family
Education can be a game changer in empowering tomorrow's women. Puja Marwaha, the CEO at CRY said, "Education gives a girl knowledge and freedom to make informed decisions, and this in itself has deep social implications. Educated women are better prepared to participate in economic processes, marry later, have fewer children, be financially independent and more respected within their family and society."
"Education is one the most vital instruments for bringing in positive change in the society, and it can only be achieved if we all come forward and do our bit in our own capacity, be in the form of volunteering or donating for the cause, and contribute to achieve gender equality in India," Puja added.
CRY - Child Rights and You is an Indian NGO that believes in every child's right to a childhood - to live, learn, grow and play. For 4 decades, CRY and its 850 initiatives have worked to ensure Lasting Change in the lives of more than 2,000,000 underprivileged children, across 23 states in India.
For more information, please contact: abhik.bhattacharya@crymail.org
