Project Nanhi Kali: Educating Girls for a Growing India

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

As India’s growth – 8% last year, measured by GDP – quickly outstrips its supply of talented workers, the country will need to focus on better educating its huge population, particularly its girls and young women. According to a new report by Catalyst, India is facing a severe projected talent gap – more than 5 million – by 2012. The report adds, “Women’s labor force participation, at 36 percent, is less than half of the labor force participation rate of men (85 percent).”

But keeping up with labor demand is only one reason to focus on educating girls. As Sheetal Mehta, Trustee and Executive Director of Project Nanhi Kali, explained, when girls are educated, they have more opportunities, and a better chance in life. In many areas of India, girls are seen as an expense, not an asset. While educating girls can lift entire families from poverty, Mehta explained, the impact of an education begins with each girl herself. She said, “When girls get educated, the earnings go back to their families. All of that is wonderful, and it does happen. But more importantly, it’s for their own self esteem.”

Education, Mehta said, keeps girls safe. She continued, “If girls are not educated, they are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. They could fall prey to other possibilities (like getting involved in terrorism or sex trafficking). If a girl is educated, she becomes independent and able to make her own decisions. She need not reach the level of poverty where she has to earn money by selling her body or risking her life. It’s about self respect, and those benefits are huge.”

Educating Girls: Key to a Thriving India

Project Nanhi Kali is a non-profit which provides education and school supplies for girls across India. In most cases, the barrier to an education is not the cost of attending school – public schools are free – but the cost of uniforms, books, lunches, and more, which must be footed by the family. In a country where over half of the population lives below the poverty line, the cost of an education can be staggering. Project Nanhi Kali provides these necessities, with the aim of improving India as a whole.

According to the World Economic Forum’s most recent Global Gender Gap Index, India ranks 112th out of 134 countries for gender parity. If India is to thrive, explained Mehta, its attitude toward educating girls will have to improve.

Nanhi Kali (which means “little bud”) was founded by the K. C. Mahindra Education Trust, named after one of the founders of the Mahindra Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates which focuses on automotive, agribusiness, and finance products, among other things. Mehta, who started her career with the Group in the ’80s, said Anand Mahindra, Managing Director and Vice Chair of the Mahindra Group, has championed educating girls since the mid ’90s, when he founded Project Nanhi Kali.

Mehta said, “He believed that the social issues India was facing were linked to the fact that women were not being educated. He thought the best way to get the nation to thrive is to educate women. If women are educated they are better able to exercise control over their lives and to reduce their family size.”

She continued, “And all of these things have turned out to be true. As women are educated, population rates go down, which is exactly what he anticipated, not only in India.”

Indeed, keeping girls in school prevents them from being married off as children, which helps reduce birth rates, a statistic that has shown a correlation to rising GDP. In a recent Time Magazine article, Nancy Gibbs wrote:

An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10% to 20%. An extra year of secondary school adds 15% to 25%. Girls who stay in school for seven or more years typically marry four years later and have two fewer children than girls who drop out. Fewer dependents per worker allows for greater economic growth.

Investing in girls means investing in families – and entire communities. Gibbs continued, “And the World Food Programme has found that when girls and women earn income, they reinvest 90% of it in their families. They buy books, medicine, bed nets. For men, that figure is more like 30% to 40%.”

Challenges for Nanhi Kali

Currently, according to the organization’s web site, “Over 45% of girls dropout of school and this increases to over 73% by the time the child has reached Std. X.” Nanhi Kali aims to change these rates dramatically.

“Even today, female literacy is only at 54%. One out of two women is not literate and India is also one of the youngest populations. The numbers are mind boggling,” said Mehta.

“We’ve managed to reach 70,000 girls. 70,000 girls is frankly a mere drop in the ocean. Our aim is one million – and that’s still not sufficient. Hopefully together with other programs, though, we will succeed, but it will take time.”

She continued, “Our goal is one million, but that won’t happen within a year. Our three year ambition is 500,000 girls and from there we will reach one million. The challenge for Nanhi Kali is working in rural or tribal areas that are very remote. They don’t have electricity. These are the kind of areas where if people don’t get a wage for the week, they won’t eat. It’s that sort of poverty.”

“We are also working in conflicted areas – and there are multiple challenges there as well, like getting quality teachers and the right curriculum. While we have concentrated on mathematics, English, and language, we want to add a new concentration on gender – including sex education and hygiene. These girls are sometimes exploited even within their families.”

The Girl Store

To drive home the point that providing an education could mean saving a girl’s life, earlier this year, Project Nanhi Kali launched a new website “The Girl Store.” Designed as an e-commerce site and created pro bono by advertising firm Strawberry Frog, the site caused quite a buzz. Visitors saw images of girls, as if they were for sale. In actuality, the site asked potential donors for small amounts of money that could keep the girls in the classroom.

The site was criticized for making light of child slavery. But, Mehta said, the site was designed to be provocative. “It started conversation and debate, which got even more people interested. That’s what we want to do with Project Nanhi Kali – start a movement of people who believe in the girl child. I don’t mind the criticism of the site, as long as more girls are getting educated.”

“The message is save the girl from what she could become if she is not educated,” added Mehta.