Govt launches ‘Kanya Shikhsa Pravesh Utsav’ to bring back out of school adolescent girls to formal education

March 7: On the eve of International Women’s Day, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), in partnership with the Ministry of Education and UNICEF, launched a landmark campaign Kanya Shikhsa Pravesh Utsav to bring back out of school adolescent girls in India to the formal education and/or skilling system, in New Delhi today.

The event was graced by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister of State, MoWCD, Dr Mahendrabhai Munjpara,and Minister of State, Ministry of Education (MoE)  Annpurna Devi. The National and State Secretaries from MoWCD, MoE and representatives from across the country were also present. Furthermore, Anganwadi workers and adolescent girls from different parts of the country joined the event, and many more participated virtually.This included the participation of adolescent girls who shared their experiences about being reintegrated to school.

The campaign has been launched with the objective of enhancing enrollment and retention of girls between 11-14 years of age in school. The initiative intends to build on the existing schemes and programmes like Schemes for Adolescent Girls (SAG), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) and National Education Policy (NEP) to work on a comprehensive system for out of school girls.The campaign will be rolled out under the umbrella of MoWCD’s BBBP initiative by targeting more than 400,000 out of school adolescent girls as primary beneficiaries.

Emphasizing on the Government of India’s commitment to the education of girl children, the Union Minister Smriti Zubin Irani remarked that the government fully acknowledges the need to work with women and girls and commits to make sustained investment in health, education, protection, skill building including financial literacy,while empowering young women and girls, and promoting gender-equitable attitudes and practices among India’s children and youth.

The programme aims for a convergent approach between MoWCD and MoE with close partnership of international organisations. Stressing this,the Minister of State, MoE, Annpurna Devi said, “It has been crucial for Ministry of Education to prioritize girls’ enrollment in the past years but in the light of the last two years of pandemic, it becomes imperative to join our efforts and systemically leverage support for girls’ enrollment and retention in school, with a focus on supporting girls transitioning into secondary education and completion”.

The resounding support of the State Secretaries and the entire Integrated Child Development Scheme(ICDS) workforce of the country has showed great promise on the execution and implementation of the programme. This coupled with presence of adolescent girls in the event, who shared heart-warming stories of their resilience and courage on getting back to school.As Shreya a determined adolescent girl from Delhi puts it “My dream is to be an investigating officer. I am doing my small bit to ensure I continue to study and in small ways, re-imagine my future and fulfill my dreams.”

All the attendees participated in taking a collective pledge as recited by the Union WCD Minister Smriti Zubin Irani for Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav and the event concluded with all dignitaries signing the wall of pledge ‘Sankalp ki Deewar’ on this auspicious eve of International Women’s Day to mark the occasion as a promise that no girl is deprived of formal education or vocation.