Educate Girls
What is Educate Girls?
Full name: The Foundation to Educate Girls Globally, popularly known as Educate Girls. Founding: Established in 2007 by Safeena Husain. She is a London School of Economics graduate who worked in San Francisco, and then chose to return to India to focus on female illiteracy in rural areas. First areas of work: It began in the most educationally backward districts in Rajasthan. Over time, its work has expanded to other underserved areas in India. What the NGO Does (Its Model & Programs) Educate Girls works to tackle multiple barriers that prevent girls from attending and staying in school, especially in rural India. Here are its key strategies:
Community Mobilisation: They enlist and train local volunteers (often called Team Balika or “preraks”) from the same villages. These volunteers identify out-of-school girls, engage with families, and motivate school enrolment and retention. These volunteers understand local socio-cultural barriers — like gender norms, early marriage, domestic duties — and help negotiate them.
School Enrolment & Retention: Focus on bringing girls into formal government schools. After enrolment, work ensures high retention rates (i.e. girls actually continuing school). India Today Remedial Learning / Foundational Education: Help students catch up where they are behind (foundation level literacy & numeracy). Innovative Financing: In 2015, Educate Girls launched what is claimed to be the world’s first education Development Impact Bond (DIB) in India. Under this model, funding is tied to measurable outcomes (like enrolment numbers and learning improvements).
“Pragati” Program: A second-chance / open-schooling initiative for adolescent girls and young women (aged 15-29) who have missed out on formal schooling. It helps them complete educational credentials and improves their future opportunities. Achievements & Scale Reach: Operates in 30,000+ villages across several states. Mobilised 50,000+ volunteers (or around 55,000 in some sources).
Impact: Over 2 million girls have been enrolled or re-enrolled into school through its programmes. India Today Retention rates are high (above 90%) for those enrolled. Remedial / foundational learning support has reached over 2.4 million children.
Aspirations: The organization has set a target to impact 10 million learners by 2035. Why It Won the Ramon Magsaysay Award It is the first Indian non-profit organization to win the award. The citation from the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation praises it “for its commitment to addressing cultural stereotyping through the education of girls and young women, liberating them from the bondage of illiteracy and infusing them with skills, courage, and agency to achieve their full human potential.” Its model is seen as a powerful example of how community-led, outcome-oriented interventions can change deep-seated social norms.
Why It Matters — Significance Gender equality / women’s empowerment: By making education accessible and keeping girls in school, Educate Girls helps counter early marriage, illiteracy, limited livelihood options, and gender biases.
Social transformation: Goes beyond enrolment, transforming perceptions in communities where girls’ schooling may not traditionally be prioritized. Replicable model: The volunteer-driven & performance-funded approach (e.g., DIB) offers a blueprint for others doing educational interventions.
Alignment with national goals: Supports India’s efforts under policies like the National Education Policy for universal enrollment, gender parity, foundational literacy, etc.