GROWING up in an abusive or impoverished household robs children of so much. It steals their happiness, their ambitions, their sense of belonging and their need for a safe and secure home. For children, unstable homes lead to a life of turmoil and this is not an environment that growing children can thrive in. Instead, children in such homes are stripped of their opportunities to grow, learn, explore and reach great heights in the future. Even more disadvantaged are daughters, who face social discrimination to begin with. If we add abuse or extreme poverty to the equation, the need to educate girls from broken families becomes even more prominent.
Because of these extreme conditions, the mothers in these families choose to raise their daughters on their own. This removes the girls from the biggest threat to their lives which usually includes abuse or poverty which renders these girls unable to access educational opportunities. Without a helping hand, these girls slip into the background of their lives and the doors to a bright and prosperous future are slammed shut. Vidya Poshak is an organization based in Karnataka that observed these unfortunate circumstances and started offering scholarships to girls from single-mother households.
Vidya Poshak and their academic scholarships
Vidya Poshak runs a program called Payana which means journey in Kannada. The program offers academic scholarships to girls from households headed by single mothers. Through the program Payana, the NGO covers the cost of school or college fees, books, uniforms, digital skills training, communication skills workshops, nutritious meals to eat and personal counseling to build their confidence and motivate them to reach their fullest potential. The aim of Vidya Poshak is to educate girls to break the cycle of distress and foster a strong generation of girls who are ready to overcome abuse and reach for the stars.
No barriers to education
Vidya Poshak as an organization believes that poverty should not be a barrier to education. But due to extreme financial difficulties, underprivileged girls are denied opportunities to access mainstream schooling and higher education. This means that multiple future job opportunities are also inaccessible to them and the cycle of poverty continues. Since 2001, Vidya Poshak has offered academic scholarships to thousands of girls and this has changed the futures of thousands of families and impacted entire communities for the better. Vidya Poshak’s scholarships to educate girls allow bright and talented students the chance to realize their dreams.
The hardships of single mothers
It is difficult for parents from underprivileged backgrounds to raise children without access to safe and adequate housing, food, medical attention, education or employment opportunities. When these households are single-parent households, these parental responsibilities become even harder on a single income. Furthermore, when these single-parent households are headed by women, the discrimination that is faced exacerbates the hardship and the children suffer the unfortunate consequences. Even amongst the children, it is the girl child who faces further discrimination and it is in the area of education that she suffers the most.
Parent Circle meetings
In addition to providing scholarships to educate girls from households headed by single mothers, Vidya Poshak also maintains constant communication with the mothers and families through parents’ meetings that are organized each 6 months. In these meetings called Parent Circle, the NGO holds awareness sessions on topics that can benefit both the student and the entire household. Topics such as the importance of girls’ education, job preparedness, health and cleanliness have made an impact in the lives of each family member and have also boosted the academic pursuits of the girls who are provided with holistic care.
The discrimination against girls impacts education the most
In almost all parts of the world, girls suffer the highest discrimination when it comes to access to education. In some parts of the world, families prefer to educate their sons instead of educating their daughters because of cultural practices such as dowry which “disadvantage” the families of the daughters when she is getting married. Furthermore, the pressure for girls and women to focus on domestic chores such as cooking and cleaning, without being given the chance to contribute to earning and the workforce also mean that the “value” of girls is less than boys and men, so the need to educate girls is reduced.
But there’s more than education…
Vidya Poshak believes in a holistic academic experience that allows students to explore different fields and reach their maximum potential. To educate girls and expose them to all their future possibilities, Vidya Poshak organizes art and poetry competitions, summer camps, science DIY workshops, competitive exam training, visits to companies such as Adobe for symposiums and facilitates participation in competitions to exercise their academic skills and grow their talent through peer-to-peer learning experiences. Vidya Poshak aims to give their female students the chance to have a full student life and prepare them for higher studies.
Support Vidya Poshak and educate girls
The school dropout rate and lack of access to schools, teachers and resources affect girls to a higher degree than male students. The importance of educating girls goes far and wide and impacts future generations and nations as a whole. Your support to Vidya Poshak can help educate girls from household headed by single mothers and give these bright and talented girls the opportunities they deserve to shine.
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Shirley has been in the development sector for over 10 years and is passionate about making a change in the world around her, including adopting dogs and writing to make a difference.