Build a School for Next Generation Leaders

The Bell has been rung! It is time for the Swarachna School to reach more children in need, especially girls. We are looking to address two main needs.

Milaan’s Swarachna School, a fun, creative and safe space in the heart of rural Uttar Pradesh has been providing education for 12 years to children from socially and economically challenged communities. For the last 4 years we have had 100% results in both 10th and 12th, a feat we are extremely proud of given the context of education in UP.

As we evolve and move into our next phase of growth there are two needs we need your help to address.

1. Primary Education

The first need is that our primary section is getting very full and a lot more children are coming to us wanting to join. Having to turn them away due to shortage of space doesn’t feel right. So we are reaching out to you to help us create a separate primary wing, so that we do not have to turn away a single child who deserves education.

According to Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GOI, Sitapur, UP is one of the most backward districts of India with the Sex Ratio of 789 female per 1000 male according to 2015-2016 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4). The average literacy rate of Sitapur district is 61%, significantly lower than the national average of 74.04% with female literacy at only 50%. The annual district per capital income is less than INR 5000 a month, among the lowest in the country. Clear there is an urgent need to be addressed.

The Swarachna School is in block Sidhauli of Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. Its student demographic comprises 78% from the Dalit community and 84% come from below poverty line families. It is one of only two secondary schools in a radius of 13 km.

Your support for a primary education infrastructure will address all of these needs.

2. High Dropout rate among Adolescent Girls

Among adolescent girls, Uttar Pradesh has amongst the highest rates of dropout after secondary education. Many of them end up being married off. One in seven and one in four young women who discontinued their education in class 7–9 and 10–11 respectively, reported the main reason for dropping out of school was marriage, showing a strong correlation between schooling and marriage. 22% of girls aged 15–19 reported having no education where as 74% of adolescent girls aged 15–19 years reported that they could read and write, all in UP, underlining the need to focus on adolescent girls here and now. 

THE SQUARE FEET OF HAPPINESS CAMPAIGN  

PRIMARY SCHOOL

For the first need, our solution is to create a dedicated 26,598 Sq. Ft. co-ed primary school for 500 students from lower kindergarten to grade 5th. This will cover classrooms, washrooms, staff rooms, Labs. Library and Play areas including furnishings. 

Girl Icon Leadership Academy

To address the second need our solution is to work towards a world class facility to work with 320 adolescent girls to be named the Girl Icon Leadership Academy.

Milaan intends to create a residential setup for 320 girls, where the girls can continue their studies after class 8th under the guidance of excellent teachers and a curriculum that has an equal focus on building leadership as on academic achievement. This will empower them to explore their full potential.

This means construction of 18942 sq. ft. total, for the Girl Icon Leadership Academy.

In total the Square Feet of Happiness campaign will look to raise INR 4 Crores to enable the construction of 55946 sq. ft. to address the needs identified above. 

Of this we are looking to raise 55 lakhs to build 5000 sq. ft. during this Daan Utsav.

Please visit the gallery section of our profile to view the info-graphics of the school to be built.

500 children more children will get access to quality education at the primary level. Currently there are far more children from challenging backgrounds who want to join the school but we are unable to accommodate them. The government schools are the only options left. Unfortunately the learning outcomes of the govt. schools are not good enough to enable these children to break the shackles of poverty on their own merit. Your support will contribute towards ensuring every child from these communities receives the education that is the right of every child.

Your support will also contribute towards creating a vibrant space for bright, capable and deserving adolescent girls from the most in need backgrounds, where they will develop their innate potential to be future leaders and change makers. They will access leadership focused, quality education empowering them to take better decisions affecting their lives, become roles models and agent of change in their communities.

What Does Leadership Look Like at Milaan.

Milaan’s definition of leadership begins with the self. It means being able to take control of one’s own life. Practically this translates to being a participant in the decisions that affect one’s life. For a girl this means being able to decide to stay in school, or have a say in whom to marry, or not to get married, or have the right to decide the right time to have children.

When a girl is able to speak up, participate and claim these basic human rights for herself she becomes self-aware and substantially more confident. A strong role model, she now leads others in advocating for their rights. On ground, this translates into talking about such topics and creating awareness. She is a leader among her peers.

A girl leader who is able to standup for others and instigate collective action against social injustice emerges as a Girl Icon. She is a self-aware brightly shining beacon of hope and a powerful agent of change.

Leadership is a journey from me to we.