Provide victims of child marriage access to digital education

The issue here is the lack of education among married adolescent girls coupled with the lack of access to education during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly 1.5 million girls in India get married before the age of 18. The state of Karnataka accounts for 23% of India's child marriages. Poverty, illiteracy and lack of awarness are main reasons for child marriages.

Early marriages take a toll on girls' education; their schooling is stopped and the girls get into a helpless, vulnerable situation. Due to non-accessibility to education, the girl's potential is never realised and she resigns to a confined life. Moreover, girls lack independent living and as a result, are victims of domestic abuse and other forms of violence.

The girls can really be uplifted socially, economically and morally by facilitating schooling.

The project in 2019 provided 133 girls access to formal schooling and 69 girls access to to write examinations as private candidates.

However, with the pandemic and the closure of schools, the risk of dropouts coupled with resulting socio-economic issues is higher. The pandemic has cut down all their access to learning and the materials required for it.

Therefore there is need to faciliate their access to digital education.

To address the issue,

• We have identified 100 married adolescent girls from classes 8 to 10 across 5 project districts in Karnataka ( Chamarajanagar, Chikkaballapura, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Bidar) who require access to digital education as this is the age group with the highest risk of dropouts.
• We plan to provide every 2 girls an E-tablet with preloaded educational content in Kannada aligning with the State Board syllabus for classes 8 to 10. The sharing of tablets between two girls makes way for cross learning, making the learning process more engaging and effective.
• These tablets will be circulated among more married adolescent girls once these 100 complete their schooling, making the project sustainable.
• The Project staff will also conduct online training sessions to instruct the girls on how to use the tablets. The staff will also conduct a follow up with the girls to address their queries.

• Our immediate impact would be to facilitate access to learning for 100 married adolescent girls during the closure of the schools.
• This access to learning reduces the risk of drop out rates among the girls, which is at risk of increasing during the pandemic.
• It also keeps the girls' engaged and their dreams alive.
• Access to education during the pandemic also reduces their time spent on domestic labour, reduces the risk of domestic violence and unwanted pregnancies.
• Once schools reopen, these tablets will be used for additional learning, making way for girls to spend more time in their studies.
• Education through technology will also increase their interest levels and keep them enthusiastic.