Plight of the Girl Child

1. PLIGHT OF THE GIRL CHILD
Design for Change
Satya Elementary School Chananke

2. FEEL

3. FEEL
• List problems that bothered you
– Frequent power cuts
– Sisters getting married and divorced at a young
age
– Rumors spread by black magic practitioners
– Girls forced to do housework and not allowed
to go to school

4. Frequent powercuts - victims
• Students : In summers, it gets really hot and
without a fan it is very tough. In winters it
gets very cloudy and cold and without lights
classrooms are dark
• School management : Teachers find it very
hard to make the children focus when they
are feeling uncomfortable. We are not able
to use the computer as a teaching assistant.

5. Siblings marriage - victims
• Students : “My sister got married when she was
15. She came back home when she was 19. Now
she and my mother are always upset.”
• Parents : “My daughter’s life is spoilt”
• The girl : “I did not want to get married. They
forced me. Now I don’t know what to do”
• School : “More chance for girl students to drop
out”

6. Black magic - Victims
• Students : “Someone told my parents something
and they told me not to go to school again”
• School : “Baseless rumours are being spread by
some people about the school. Villagers believe it
and stop sending their kids to school”
• Community: “If someone comes and tells us they
take our kids’ hearts out in school, we will
obviously get scared”

7. Girls workers - victims
• Girl : “I want to go to school. My parents
want to do work”
• Students : “Our friends and neighbour girls
don’t come to school with us”
• School: “There are a lot of girls in the
village who do not attend school”

8. Girl workers - victims

9. IMAGINE
• Problems chosen :Oppression of the girl
child
• Why?
– Two of our biggest problems had the same root
cause
• Sisters getting married and divorced at a young age
• Girls forced to do housework and not allowed to go
to school

10. IMAGINE

11. List of solutions
• Go to villages and talk to parents of girls
who work
• Explain the problems and make the
community pledge to not do it
• Make the kids do a role play to make the
community realize the problems
• Involve local authorities to stop child
marriage

12. Solution chosen
• Explain problems through a role play and make
the community pledge against child marriage and
send girls to school
• Why chosen:
– Could explain to entire village at once
– Kids performing – generates more interest and makes
sure parents remember it
– Pledging will prevent them from doing it ever again

13. DO
• We decided that on 25th September a
campaign will be conducted against child
marriage and for girl education.
• All students and teachers enthusiastically
prepared banners, posters, skit, songs etc.
for the occassion

14. Step 1 : Campaign rally
• Rally from the school to the Chananke community center
• Students marched with drums and slogans

15. Step 2 : Gather crowd
• Villagers were interested to see what the
students were doing

16. Step 3 : Introduction
• Our head teacher and the headmistress of the village
Government school addressed the community

17. Step 4: Role play by students
• The students performed a role play on what happens to a
girl and her family because of early marriage and no
education

18. Step 5 : Signing the pledge
• The community took a pledge against child marriage and
for education and showed their support by signing a
banner

19. Step 6 : Putting up the banner
• We put up the banner at the community center

20. THANK YOU!