For most of us, these are only unpleasant news articles but for the millions of girls in our country, a daily horror. Unfortunately, such headlines are just a miniscule reflection of the miserable lives of girls in India.

The discrimination begins even before birth and is faced everyday until they die. If they do manage to survive beyond their initial years, the burden of household work, sibling care and childhood marriage eventually deadens the sparkle in their eyes. Our soaring growth rates and our claims to be a global superpower must surely ring hollow unless we focus equally on social equity for our women.

At ISF we believe that education is not just a basic right but the most powerful catalyst for economic growth and social transformation. We are also convinced that Elementary education for the poorer sections is where we must start, as poverty reinforces gender inequity. In conformance with our vision of healthy, educated and empowered girls in India , ISF’s “Girls Going to School”,(GGS), initiative seeks to create a sustainable and replicable model, which will ensure successful completion of Elementary education of girls through relevant and quality education.

The status of education in the overburdened government schools is deplorable resulting in high dropout rates of children, especially girls. The learnings of the children are also grossly inadequate. All children in grades 1 to 5 are routinely promoted. As a consequence, there may be a girl in class 5 with the learning ability of a girl in class one. To address this issue and impart proper learning to the girls, ISF felt it was imperative to invest in the capacity building of teachers, teaching materials and adequate assessment systems. This investment, though it increases the per child education cost substantially, was considered by ISF to be necessary for ensuring the retention of girls in schools.

The focus is on increasing enrollment, ensuring retention through individual follow ups for each girl child admitted and also working towards quality education by running Remedial Education Centers. We also aim at strengthening the existing systems and working in partnership with the government rather than duplicating the efforts already being made. Our vision is to achieve 100% literacy for girls in the slums of Delhi. Thanks to our sponsors and individual donors, in the last one and a half years, we have been able to reach out to nearly 2356 children through enrollment drives and Remedial Education Centers (RECs) across five districts of Delhi.

We have a big vision and the passion to turn it into a reality, but none of it is possible without your help. Be a Change Maker! Help us empower girls to live their lives with dignity and self-esteem and transform our society. We count on both, individual and corporate, sponsorships for sustaining and moving our program forward. Your support will bring the sparkle back into their eyes and go a long way in ensuring a more just world for the girl child. The cost of supporting one girl child's holistic education in school and in the learning centers amounts to only Rs. 4500/- year.