Educating girls - BBC News

In India, three million girls
are not in school.

That's one in three girls aged 10-14.

But 'Educate Girls' is changing that.

The prevailing mindset is

that my goat is an asset
and my girl is a liability.

And it's really about
changing that mindset.

My name is Bhagwanti.

Before I go to school, I have
to do the housework:

cook meals, wash up,
take the goats to graze.

Sometimes I clean the house too.

First and foremost,
in every village where we enter

we find a community volunteer.

Our volunteers are young,
they're educated, they're passionate.

They themselves really
want to see a change.

They go door-to-door, and they find
every single girl who's out of school.

Then, they actually sit with the community

and make community-based
enrolment plans

for bringing these girls
back into school.

Community volunteers or 'Balikas'
work with village schools...

to ensure they are safe
and have girl's toilets.

They also help tutor the girls.

So, then our 'Team Balika' volunteers
come inside

the government school classroom

and they run a remedial in Hindi,
English and Maths

to make sure that all the children
- girls and boys,

are actually achieving
the learning outcomes required.

It's about every single girl
coming to school.

It's about every single girl
contributing to the changing world.

It's about every single girl
contributing to the change in the family,

and it's about every single girl
contributing to the changes

in community at large.

We are talking about better health,
better income.

We are talking about better education,
so it's for every single child.

There's like 50, 60 per cent of the girls
in Rajasthan who are married

bellow the age of 18.

Nationwide that, child marriage
the percentage is very high.

A lot of the children also,
about 10-15 per cent

that are married below the age of 10.

I was married off by my parents at 14.

I was studying in 8th standard.
The boy's parents had agreed

to continue my studies but
as soon as my exams results came through

they backed off from their promise.

Neelam is one of the 10,000 Balikas
at Educated Girls.

They have helped two million children.

I want to become a teacher after studying
and teach other girls

because when you are educated
you have courage,

can stand on your own feet,
find a job

and support your family financially.

Every extra year of school can boost
a woman's income by up to 20%.

In the last 10 years, I'm really proud
to say that we have found

and brought back to school
150,000 out-of-school girls

that are now connected
and are attending school and learning.