Promoting poor girls education in the villages

At the end of June, the Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) received a 1 Crore grant from Motherson Sumi Systems Limited through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, for a project that aims to increase access to education for poor girls. The project has multiple objectives. Firstly, it wants to initiate a permanent revolving fund to financially support the education of girl students of deprived families from rural and poor communities in the Vanur area. Secondly, it means to increase access to educational facilities such as night schooling, life skill training, and exposure visits, to create a support system to improve education in subjects like languages and mathematics. Lastly, it aims to provide a knowledge platform for concerns related to health, menstrual, psychological and abuse issues.

Even though research has shown that the education of a girl child is a key indicator of development, the priority to educate the girl child is still notably lower in this region compared to the boy child. As a result of rising costs of education and a lack of institutional financial support, the girl child’s education is often compromised, resulting in poor literacy levels and a low quality of life due to non-employability. In light of this, the project empowers girl children by helping them become skilled and employable.

Methodology of disbursement

The average amount of a loan is Rs 20,000, which is adjusted on a case-by-case basis, depending on the amount that each beneficiary needs. These education loans are first approved by the women’s federation, a registered body that takes decisions relating to all projects for women. Then they are disbursed through the Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) Self Help Groups (SHGs) organisation, which involves around 5,000 women from the surrounding local villages. The loans are given out to members of SHGs, either for themselves or for a member of their household. Upon receiving the loan, a case by case decision is made regarding loan repayment. Although beneficiaries are advised to pay back their loan within 20 instalments, those women who earn a higher income will pay larger instalments, while women at the lower end of the income spectrum will pay back their loans over a longer period in smaller instalments. The amount of each instalment varies according to the loan size. While each beneficiary decides the amount of her instalment on a monthly basis, everyone must pay back the decided upon amount plus a monthly interest of 1.5%. This amounts to an annual interest rate of 18%, which is far lower than the interest rate offered by any other loan source.

Once the monthly repayments start, the corresponding amount is made available for other needy girl students through other SHGs. This ensures an effective continuation of the fund so that other girls from poor families can benefit from the scheme. In a few cases, girls who have received a loan also received a grant. The conditions for grants are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the core team, consisting of the trustee, executive and the three directors of AVAG, who meets regularly to monitor the development of the project. The grants are usually, but not exclusively, received by orphan girls, or girls that come from a single parent household.

Administration

The interest paid on the loans is used for the administration of the project as well as the close monitoring of the progress of the girl students involved in the project. This is coordinated by the Women’s Federation together with AVAG staff. Besides this, the interest supports further education in the form of night schooling, as well as covering the costs of activity based teaching of subjects like Maths, English, Science and Accountancy in government schools. Some of the money is also used to take up projects that improve the infrastructure and thereby the standard of education. Special centres for the girl beneficiaries will be opened to teach spoken English and computer programmes.

So far, 457 Women Self Help Group members have taken out loans for 577 students. The students have received amounts ranging from INR 5,000 to INR 50,000 amounting to a total INR 1,00,00,000. The beneficiaries come from 118 different Self Help Groups (SHG) in 39 villages and hamlets. The loans were used to help enrolment in education ranging from LKG (lower kindergarten) to 9th standard, but also including college and university for Bachelor programmes such as computer science, engineering, nursing, arts, polytechnics, IT studies, as well as Masters of Arts, and DMLT (Diploma in Medical Lab Technology) .

Here are some of the beneficiaries’ stories which shed light on the way that loans alleviate the financial burden of paying tuition fees for education.

Indirani

Indirani, mother of three sons and three daughters, lost her husband a few years ago. Following a fatal car accident, her first son and his wife left behind three children. Indirani has been their sole caregiver ever since. Indirani’s granddaughter Sevvanthi is in her first semester of a Bachelor degree but Indirani could not afford to pay for the second semester. Sevvanthi’s younger brother is in standard 11. Indirani has obtained a grant INR 20,000 through the project, with which she paid for Sevvanthi’s second semester and helped her to reimburse a previous loan.

Mumta

Mumta, from Perumpakkam, has two younger siblings: a brother who is studying Psychology in his first year and a sister who is in 12th standard. Her father works long hours to earn a meagre income. Her mother, who was a member of an AVAG Self Help Group (SHG), passed away after undergoing heart surgery funded by an AVAG loan. At that point, Mumta joined the SHG at the age of 18 years. Mumta is now in the second year of her English Literature degree.

As her father has succumbed to alcohol abuse since her mother’s death and no longer receives a regular income, he cannot afford tuition for all his children. She has received a loan of INR 20,000 that will allow her to complete her education. Although she does not have a lot of time next to her studies, Mumta is determined to attend additional English language training at AVAG.

Anjana Devi and Anuradha

Anjana Devi, the mother of Anuradha, recounts how her husband passed away after a heart attack a few years ago, leaving behind three sons aged 25, 23, and 20, and a daughter, none of whom are permanently employed. She was very nervous, anxious and worried throughout the interview, and cried a lot. She needed to be consoled. Her first son is a bullock cart driver and an alcoholic. He rarely goes to work and spends all his earnings on liquor, often initiating quarrels at home. Anjana Devi explains that until he goes to bed, she hides with her daughter in the corner of the house. He scolds her for not finding him a bride, and her three sons fight on a regular basis, often escalating to physical violence. Her other two sons are not employed, claiming instead that they are waiting for a ‘proper job’. She says that her daughter Anuradha has become so unhappy that she wants to commit suicide. Anuradha, who is 19 years old and in her second year of BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) says: “I am happy only when I am in my college and when it is the time to come back home I become unhappy and get agitated. I really do not know how to correct my brothers and they do not see the need to earn money for the family. They do not allow me to talk to anyone, including girls. They suspect my fidelity and this hurts me a lot. I am committed to support my mother in all possible ways. I do not allow my mother to do any household work when I am at home. I wake up early in the morning to prepare food for all of us and then I get ready to go to college. In the evenings I help her again in all works and then I sit to study. My brothers do not help me to pay the fees and many days I was asked to stand outside the classroom for not paying the fees on time. My mother came to know about AVAG scheme quite late but this time I was able to pay the fee in one go.”

Padma

Padma, from Manipura, works as a gardener while her husband works as a farmer. They have two daughters. One is presently studying to be a nurse, while the other is in 12th standard. Padma explains that prior to receiving a INR 50,000 loan for her daughters’ education through AVAG, she was contemplating getting a loan from money lenders, who charge 60% interest rate per year. For her, this would have meant paying a monthly interest of INR 3,000 for a loan of INR 50,000 – a financial requirement she wouldn’t have been able to meet. Padma can now repay her loan in 25 monthly instalments of INR 2,000 and thus can support her daughters’ education without worrying.

Shivagami

Shivagami is one of four women who completed their tailoring training a few months back and started an enterprise with AVAG’s support. Her husband is a carpenter and is semi-literate. Her first child is Shivapriya, who is currently enrolled in the second year of a nursing degree, for which she has to pay an annual tuition fee of INR 75,000. The couple has another daughter and a son who are both in school. In the first year, they paid their tuition fees by mortgaging a piece of land. To pay the fees for Shivagami’s second year, they managed to get INR 45,000 and for the rest they approached AVAG. Shivagami says: “I was supported for my daughter’s education and I am hopeful of continuing getting the support till she completes her course”. She adds: “I am happy since I was able to pay the full amount of the fees on time. Last year I paid in installments and they were all delayed by a few weeks. Students who could not pay the amount on time are usually asked to go out of the class to meet the Principal, and we will be made to stand outside his room waiting to meet him. Now I do not need to undergo that insult.”