Generational impact
How education changes girls' lives
Educating a woman leads to the full realization of her inherent dignity.
It expands her mind, empowers her to make decisions about her own life, contributes to her family's wealth creation, and facilitates her active participation in a good and flourishing society.
Education makes women less vulnerable to child marriage and abuse, and is the most important factor in moving her out of the cycle of multi-generational poverty.
The facts
for every additional year in secondary school, her future income increases by 15 - 25%
she will make informed decisions about her children’s nutrition, healthcare and education
child marriage is reduced by 64%
she will reinvest 90% of her income into her family and community helping to lift them out of poverty, and flourish
Why do girls drop out?
COST OF EDUCATION
Costs of fees, books, and uniforms increase dramatically once girls enter secondary school.
Also, boys are prioritized as traditional gender norms are deeply entrenched in rural communities.
HOUSEHOLD RESPONSIBILITIES
Parents working as labourers need their daughters to cook, do laundry, and care for young siblings and grandparents.
FEAR OF VIOLENCE
Long trips to school make girls vulnerable to harassment and sexual assault.
60 million girls are sexually assaulted on their way to or at school every year.
But there is much hope...
In the past decade, it’s become increasingly acceptable to educate girls, especially in rural India, and girls themselves have greater aspirations for advancement and professional roles in their
communities and beyond.
How do we tackle
the dropout problem?
You can be the change they need
The Mariam Society works with Grameen Foundation India (GFI), a global expert in female poverty alleviation and digital financial inclusion.
Inspired by the work of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus who started the Grameen Bank and is a global leader in the fight against poverty, GFI has worked tirelessly in rural villages and impacted over 1 million women.
GFI’s teams are embedded in the communities we serve, allowing them to manage and run our programs with local expertise, trust, and successes built over decades.
