Across the globe, deeply rooted gender inequalities continue to keep millions of girls out of school. In fact, reports suggest that 122 million girls worldwide are still denied access to education. For many in rural, underserved regions, the barriers to education and opportunities are multifaceted—ranging from economic pressures, to lack of resources, to cultural norms. While global efforts have made strides in improving access to education for children in low-income countries, these challenges persist – particularly in regions where solutions fail to actively and appropriately engage the communities they aim to serve or support to address cultural and systemic inequities.
This reality is starkly evident in India, where millions of girls in the age group of 6-14 are out of school. 91 million in the age group of 15 to 29 are not in education, employment or training. There have been many innovative and inspiring responses to this problem in India. The Rajasthan Education Initiative (REI), was launched in 2007, which brings together organisations to enhance education through public-private partnerships (REI). Pratham focuses on improving learning outcomes through innovative programs like the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) (Pratham). In Uttar Pradesh, Mission Prerna aims to enhance foundational literacy and numeracy (Mission Prerna), while Nipun Bharat, a national initiative, ensures children achieve basic literacy and numeracy by Grade 3 (Nipun Bharat).
Over the years, these initiatives have made tremendous progress. Nevertheless, the question that we must continue to ask ourselves as practitioners, funders, and advocates in the international development sector is this: Are we designing solutions that truly empower communities and drive sustainable change, or are we perpetuating short-term interventions that fail to address the root causes of the problem?
As the Director of Strategic Engagements (Asia Pacific) at Educate Girls, I believe that the key to driving long-term, sustainable change within communities —particularly in relation to gender equity and girls’ access to education—lies in combining community-led solutions with data-driven insights. Or more precisely, the answer to the above question can be found when we focus on scalable, community-driven models that address the root causes of inequality.
Community-led change: Lessons from Mirzapur Ajgaon in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, India.
During a recent visit to Ajgaon, a village near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, I witnessed firsthand how Educate Girls is boosting girls’ enrolment, retention, and learning in Uttar Pradesh through a community-led approach called Team Balika (Gender Champions),whereby local volunteers — often young women and men— work tirelessly to ensure that every girl goes to school. They work door-to-door, speaking with families, advocating for girls’ education, and addressing cultural norms that often keep girls out of classrooms.
Uttar Pradesh is one of the most populous and underserved states in India and presents a microcosm of many of the challenges faced by girls in rural areas: entrenched patriarchal norms, early marriages, and limited access to schools. But Team Balika are diligently working to ensure that every girl in their village is in school and learning.
I was struck by the confidence and leadership displayed by the Team Balika volunteers in Ajgaon. Underpinned by a commitment to community ownership and localisation, Educate Girls’ Team Balika challenges the traditional top-down development model, which often fails to account for the unique cultural and social dynamics of each community. Instead, the Team Balika mantra is: “My village, my problem, and I am the solution”. Afterall, breaking systemic barriers to girls’ education requires not only access to schools but also shifts in cultural mindsets. Team Balika volunteers work closely with girls and community leaders to discuss challenges like early marriage or lack of access to resources and work collectively to address them.
The Team Balika also takes an intersectional approach to gender equity, recognising that barriers to girls’ education are shaped by caste, class, ethnicity, and geography. For example, Team Balika volunteers have often shared how their deep understanding of gender biases helps them gain families’ trust and enrol more girls in school—something an outsider might struggle to achieve. By engaging local leaders who understand these complexities, Educate Girls strives to avoid externally imposed development models and instead fosters community-driven solutions. Educate Girls also actively involves fathers and brothers in discussions about gender equity in their programs, helping to shift community mindsets and create a more supportive environment for girls’ education.
Educate Girls Team Balika in Ajgaon, Uttar Pradesh. Source: EducateGirls.
Scaling impact with data and technology.
The next question, however, is how can such a community-led and intersectional development program be efficiently and appropriately scaled – so that it can further ensure that young girls from other regions can also access education? The answer: the strategic use of data and technology. India has over 700,000 villages, yet just 5% of them account for nearly 40% of the country’s out-of-school girls. Educate Girls employs a highly targeted, data-driven approach to identify and prioritise these villages, ensuring that resources are directed where they are needed most.
A predictive algorithm in collaboration with IDinight is employed whereby the villages with the greatest needs, based on indicators such as school dropout rates, gender disparities, and access to basic services, are identified. This data model is a key component of Educate Girls’ Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework. Data is also used to track the progress of interventions, measure impact, and refine strategies.
Long-term data trends demonstrate how community-led action, paired with evidence-based decision-making, creates lasting impact. The last three rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in Rajasthan, India confirm the effectiveness of community-led and data-driven interventions. For example, over the last 17 years, Educate Girls has driven significant improvements in gender metrics across 10 intervention districts in Rajasthan. Key health and education indicators have increased by 5 percentage points, and more than 8,000 villages in four districts have achieved a 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), enabling the program to be handed over to local communities. Notable impacts include a 7-percentage point reduction in child marriage, a 3-percentage point improvement in the sex ratio, and a 3.5-percentage point increase in girls attending school (Source: NFHS Survey 2015-16 & 2019-21). As my colleague, Vikram Solanki (Director of Operations), explains: “When communities lead and data guides, real change happens. Local voices know the challenges and the right data helps us solve them better, faster, and for good.”
Collaboration: The key to sustainability.
However, it is also critical to note that scaling impact can only go so far without cross-sector collaboration. Governments provide critical infrastructure, while Educate Girls mobilises communities and leverages funding from philanthropists, corporate foundations and institutional donors to implement innovative programs. For example, partnerships with state governments in India have enabled the organisation to expand its reach and integrate its models into the existing public education system. Meanwhile, philanthropic partnerships fuel the scaling of community-led approaches like Team Balika.
Educate Girls’ work across India offers a powerful blueprint for the future of development: one that combines a unique combination of community-led and data-driven approaches whilst also leveraging cross-sector partnerships. Scaling this model further will require bold action and collaborative effort from all stakeholders—governments, NGOs, donors and communities alike. Will you join us?
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Nooreen Dossa is the Director of Strategic Engagements (Asia Pacific Region) at Educate Girls. With over 20 years in philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and strategic partnerships, Nooreen is committed to expanding Educate Girls’ impact across the Asia Pacific. From 2011 to 2014, she contributed to establishing Team Balika in India and led communications to amplify Educate Girls’ mission. Since its inception in 2007, Educate Girls has enrolled 1.8 million out-of-school girls in rural and remote India, empowering them to rewrite their futures. Beyond enrollment, the organisation has improved learning outcomes for 2.2 million students, mobilised more than 20,000 Team Balika volunteers and partnered with over 29,000 villages to create a grassroots movement ensuring no girl is left behind, breaking barriers and advancing gender equality. You can support Educate Girls within Australia, through one of The Life You Can Save’s “Maximise Your Impact Fund” (where Educate Girls receives 11% of donations), “the Help Women and Girls Fund”, or the “Education Fund”.
Nooreen’s recent work with Australian organisations like ygap and Melbourne Business School has further focused on gender equity, social impact, and donor engagement. Now part of Educate Girls’ global fundraising team, she is building partnerships to support the organisation’s goal of educating 10 million learners in 10 years.
Feature image: Girls in Ajgaon, Uttar Pradesh – learning and enjoying a remedial education session. Source: EducateGirls.