Rajasthan
IIMPACT currently runs 95 Learning Centres in 95 villages in Alwar District. The area is characterized by social and economic backwardness but has a large number of women’s Self Help Groups who have benefited from micro credit. IIMPACT enlists the support of these Self Help Groups to promote the importance of education and has ended up enrolling a large number of marginalized girls in their Learning Centres. The centres are spread out in different blocks of Alwar – namely Tijara, Kishangarh, Nogawa and Umren.
We have in addition 40 Learning Centres in 40 villages of Jamua Ramagarh block on the outskirts of Jaipur.
IIMPACT has also set up 20 Learning Centres in 20 villages of Gadepan Block of District Kota in Rajasthan. The female literacy levels among the Saharais and other local tribals is as low as 15% in these areas.
Uttar Pradesh
IIMPACT currently runs 75 Learning Centres in 75 villages in Mehmoodabad and Reusa Blocks of District Sitapur of Uttar Pradesh. An acute lack of access to schools nearby is the main reason for girls not going to school. Girl child education is in fact extremely low in these areas, where female literacy falls below 12%, the lowest in the country.
Ever since IIMPACT started Learning Centres in the area the local community’s favorable response has been overwhelming. Last year over 160 girls from IIMPACT Learning Centres passed their Class V exams with 1st division marks!
IIMPACT has in addition started 40 Learning Centers in 40 villages of Shravasti District. These centers are providing education to over 1200 out of school girls in this neglected District which has a mere 18% female literacy rate, the lowest in the country. IIMPACT has selected the least developed block, Jamunaha to establish the learning centers. The block has about 71villages reeling under acute poverty and the number of out -of -school girls is very high in these villages.
IIMPACT has started 20 Learning Centres in Badlapur and Maharajganj Blocks of District Jaunpur in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. These centres are located around the Child Labour Belt where children traditionally worked in the carpet weaving industry.
IIMPACT has also started 20 Learning Centers in Shahjahanpur District of Uttar Pradesh, situated about 150 kms West of Lucknow. Though Shahjahanpur has the distinction of being one of the most populated rural districts of the country, boasting of highly developed industry and agriculture, the local education scenario is still quite bad when it comes to girls. Owing to the large population in the villages, the local schools are failing to cater to the high number of children, especially girls. This is compounded by shortage of teachers in government schools. Therefore, IIMPACT’s intervention in creating girls child schools in the 20 villages of this district is considered very meaningful by the local communities.
Uttarakhand
In April 2012 IIMPACT extended its reach to the State of Uttarakhand. IIMPACT conducted a survey in the villages of the Capital District Dehradun in the month of March 2012 and identified 30 villages with a very high concentration of out-of-school girls, mostly belonging to minority and tribal populations. IIMPACT has started learning centers in each of these 30 villages where about 1500 out-of-school girls will be covered under its quality education programme.
Jharkhand
IIMPACT currently runs 21 Learning Centres in the Bero block of Ranchi District. In this tribal, minority inhabited area out-of-school girls are the norm. There is very little or no access to female education because of the prevailing regional, social and gender discrepancies.
Haryana
IIMPACT runs 54 Learning Centres in the Mewat region of Haryana. Access to education in Mewat has been a problem, especially for girls. The abysmally poor literacy rate here ranges from 1.76% to 2.13 %, being the lowest in the country.
Bihar
Kishanganj is one of the least female literate districts in the country where a mere 18% of the girls are educated. Lack of motivation on the part of the parents coupled with poor accessibility to the existing education schemes are the primary causes for the poor female literacy levels.
IIMPACT has introduced 50 Learning Centres in Kishanganj District, Bihar.
Orissa
IIMPACT runs 50 Learning Centers in the tribal, hilly villages of District Gajapati in Orissa. This entire area is set in the most inaccessible mountainous terrain and represents very low female literacy rates. The schools are either completely absent in the tribal forest villages or are situated far away, making it difficult for girls to easily access. Being one of the most disadvantaged districts of the country, Gajapati district has to confront challenging tasks in improving quality of the life of the people.
IIMPACT is in addition running 30 learning centers in Thakurmunda Block of Mayurbanj District of Orissa in 30 villages located in Simlipal Biosphere Reserve (Simlipal Reserve Forest Range). These villages face tremendous problems on account of displacement and low resources. As a result a large number of girls are vulnerable to health and educational neglect. IIMPACT is educating nearly 1600 girls in this area.
West Bengal
IIMPACT runs 50 Learning Centres in 50 villages of the Diamond Harbor Block of South 24 Parganas District in West Bengal, approximately 40 kilometers from Kolkata.
The project was inaugurated on 21st January 2011 in village Patra where hundreds of children and their parents from neighboring villages were present in full force. District 24 Parganas has been identified as the most vulnerable for the girls in the country owing to very high rates of female trafficking and forced marriages. Girls and women fall easy prey to traffickers and anti-social gangs due to their illiteracy and ignorance. The IIMPACT project is empowering over 2000 girls of 50 villages through meaningful education in these areas.
