The power of progress: Magsaysay award 'spotlights' girls' education in India

By Vikash Meshram

The foundation of a nation’s progress rests upon education; yet, millions of girls in India’s rural and marginalized communities remain deprived of it. Poverty, gender discrimination, rigid social norms, child marriage, lack of schools, and safety concerns force countless girls to abandon their educational journey. In such a landscape, the recognition of the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally with this year’s prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award is both historic and symbolic. Known as the “Nobel Prize of Asia,” this honor not only celebrates the tireless efforts of the organization but also places India’s social innovations and educational reforms on the global stage.

The foundation was established in 2007 by Safeena Husain with a vision to bring tribal, rural, and marginalized girls into the mainstream of education. Its mission extends beyond mere school enrollment; it seeks to free girls from restrictive social barriers and empower them to become self-reliant citizens. For the organization, education is not simply the transfer of knowledge but the foundation of agency—the ability for girls to make choices that shape their own lives.

Beginning in remote villages of Rajasthan, the movement has now expanded across six states: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh—all of which face severe challenges regarding girls’ education. By leveraging government resources, the foundation has reached over 30,000 villages. Over 18 years, its relentless efforts have brought more than 20 lakh (2 million) girls back to school. Today, school attendance among girls has crossed 90 percent. Beyond access, the foundation has emphasized quality through teacher training, curriculum improvement, and safety initiatives.

One of its most notable innovations has been the world’s first Development Impact Bond (DIB)—a results-based financing model that has touched the lives of more than 3.6 million beneficiaries. Under this initiative alone, over 350,000 out-of-school girls have been reintegrated into the education system. The success of the DIB has positioned it as a pioneering global model for development.

To understand the importance of such efforts, India’s educational statistics offer context. According to the 2011 Census, the national literacy rate was 74.4 percent, while female literacy stood at just 65.48 percent. By 2023, national literacy had risen to nearly 79 percent, with women’s literacy reaching around 71 percent. Yet, the picture in rural areas remains grim. In states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, rural female literacy still hovers below 60 percent. Higher education opportunities are even more limited: only one-third of women pursue graduation, and less than 0.2 percent reach postgraduate levels.

The roots of this disparity are deep. Families still view daughters as economic burdens, and financial constraints often push them to prioritize sons’ education. Child marriage continues to rob many girls of their schooling. Insufficient schools and teachers, safety concerns, and regressive mindsets further compound the crisis. Against such barriers, the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally has ignited a ray of hope.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award acknowledges this extraordinary work and elevates it onto an international platform. Its message is profound: it compels society to prioritize girls’ education, inspires governments to support organizations driving change, and fosters new dimensions of public-private partnerships. The award underscores that access alone is not enough: quality education is the true measure of progress.

More than an award, it is a guiding light. It inspires thousands of NGOs, activists, and teachers, reaffirming that perseverance, innovation, and community participation can solve the toughest social challenges. Girls’ education is not just about empowering individuals; it is about laying the foundation for national progress. The millions of girls who have crossed the school gates today will emerge tomorrow as doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, and leaders.

The true significance of this recognition lies in the message it carries—that India’s journey of social transformation is firmly on course, and at the heart of this journey is the education of girls.

Comments

What mainstream economists won’t tell you about Chinese modernisation

By Shiran Illanperuma China’s modernisation has been one of the most remarkable processes of the 21st century and one that has sparked endless academic debate. Meng Jie (孟捷), a distinguished professor from the School of Marxism at Fudan University in Shanghai, has spent the better part of his career unpacking this process to better understand what has taken place.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

10,000 students deprived of classes as Ahmedabad school remains shut: MCC writes to Gujarat CM

By A Representative The Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) has written to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, urging him to immediately reopen the Seventh Day Adventist School in Maninagar, Ahmedabad, where classes have been suspended for nearly two weeks. The MCC claims that the suspension, following a violent incident, violates the constitutional right to education of thousands of children.

Revisiting Periyar: Dialogues on caste, socialism and Dravidian identity

By Prof. K. S. Chalam* S. V. Rajadurai and Vidya Bhushan Rawat’s joint effort in bringing out a book on the most original iconoclast of South Asia, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, titled Periyar: Caste, Nation and Socialism, published by People’s Literature Publication, Mumbai, is now available on Amazon and Flipkart . This volume presents an innovative method of documenting the pioneering contributions of a leader like Periyar, and it reflects the scholarship of Rajadurai, who has played a pivotal role in popularizing Periyar in English.

Result of climate change, excessive human interference, can Himachal be saved from natural disasters?

By Dr. Gurinder Kaur* These days, almost all districts of Himachal Pradesh are severely affected by natural disasters such as heavy rainfall, cloudbursts, landslides, land subsidence, mudslides, and flash floods. Due to frequent landslides and falling debris, major highways, including the Chandigarh–Manali and Manali–Leh routes, as well as several other roads, have been closed to traffic. Although this devastation is triggered by natural events such as heavy rainfall, cloudbursts, and flash floods, it is not entirely a natural phenomenon. The destruction in Himachal Pradesh is largely the result of climate change and excessive human interference with the state’s fragile environment.

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857 By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

Ground reality: Israel would a remain Jewish state, attempt to overthrow it will be futile

By NS Venkataraman* Now that truce has been arrived at between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days and with release of a few hostages from both sides, there is hope that truce would be further extended and the intensity of war would become significantly less. This likely “truce period” gives an opportunity for the sworn supporters and bitter opponents of Hamas as well as Israel and the observers around the world to introspect on the happenings and whether this war could have been avoided. There is prolonged debate for the last several decades as to whom the present region that has been provided to Jews after the World War II belong. View of some people is that Jews have been occupants earlier and therefore, the region should belong to Jews only. However, Christians and those belonging to Islam have also lived in this regions for long period. While Christians make no claim, the dispute is between Jews and those who claim themselves to be Palestinians. In any case...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Fate of Yamuna floodplain still hangs in "balance" despite National Green Tribunal rap on Sri Sri event

By Ashok Shrimali* While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday reportedly pulled up the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for granting permission to hold spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival on the banks of Yamuna, the chief petitioners against the high-profile event Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan has declared, the “fate of the floodplain still hangs in balance.”

Search This Blog