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School Vouchers for Girls

School Vouchers for Girls is a school voucher project run by School Choice Campaign for girl children from the North East Delhi region. The project targets girl children who have completed Class 1 in state run schools and provides them an opportunity to enroll in a school of their choice for subsequent years. The project is slated to fund the education expenses (up to Rs 3700 for the first year, and increasing by Rs 100 each year) of 400 girl children for four years, thus ensuring successful completion of primary education.

School Vouchers for Girls has chosen seven wards of North East Delhi – Welcome Colony, Chauhan Bangar, Zaffrabad, New Usmanpur, Maujpur, Janta Colony, Babarpur – for the voucher project. This region has a high concentration of minority and socially backward communities. In 2009, a survey of this region reported that there were 2583 girl students who had completed Class 1 in schools run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Anecdotal evidence indicates that in economically and socially disadvantaged families, the girl children are less likely to be educated. This project seeks to address this gender-based discrimination through the provision of school vouchers. By targeting a traditionally disadvantaged group – girl children from socio-economically disadvantaged families – this project hopes to demonstrate the empowerment potential of school vouchers.

Application & Selection
The first phase of this project was the creation of awareness of school vouchers. With the help of ‘Social Action with Your Assistance’ (SAYA), parents of eligible children were informed about this project and encouraged to apply. Assistance with filling up applications was provided. All children applying for a school voucher were part of an aptitude assessment study, which will function as the baseline for learning achievements. The selection of successful voucher children was done using a randomized computer program on 21 July 2009 in the presence of local ward councilors and leaders. This program is similar to that of a ‘lottery’.

Vouchers & Schools
Once selected, parents shall choose a school for their children, based on the list of empanelled schools. After choosing the school, the parents may apply for admission to the school of their choice. At this juncture, parents are distributed vouchers for an agreed amount (eg., Rs 3700 for the first year). The vouchers will consist of four equal amounts, which the parents may use to pay school fees in a quarterly manner. School vouchers are securitized monetary instruments, which cannot be transferred or utilized for any other purpose than to pay fees at the chosen school and will not be accepted after the lapse of their validity period.

Right to Education of Choice
The School Choice Campaign strongly believes that quality education is possible only by ensuring accountability in our schools system. School Vouchers are one policy reform tool in the bouquet of School Choice ideas. By providing school vouchers, it is possible to offer choice of school to students. Parents are empowered to choose the best school for their child and, thereby, demand the best quality education. School Vouchers offer a more efficient and transparent method to deliver education. The Constitution of India has guaranteed every child, between 6 and 14 years of age, the right to education. However, School Vouchers are one way to provide the Right to Education of Choice for all children!

Payment Details:
Details of voucher payment for the four years of this project are shown below:

Project Timeline

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