Education Protection Program (EPP)

“Girls Deserve Equal Chances Too – every girl should be in school.”

In rural Rajasthan, adolescent girls, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds, face significant barriers to education due to cultural norms, economic challenges, and gender discrimination. This limits not only their academic learning but also their awareness of constitutional rights and duties. Since 2004, Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti (MJAS) has worked to address this issue by promoting educational access through a Rights-based approach, recognizing education’s transformative power in empowering young girls.

In the early 2000s, MJAS forayed into education after witnessing the active and passionate involvement of adolescents in protests against dam displacement. The value of education and formal schooling became very relevant – not just as places of learning but as gateways to mobility and opportunity.
Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti (MJAS) recognizes that education is a transformative journey that empowers children (especially girls) and since then has worked to enhance educational opportunities through the Right to Development framework.
The organization’s work is informed by the understanding that education is a platform for marginalized groups to articulate their rights and demands, and that feminist intervention in educational institutions is necessary to address issues like harassment and corporal punishment.

Focus Areas
Early child and forced marriage- Early Childhood and Forced Marriage (ECFM) still remains a deeply ingrained practice that disproportionately affects young children and adolescents. Both boys and girls are forced to drop out and discontinue their studies due to ECFM. MJAS has worked extensively to combat this practice and while it has not stopped completely, the long-term efforts have led to the delay of “gauna” , a ritual of the married girls stopping their education and moving into the in-laws’ house. One contributing factor to the practice of ECFM is the low levels of literacy and education among parents.
MJAS has prioritized girls’ education, by improving school enrollment and retention rates, providing educational support where needed. The organization’s interventions have led to a significant reduction in dropout rates among girls aged 15-18, demonstrating the effectiveness of its approach. It aims to delay marriages and empower girls to make informed decisions about their lives.

MJAS’s work in education is multifaceted, addressing both formal and informal learning.