When scoring ‘zero’ is a big reason to smile

On the International Day of the Girl Child, Aditya Birla Group's rural education initiatives are empowering girls to attain their right to quality education with zero percent dropout rate

The dropout rate of girl students in India has been declining, but as long as the figure is anything above zero, the battle to keep them in schools must be continued. On October 11, the International Day of the Girl Child, Aditya Birla Group has released a video "Humne Zero Score Kiya" celebrating an important corporate social responsibility (CSR) milestone – the attainment of zero girl student dropouts at the formal and informal schools it supports.

For years, India has seen high dropout rates among school-aged girls. Covid-19 only compounded the challenge. This is where Aditya Birla Group's CSR programme has made a difference with its motto of 'Engage, Uplift, Empower'.

The Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, chaired by Mrs. Rajashree Birla and anchored by Dr. Pragnya Ram, reaches 100,000 students through a network of formal and non-formal educational institutes. Girls constitute 50% of this number, and during the last year there have been no dropouts among these girl students.

This joyous milestone is at the fulcrum of the Group's newly-released video, #HumneZeroScoreKiya (translated as 'We have scored zero') a heart-warming take on why scoring zero is a matter of pride in this context.

As a group committed to enabling access quality education to underprivileged students, Aditya Birla Group supports 10,000 girl students at 52 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (government-run boarding schools for girls) and 8 community ashram schools. It has provided aid for complete school education, along with Covid-19 scholarships, to 700 orphaned girls. Another 5,000 girls have been provided vocational training and 300 have received scholarships for professional courses.

By enabling rural girl students to continue their education, the Group is investing in their future and empowering them to become capable and confident citizens of tomorrow.