New Delhi: Enterprise application software major, SAP India’s Code Unnati has joined hands with Project Nanhi Kali to provide quality education and digital access to over 11,000 underprivileged girl children by 2020.
Lauding the efforts of corporate houses in promoting gender sensitisation as well as gender equality, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said the government has launched various schemes for the empowerment of girl child such as ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, ‘CBSE Udaan Scheme’ etc. It is our vision to provide equal opportunities to the girl child for their development and growth. He said he was happy to see that corporates like SAP India and Mahindra and Mahindra are coming forward to promote the cause.
Speaking on the occasion, Mahindra Group CFO and CIO V S Parthasarathy said, “The Mahindra Group is strongly committed to the cause of girl child education and empowerment which we believe can have a transformative effect on the future of India. The partnership between Project Nanhi Kali and SAP India will help take this noble cause to the next level with the support of advanced digital technology.”
SAP Labs India SVP and Managing Director Sindhu Gangadharan added, “At SAP, we are committed to improve people’s lives and create a lasting impact. From 2017, through Code Unnati, SAP has trained over a million children across 14 states on our digital curriculum. Our collaboration with Nanhi Kali will help girl students to be digitally ready and empower them to bring about a positive change in the economy. Leveraging on Code Unnati and Nanhi Kali we will improve the quality of education for the girl children and prepare them for the digital shift in the society.”
While women account for nearly half of India’s population, only 25 per cent of the workforce is female. The literacy level continues to remain around 46 per cent in the rural areas and girls continue to lack access to quality education.
To prepare for the wave of digital transformation the country is currently experiencing, building digital skills is essential and Project Nanhi Kali already provides Secondary School girls in the programme with access to digital tablets pre-loaded with educational content.
Code Unnati, SAP’s flagship initiative, equips youth and children with quality STEM education and Digital Literacy. The focus of the training module is to impart digital literacy and foster the female workforce. Code Unnati will work with Project Nanhi Kali to further enhance the digital learning platform.
Further, the collaboration aims to create girl-friendly ecosystems, provide access to quality education and sensitize communities toward the importance of girl child education. This partnership contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals of — No Poverty, Quality Education, Decent Work & Economic Growth, and Partnership for achieving the Goals.
Together the programs will provide support across the nation including places such as Maharashtra (Mumbai), Gujarat (Bharuch), West Bengal (Darjeeling) and further expand training to 5,000 girls in high need areas of Karnataka; and 1,000+ girls in Shravasti and Varanasi regions in Uttar Pradesh, thereby educating 11,275 girls by 2020.
Project Nanhi Kali was founded in 1996 by Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra.The genesis of this programme was his belief that educated women not only contribute to the economy, but also would lead to reduction of social evils like dowry and child marriage.
To date, Project Nanhi Kali has empowered more than 3,75,000 girls across rural, tribal and urban regions across India by providing them with academic and material support. It also mobilises communities to change mindsets towards girl child education. Project Nanhi Kali is jointly managed by K.C. Mahindra Education Trust and Naandi Foundation.
