Plus Trust
India
2017
The Challenge
India’s Right to Education Act of 2009 recognized the right of every child to an education. However, schools in India remain poorly maintained, lack quality teaching, and gender and caste discrimination in the classroom persists. In rural and patriarchal communities where these problems are more severe, women often do not have the power to act.
The Solution
Plus Trust provides fellowships and training to empower rural women ‘edupreneurs’ to run their own educational programs to improve and supplement learning in their communities, especially for marginalized individuals. Their six-month mentorship program helps these women to develop their ideas, design their courses and implement their enterprises in their rural communities. Through interactive workshops, ongoing mentorship and skills building, women can develop the necessary skills to run their own educational enterprises.
The Impact
Through the two batches of the Plus Trust fellowship, many women edupreneurs have successfully set up their own enterprises that provide solutions to improving education in their communities. Some women earn an additional income from their enterprises, which is used to support their household and in some cases, further their own education. Most importantly, Plus Trust empowered these women to act as agents of change within their rural communities, changing their communities’ perspectives towards women’s agency and the value of education for all.