Inclusion of Socially-Marginalized Adolescent Girls in School Education: Role of KGBV Scheme

Abstract

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) were conceptualized to address the inequity in education of adolescent girls who face intersection disadvantages of gender, caste, and class. This paper highlights the role of KGBV scheme in ensuring ‘inclusion’ of all girls and providing them ‘quality’ education. A National Residential School Program, KGBV is a critical component of the newly introduced “Samagra Shiksha Abhiyar”. The study was conducted in 18 KGBVs in four districts of Rajasthan. It used a mixed-method approach to understand the satisfaction of the end-users and implementers of the scheme, including students, hostel wardens, and teachers. KGBVs were found to adopt a structural and multi-dimensional approach in fostering inclusion and increasing access of rural/tribal and low-caste adolescent girls. The paper also addressed the limitations of residential schools in their optimum implementation at ground level; presenting a valuable addition to future researches and education policymakers.