The power of education uniting the power of womanhood

Authored by Archana Sahay, CSR Head, APJ, Dell Technologies

"If you educate a woman, you educate a family, if you educate a girl, you educate the future." 
This statement by Queen Rania of Jordan has always crafted a powerful narrative in the world that we live in today. Girls and women have been an indispensable part of our country’s fabric. Whenever we talk about impact; from school to their households, they have always been regarded as the vessels that carry and transmit knowledge across communities, schools and families alike. Unfortunately, the concept of girl child education has never been an easy one in a country that is vested deeply in the patriarchal cultural bubble, and where the landscape of educating girls is still filled with huge challenges and loopholes.

It is not uncommon to still see cases where girls are so deeply entrenched in this unfortunate cycle of oppression, so much so, that they lack complete autonomy over their own lives; be it choosing their opinions, lifestyle, career choices or even the level of education. They’re caught in this cycle of oppression majorly due to the lack of awareness which ends up amounting to the concept of lack of education and exposure. 

In order to address these serious issue(s) that concern the physical and mental well-being of girl child, Dell Technologies felt drawn to conceptualize initiatives and programs that act as a catalyst to create an impact and uplift women across the country. 

These programs are centered around holistic development that supports the layered nature when it comes to addressing the needs of these girls, starting right from academic support to creating awareness on their emotional and physical well-being. Through the implementation of various well-rounded programs, Dell Technologies' propel these girls towards a bright future by empowering them to grow, develop and transform into visionary women leaders of tomorrow.

The variety of programs that are being implemented deals with multi-faceted dynamics; right from health awareness and enhanced interpersonal skills-by providing educational and academic material which helps them excel in their studies. 
Right from enabling girls to thrive in STEM fields to ensuring that their digital literacy and competence is suited to present-day times, Dell Technologies has kept in mind their present needs while also factoring the needs of the future. The specially designed programs lets these girls have their first tryst with technology, tinkering and scientific temperament- areas that are traditionally men-dominated and men-driven in not just our country, but in the world. 
The objective being- the girls of our country should be empowered to realize their immense potential as not just the leaders of our country, but as global leaders who grow to contribute to the forefront of change on both national and international level(s). 

The major interventions include: 

• Support girl children by providing them with basic supplies as per need basis 
• Orient and empower girl child on health and wellness 
• Mentor girl children so as to improve their interpersonal and soft skills 
• Provide opportunities to meet and interact with women leaders 
• Set-up basic hygiene facilities in the schools to decrease attrition of girl children and provide them required amenities

In order to achieve these objectives, Dell Technologies assesses the needs of the program while keeping in mind the on-ground requirements when it comes to the quantum of change that it hopes to create. 

• Employee engagement and involvement is actively encouraged, thus enabling the employees to understand how the work that Dell Technologies does can actively impact and sustain the momentum of change in the lives of girl children. 


• Academic material, stationery, uniform, umbrella, shoe, etc are provided to them, so that they have no challenges when it comes to mobilizing resources that are required in order to have a comprehensive academic and inter and intra-personal outlook on life. 


• Sessions centered around various skills are conducted, such as: 


• Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills, 


• Interpersonal skill development & counselling sessions 


• Health and well-being sessions & set up of sanitary vending machines in the beneficiary’s schools. 


• Providing industrial exposure to the ever-growing career-based needs and aspirations that affect girl children. 


• Holds inspirational talks by women leaders 

Achievements – Bringing Awards & Accolades 

The students from Dell Model Schools began their journey of innovation through participation in boot camps that were organized at Atal Incubation Centers (AIC) as a part of the mentoring program for the top 50 teams of Innovation Marathon 2018. Three teams, one each from Andhra Pradesh, Chennai and Hyderabad attended the Student Innovator Boot Camps at Arts and Design university - AIC Pune, Great Lakes - AIC Delhi and CCMB - AIC Hyderabad respectively. The young innovators got an opportunity to refine their idea, while being able to transform their prototypes to commercial products, thereby honing their skills. Additionally, another girl child from one of the Dell Model School in Visakhapatnam, received a Silver medal in Indian Innovator Challenge 2019. 

It was a proud moment for the students from Dell Model Schools to participate in round table conference organized at Delhi by Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. During the conference, students got an opportunity to interact and share their innovations with Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi. The delegate appreciated the effort of the students and was impressed with the innovation that the youth is bringing in at the school level. 

Students from Dell Model Schools continued their journey of success by participating in various competitions and winning awards. Students even submitted the entries for Russia’s SIRIUS Deep Technology Learning and Innovation Program 2019. Despite of huge number of entries from different schools, two students from Dell Model Schools of Andhra Pradesh held their head high, and got a chance to visit and learn best practices of contemporary innovation and entrepreneurship that happened in Russia. The students shared their best contemporary innovation practices with each other under various categories like Remote Earth sensing and Robotics. The students were awarded a cash prize of Rs.1,00,000 each by Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh who also appreciated the effort and the hard work of students. 

*Views and opinions expressed are strictly personal.