National Stock Exchange Foundation series 2

This proposed project in partnership with NSE Foundation plans to intervene in 207 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBVs) in 10 divisions of Madhya Pradesh. In 3 years, the program aims at making the them WASH compliant and reaching to approximately 30000 children. The project would aim at creating enabling environment for ensuring children in these schools have access to basic WASH facilities such as functional school toilets, safe drinking water, clean surroundings and basic information and adaptation of critical hygiene practices including Menstrual Hygiene Management.  It would also strengthen  the institution to ensure operations and maintenance and continuous development.

Since girls are a vulnerable category and need to develop an understanding of hygiene and sanitation practices, NSE Foundation proposed a comprehensive WASH intervention in the KGBVs with the support of Rajya Shiksha Kendra (RSK), Madhya Pradesh, UNICEF and WaterAid.

The initiative envisages both soft (capacity building, behaviour change etc.) and hard (WASH infrastructure renovation, retrofitting and O&M) interventions. To achieve the outcome of WASH compliant KGBVs, the major objective has been further subdivided into following sub-heads.

Work towards awareness generation & capacity building on WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) and behavioural change amongst the students, teachers in KGBVs and communities around the KGBVs.

Ensure WASH compliance at KGBVs with renovation and retrofitting of existing WASH facilities and setting up a performance benchmark.

Develop operation and maintenance protocol with continued monitoring for better sustainability. 

The intervention would be in line with the Swach Vidyalaya initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development of Government of India and the initiatives undertaken by the Government of Madhya Pradesh to meet the objectives of Swach Vidyalaya. The project will be implemented in three phases and will cover 207 KGBVs from 1st August 2018 to 31st July 2021.

Since the project would give significant learnings and inputs for making KGBVs WASH compliant, it is proposed to identify districts within select administrative divisions are identified in mutual consultation with the Department of Education (GoMP) where intensive intervention is undertaken. 

In consultation with the Department of School Education, the division of Jabalpur and Shahdol and the district of Khandwa has been identified for intensive intervention with support from NSE. Apart from this, UNICEF will also support the software elements in the districts of Jhabua and Alirajpur on similar lines.

The project would reach an approximate 30,000 children through different interventions that would be undertaken in three years across the state. The project would also strengthen student cabinets in all KGVBs in the intensive division by reaching to approximately 430 student members in these cabinets. The capacity building sessions with around 600 teaching staff will result in teachers realizing the importance of WASH and playing a critical role in ensuring sustainable WASH facilities in the KGVBs and behaviour change among children and teachers.

The project aims to reach 1,000 SMC members and 400 non-teaching staff by the end of three years. The awareness raising sessions on Menstrual Hygiene Management will result in approximately 15,000 girls understanding and adopting hygienic practices for managing mensuration. It is also expected that by the end of three year interventions the teachers and community members will be supportive, discuss menstrual hygiene issues, and support girls during the menstruation days and reduced linkage to Menstruation with taboo.