Pardada Pardadi Girls Vocational School was established in 2000 in Anupshahr, a small area of villages in Uttar Pradesh, India. This area of India is one of the country's poorest and most crime-ridden provinces. Moreover, it is noted as one of the least educated and illiterate sections of the country.

Why girls?

In order to improve the future of the rural community, PPES aims to educate girls. Following the ideals of women's empowerment, PPES believes that once girls are holistically educated, they will impart their knowledge to their family as an enlightened mother. The family in turn affects the quality of life of the community, the state, and ultimately the nation. PPES takes the distinctive approach of providing students with teachers who also impart value-based education by spending part of each class discussing life skills and values.

Because these girls are economically disadvantaged, their oppose letting them daughters leave home during the day. Insted they are usually obligated to contribute to the family's livelihood through chores and other work such as goat herding and wood collecting. PPES has set up a unique system, where by parents are encouraged to allow their girls to attend the Pardada Pardadi Girls Vocational School (PPGVS) through various incentives built in the progarmme, thus facilitating the girl's education .

Incentives

PPES provides free education, uniform, books, shoes, three meals and bicycles to the students. At the PPGVS mornings are spent in academic classes in subjects such as Math, Science, English, and Social Studies. Other subjects taught at the school are music, dance general knowledge, computers and sports . Afternoons consist of vocational training in home furnishing textile work. By the time PPGVS students graduate, they have developed highly marketable skills in textile work and produce high-end home furnishings that are sold in India and abroad through PPES. Products are also sold on online catalogue and three stores of PPES. Moreover, the girls are guaranteed jobs with PPES upon their graduation.

Money for future security

PPES opens a bank account for each student. For every day a student attends school, 10 rupees (US$0.30) are deposited into her bank account. By the time a girl graduates (after class 12th), she should have approximately 30000 rupees (US$666), assuming she has attended most days of the school year.  Ideally, after three to four years of training, the products produced by each student earn  Rs50(US$ 1.25)  per day. Of that, 10 rupees go in her account and 40 rupees go back into sustaining the student. The only way a girl can access her bank account after her graduation is on the day of her marriage,provided she is at least 18 years old on that day or at her 21st birthday (whichever comes first).

Marriage

In Anupshahr, many girls are entered into arranged marriage at the age of 13 or 14. PPES hopes educating girls will help in fighting this menace. After a student graduates from PPGVS, PPES can also help her family to find a suitable boy as well as hosting a marriage party at the school.

The hope is that PPGVS students will gain the strength to stand up and protest against child marriages.

Of the 24 graduates not even a single one has been married .In an environment where child marriages are so common,this is nothing short of a break through.All of the girls are at least 17 years old and they hope to marry only when they think that they are ready.
 
In short, at the end of the program, these girls leave with:

• A degree for senior secondary (XII class)
• A highly marketable skill in textile work
• A savings of approximately 30000 rupees (US$666)
• Academic knowledge and empowerment based skills, including health, hygiene, food preparation, and legal skills
• The knowledge of self-sustainable systems (supporting themselves through textile work)
• Training to work for their   development  as well as that of their families.

The PPES also guarantees a job or supports further education for each graduate in any one of the following ways:

• She can continue working full-time at the school and get paid for her work .
• She can produce products from home and gets paid weekly for the pieces she completes .
• She can open a "Mini-PPES" of 4-6 girls at her home, train them, and get paid for their work on weekly basis.
• She can be selected as a teacher for the ever-expanding PPES concept of education.
• She can continue her education or professional training.

Education in the school

PPES believes that all children should be able to enjoy the school. Hence we are trying to develop a child-centered methodology for teaching and learning. PPES is striving for total development of each girl through it’s model of education.

PPGVS is registered with the Uttar Pradesh board and teachers. School is from class three to class ten. Along with regular studies girls get training in leadership skills, general knowledge/ current affairs, dance, theater, music, sports, health/hygiene and family life issues, gender, money management, rural development, production and management etc.

Leadership and volunteers programme

Every day a group of thirteen girls volunteer to do the various jobs in the school like cooking, cleaning, taking care of the plants, attending to the visitors etc. The idea behind this concept is to teach students to appreciate the dignity of work. It is a process of self-learning and confidence building. It also helps in breaking the caste barriers between students and replace them with trust and a team sprit. Through these activities the girls learn about various aspects of management, cooking and meal planning.

Leaders are identified in each class and they are trained to take care of younger children. They are responsible for discipline in the school. They help teachers in the training of younger students in cleanliness, cultural programmes, educational and vocational skills etc.We hope that these students will return to PPGVS as teachers after their graduation .

Annual Functions and other co curricular activities in the school

The Pardada Pardadi School comes together four times a year to celebrate different occasions.

New Admission Day- is celebrated on the first Sunday of the first week of June. The newly admitted students are given a warm welcome by the staff and the senior students of the senior classes of the school. A welcome speech by the Principal is followed by some students performances . Parents of new students are expected to attend this joyous occasion .

Independence Day and Republic Day-Celebrated on 15th August and 26th January respectively. In addition to a flag rasing ceremony the staff and students take the opportunity to interact with the villagers and discuss their problems and exchange views on various issues. Parents of all the students are also invited to participate in this function.

Annual Day- Celebrated on the 3rd or the 4th Sunday of November .Annual Day is a big event for all the students who have the opportunity to participate in and watch numerous . competitions and performances are the major attractions if the day. Guests from India and abroad regularly keep visiting the students and encourage them to stay focused in their goals and thereby turning Sam’s dream into a reality.

Saturday activities

Cultural programmes are a regular part of the school schedule and are held on every second Saturday. In rotation every child gets an opportunity to perform on stage on that day.

Competitions are held to develop confidence in students.These Competitions are held in the following areas- Drawing painting, Handwriting, Sports, and Debate, General knowledge. PPES plans to introduce many more of such activities on regular basis.

Sports

Exposure to the wider world
  PPES Graduates in America-Every year   four graduates  are taken to US  for an exposure visit .The hope is that students become more culturally aware through contact with another socity.

Asha, one of the students who visited US, responds to question “What have I learned from my trip?
1   I learned that everything is very clean.  The roads are not dirty and wherever I went  everything was neat and clean.  
2 I learned that people are helpful. I saw with my own eyes that a girl’s baggage was being taken in a car.  Suddenly everything fell out ,every one stopped to help and put the stuff back in the car.  
3 Until the children have not completed their studies and found jobs, they do not get married.  
4. However rich the people might be they do not have servants Everyone does his or her own work.”

Exchange programmes- PPES students had an opportunity to host students from American School (India), McDonogh School ( Baltimore-USA), Digantar School (Rajasthan)Head Royce School( California), KR Mangalam School( Delhi).
All these visits help in developing a better understanding about the world. It gives a chance to PPES students to move one step closer to being “Global Citizens”

These trips are designed not only to educate PPES students , but also to give the visiting students develop a better understanding about rural life in India. Major components of these trips include are-

• Games, dancing and singing
• Voluntary work, like teaching some skills
• Being with host student at her home to develop a better understanding about life of a rural girls and rural life
• Visit to the Ganges (an ancient holy river)
• Doing a joint project with host students
• Making new friends
• Exposure into cultural and political aspects of rural life
• Learning a vocational skill e.g. embroidery

According to Ms. Karyline, a student of McDonogh school ( Baltimore USA) “To be at PPES school has been the best opportunity in my life. I have learnt a lot , made lot of new friends and had lot of fun”

Health  

One of the major focus of PPES is health of its students so they all receive regular check-ups . Students have been trained about the importance of balanced diet. Yoga and meditation are the integral parts of school’s programme.

Trainings

Guests from different walks of life are invited to school and they are encouraged to train the students in various aspects like health, hygiene, legal rights, gender, village development, leadership, adolescent health, finances, money management, production planning, rangoli (traditional system of making designs on floor and walls) making, cooking etc.

New staff are introduced and trained into the system of child-centered methodology of teaching.  Older staff is also helped to upgrade their skills in various subjects. Graduates  (who will work with school) of the school are put under training during their probation period. These trainings are aimed towards developing efficiency in these teachers. 
PPES  partnered with three leading organizations of India ( namely Bharti foundation and Digantar, IdiscoverI for academic teachers training. One round of training has already been completed . PPES wants to develop a model where education is fun Training of teachers  is be one of the prime focus of the organization.

Computer center

The school received a grant from the Public affairs Office of the US Embassy in 2004 to set up a Computer lab to provide computer education. The Computer lab, named after Helen Keller, an American icon for the physically challenged, is equipped with 20 computers and two printers. The lab is run on diesel generators because the area experiences erratic power supply in the region. Girls are taught the basics such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Power point.

School is very proud of the lab. In beginning of year 2004, students were asked if any one of them had seen a computer only one child raised her hand. Today they all are very comfortable in working on computers. Younger ones enjoy playing games and painting with paint-brush programme a lot.

Hitek Peripherals Pvt. Ltd trained three teachers for working with students in computer lab. Twice a week each child gets a chance to sit on the machine. Plan is that all teachers will be trained to work on the computers, in order to make teaching methodology more interesting and innovative.

Computer lab is equipped with various soft wares like Encarta, Britannica, school management, HIV &AIDS, money management, health hygiene and many more. PPGVS is trying to make computers an integral part of communicating, learning, teaching, planning and management.

Mr. Shiv Nadar , founder president of HCL gave a grant for up gradation of computer lab. Bharti foundation has got the broad band facility for the school