Imagine being married before your 18th birthday.
That’s the fate half of Indian women face, but one 16-year old girl is part of a bigger group that’s trying to change their domestic destiny.
Krishna Chaudhry, a typical village girl in rural India, is one of the 1,000 girls who attend the Pardada Pardadi Educational Society, where girls spend half of their days studying, and the other half working hard to earn an income for the family, so they are allowed to stay in school. Although she lives in Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s poorest states, …

Universal education isn’t exactly universal. India, while enjoying one of the best performing economy in recent years, has extremely literacy rate. More than 35 per cent of Indians are illiterate, and more than 50 per cent of its female population cannot read. The problems begin in childhood. Half of Indian children do not go to school, and more than half of those who do drop out at the age of 11 or 12.
That’s why the new Indian parliament bill, which demands universal, free and compulsory education for all children aged …