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, Krishna looks toward women world leaders like US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for inspiration.

It is a sobering fact that women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty. There are 101 million primary-school age children who are denied education, and girls account for a much higher percentage of that population. According to The World Bank, worldwide for every 100 boys out-of-school, there are 122 girls. This gap is even wider in certain countries – in Yemen there are 270 girls, in Iraq 316 girls, in India 426 girls.

Girls can do just as much as boys, but are often denied a chance of receiving education due to poverty and adverse cultural practices. Among all the initiatives that are seeking to keep girls in school, one has been particularlymemorable - The Girl Effect. According to their website, an extra year of primary education boosts a girl’s future income by 15-20%, and when a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.

Founder of Pardada Educational Society, Sam Singh, believes that empowering girls like Krishna is the only way to effectively change rural India. True transformation only comes from within, and the best way to inspire that transformation is by giving children and young adults knowledge, education and a sense of hope. By investing in their future, we are giving them not pity, but support that will create an impact greater than what we can perhaps imagine.

Visit The Girl Effect

Universal education isn’t exactly universal. India, while enjoying one of the best performing economies 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 between six and 14, has been hailed as a landmark law. 60 years after its independence, India is finally able to uphold education as a fundamental right, and to give children a better future, says Kapil Sibal, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

According to The World Bank, providing primary education to every child is a high priority for developing country governments and the donor community alike as education is the foundation of democratic societies and globally competitive economies.  To quote a scientific study by Appleton and Song, the estimated effect of an extra year of primary schooling on household income varies between 1–5% .

Ultimately, education is the most sustainable way of reducing poverty, increasing productivity, and strengthening the economy. To put it in Ben Franklin’s words, “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest”. A landmark bill and a wise investment indeed.