JMA Pilani Rajasthan Celebrates National Girl Child Day

Gender equality is much more than a goal in itself as it is a precondition for meeting the challenges of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.

Considering the importance of the Girl Child in the larger interests of the nation building task, Government of India in the year 2009 had declared that January 24 be observed every year as National Girl Child Day. The Child Sex Ratio CSR which is number of girls for 1000 boys in age group 0 - 6 in the population has been on the decline since 1991 and currently seems the worst since independence. From 945 girls for every 1000 boys in 1991, CSR went down to 927 in 2001 and to 918 in 2011. The Government also identified 100 gender critical districts in the country where the CSR is abysmally low and launched the “Beti Bachao – Beti Padhao” (BBBP) (Save girl child, educate girl child) campaign to reverse the dwindling numbers.

Specifically in the state of Rajasthan, from 916 girls for every 1000 boys in 1991, CSR went down to 909 in 2001 and to 888 in 2011. As per the latest reports of BBBP, Jhunjhunu district in which Pilani falls has been declared among 10 best performing districts with CSR jumping from 837 in 2011 census to 903 by Mar 2016 and further to 944 by Dec 2016.

Right from its inception, Smt Jamuna Mishra Academy – JMA Pilani has embarked on a rich tradition of celebrating various days of national and international significance. The school which is one among the top ranking schools in Pilani today organized a function to celebrate National Girl Child Day with Dr Sailaja Nandigama from the department of humanities and social sciences Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani as Chief Guest. She holds masters degree from University of Hyderabad and PhD from International Institute of Social Studies (part of Erasmus University of Rotterdam), The Hague, The Netherlands. Her experience includes teaching at Tata Institute of Social Sciences TISS apart from Research Experience at Wageningen University, the Netherlands and University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. Her Teaching and Research interests include Development Studies, Gender dynamics in Participatory community forest management PCFM and Gender Mainstreaming: Policy& Practice.

Dr Sailaja in her speech emphasized that girls have equal role, status as well as rights and urged the girl students of JMA Pilani to be also dreamers, performers and achievers. She also urged the boy students of the school to respect the girls and play a supporting role for their ambition. Dr Sailaja also appreciated the policy of the school to make all girls compulsorily to undergo self defence skills by imparting karate as an integral part of the school education. Principal Mrs Booma Natarajan anchored the proceedings and said that it was indeed a matter of immense pride that the girls enrollments at JMA Pilani today stands at 60% of the total. Miss Kritika Mandad highlighted the girl child statistics of India, Rajasthan as well as the outstanding performance of Jhunjhunu district in which Pilani falls under the Beti Bachao – Beti Padhao scheme.

For more details about JMA Pilani see http://jmapilani.org

About JMA Pilani: Smt. Jamuna Mishra Academy (JMA) established in the year 2004 which has been making rapid strides in early childhood education is presently one of the most sought after schools at Pilani considered as Oasis in the desert state of Rajasthan well known in India today for one among top in world ranking BITS Pilani University as well as CSIR Laboratory CEERI and globally renowned Birla Science Museum. JMA Pilani is a Co-educational English Medium School with Experienced Teachers, Spacious Classrooms and Modern Amenities designed to impart Quality Education combined with All Round Personality Development and lay the Best Foundation for the Child’s Future. JMA which started in 2004 with an enrollment of 60 students for the Nursery, LKG, First Junior and Class I has grown today till Class XII and enrollment of 900. While the school admits both boys and girls, the girl student enrollment has been steadily rising every year and is presently nearly 50% of the total strength. The school has NCC for boys and the school girls band has been winning laurels every year too. Yoga and Fine arts are not just part of school routine but a way of life for the students.

Mrs Booma Natarajan, M.Sc., M.A., B.Ed.
Principal, Jamuna Mishra Academy – JMA
Near Old Pilani Post Office
Pilani Rajasthan 333031 India
Phone 91-1596-242314
Email booma_pilani at yahoo.co.in
Website: http://jmapilani.org/

This release was published on openPR.