SanEduSkill (SES)- Sanitation, Education and Skill Development

Preventing School dropouts by constructing toilets and nurturing a skill development program for improving livelihood of tribals

507 496

Written by Samir Vinchurkar

Updated on 15:54, Oct 30, 2017

I confirm that I am fully aware of the eligibility criteria, and based on its description, I am eligible to apply to the CSV Prize 2017.

Yes, I'm eligible

Preferred language

English

Organization name

Mahatma Education Society

Year founded

1970

Initiative stage

Scaling (the solution has passed the previous stages and is growing its impact on a regional or global scale)

Annual budget in 2017 (USD)

$50k - $100k

Number of beneficiaries impacted so far

1,000 - 5,000

Organization type

Nonprofit, NGO, or citizen sector

Secondary Focus Area

Water
Rural development

Headquarters location: Country

India

Headquarters location: City

Mumbai

Location(s) of impact

India: Waravne, Taluka Pen, Raigad District, Maharashtra India: Rasayani, Raigad District, Maharashtra

Website

http://mes.ac.in/community-service/

SanEduSkill - Sanitation, Education and Skill Development - Meeting sanitation needs to increase school enrollment of tribal children followed by a skill development program to enhance employability

Survey of children who had dropped out of school

Survey of school children

Survey of dropped out children and their parents

These toilets were provided with water storage and solar power.

We constructed of 20 gender segregated toilets and bathrooms. In fact children began returning to school for their daily bath.

Hygiene facility

Feedback of Skill Development Program

Success stories and follow up of the Skill Development Program

Small business started by a retrained dropout

Problem: What problem is this initiative trying to address?

The rate of school dropouts in India is reported at an alarming 50% before completing the mandatory 8 years of education due to reasons including poverty, child labour, and lack of interest. The current project highlights significance of socially repressed issues of open defecation and menses due to lack of toilets in a tribal area. These school dropouts belonging to a rural area in India exhibit poor literacy skills leading to unemployment and overall lower quality of life.

Solution Summary: What is the proposed solution? What do you see as its most promising aspects for creating shared value?

We initiated a pilot project in a rural area of Raigad, Maharashtra (India) to address the lack of sanitation facilities in a tribal school. The completion of a vast survey of school dropouts indicated that lack of sanitation facilities was the primary reason behind dropouts, especially for girls at the onset of their menses. Therefore, 20 gender segregated functional toilets and bathrooms were constructed as a measure to reduce school dropouts. Additionally it was found that these dropped out children had not picked up even the basic literacy skills as far as grade 8 (~ 13 years old). A batch of undergraduate students were selected to assist the dropout children to augment their literacy and numeracy skills at par with the urban students. Further, we developed a central facility for imparting vocational skills including plumbing, electrical wiring, computer hardware & beauty culture for these students leading to higher employability and entrepreneurial qualities.

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Specify both the social and the environmental impact of your work

The SanEduSkill project has impacted approximately 450 families in a tribal village located in the district of Raigad (Maharashtra, India). Our initiative has reduced open defecation and provided toilets and bathrooms to 100% of the students, wherein most of their families have no sanitation facilities in their homes. This has reduced the number of instances of illnesses for girls. The skill development program was initiated with a 30% reservation for women. During the skill development, the first two months included training on communication in English language. The previous two batches (2015 & 16) passed out with an average class enrolment of 100 students per year. These tribal students who have graduated with a certificate course are now employed locally or have started an independent business. Our initiative was recently recognized and approved by the government of India.

Financial sustainability plan: How is this initiative financially supported? How will you ensure its financial sustainability long-term?

The SanEduSkill (SES) project is financed by the surplus generated by the Mahatma International School (New Panvel). The financial contribution for 2014 to 2017 was 72%, 77%, 96% and 79% respectively of the surplus generated at our international school facility. Additionally, the government of India has contributed 2% to our program in the current year. This project is implemented as a continuous effort for construction of toilets and provision of free skill development program for tribal children in a rural area of Raigad district, Maharashtra. A central facility providing free skill development courses is already created, but we need additional resources for building more toilets and reaching out to other tribal schools in the vicinity.

Unique value proposition: What makes your initiative innovative? How does your project differ from other organizations working in the same field?

Previous projects have encouraged student enrollment by offering free food and clothing. However, none have investigated the reasons behind dropouts, especially girls. On reaching out to students and their parents, we successfully addressed the socially repressed issues of menses and open defecation. We have brought education as a second chance via free skill development for dropouts to alleviate poverty and assist the future generations come out of this vicious cycle of poverty and illiteracy.

Founding story: Share a story about the "Aha!" moment that sparked the beginning of this initiative.

India has the highest number of people living below poverty line (World Bank). After researching we found illiteracy as a major cause, which motivated us to survey the local urban and rural areas where lack of toilet facilities was witnessed as a significant reason for dropping out of school. Especially, a lower literacy for women revealed dropouts at the onset of menses, often a traditionally repressed family issue in India. We could hardly comprehend that menses could lead to illiteracy. This encouraged us to initiate construction of gender segregated toilets for tribal students. Our "Ahaa" moment struck when we started seeing girls returning to school after having access to sanitation. Further, these children who completed school were provided with free skill development courses leading to employability and improvement in the overall quality of life for a rural population in India.

Where did you hear about the Nestlé Creating Shared Value Prize?

Nestlé page or contact

Evaluation results

423 evaluations so far

1. Overall evaluation

5 - This idea rocked my world. It’s awesome! - 76.5%

4 - This idea seems really exciting. With a little more polishing, it’d be among my favorites. - 20%

3 - I think the idea is great, but it needs some work before it moves onto the next round. - 2.9%

2 - I liked it fine but preferred others. - 0.7%

1 - It didn’t make my heart beat faster. Needs significant revisions. - 0%

2. Innovation

5 - Absolutely, 100%! - 70.3%

4 - I feel really good about this - very promising - 23.8%

3 - This has some good elements and some areas for development - 5%

2 - This doesn’t inspire me so much - 1%

1 - This entry is weak here - 0%

3. Social and/or Environmental Impact

5 - Absolutely, 100%! - 76.3%

4 - I feel really good about this - very promising - 20.3%

3 - This has some good elements and some areas for development - 3.3%

2 - This doesn’t inspire me so much - 0%

1 - This entry is weak here - 0%

4. Financial sustainability

5 - Absolutely, 100%! - 100%

4 - I feel really good about this - very promising - 35.5%

3 - This has some good elements and some areas for development - 5.9%

2 - This doesn’t inspire me so much - 1.4%

1 - This entry is weak here - 0.7%

Nothing stands out! I thought it was great. - 0.3%

5. Potential to Scale / Replicability

5 - Absolutely, 100%! - 77.9%

4 - I feel really good about this - very promising - 16.5%

3 - This has some good elements and some areas for development - 4.3%

2 - This doesn’t inspire me so much - 1.2%

1 - This entry is weak here - 0%

6. Organizational Leadership

5 - Absolutely, 100%! - 76.2%

4 - I feel really good about this - very promising - 20%

3 - This has some good elements and some areas for development - 3.6%

2 - This doesn’t inspire me so much - 0.2%

1 - This entry is weak here - 0%

7. Potential for Creating Shared Value

5 - Absolutely, 100%! - 77.1%

4 - I feel really good about this - very promising - 18.3%

3 - This has some good elements and some areas for development - 4%

2 - This doesn’t inspire me so much - 0.5%

1 - This entry is weak here - 0%

Written by

Samir Vinchurkar

Director (Research), India

507 comments

Join the conversation:

Comment

Prem

03:05, Dec 30, 2017

This is empowering India ... going to the grass roots making a change by delivering knowledge ... knowing what is required and doing what is required ...simply initiative that will make a change in years to come

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padmaja

10:13, Dec 02, 2017

Great Initiative and excellent work towards the society .

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BHAVNA DAVE

09:35, Dec 02, 2017

Commendable efforts by MES...Only Education will help the society move towards development.Truly inspiring!!

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Shree M.J.

08:56, Dec 02, 2017

Idea is really promising. Wish you all the Best.

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Sally Enos

07:47, Dec 02, 2017

A great initiative and excellent work done for the benefit of the larger society.

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Geeta Thakur

07:26, Dec 02, 2017

Great initiative! MES has been always very much concerned about social issues.

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Sneha Singh

06:04, Dec 02, 2017

Outstanding initiative!!!
Proud to be a member of MES.

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Jayant Sahasrabudhe

15:18, Dec 01, 2017

Great initiative for bringing positive change

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varsha chatuphale

10:33, Dec 01, 2017

Noble and inspiring initiative !!!

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SUMESH NAMBIAR

05:53, Dec 01, 2017

Great initiative taken by MES. SanEduSkill (SES)- Sanitation, Education and Skill Development

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Esha Joshi

05:35, Dec 01, 2017

Great work..pretty commendable..

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Sukhdeep singh

05:07, Dec 01, 2017

Great work Mes.Helping rural people & students

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kewal shah

05:06, Dec 01, 2017

Great initiative !!

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SINGH ROSHAN BAHADUR KISAN

04:53, Dec 01, 2017

VERY NICE I LOVE MES's WORK THE COMMUNITY

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Shruti Jetha

16:28, Nov 30, 2017

MES

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VANDANADEVI RADHESHYAM TIWARI

16:27, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative !!
MES

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Gopakumar pillai

16:26, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative. Really Appreciable.

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Harsh Hemantkumar

16:16, Nov 30, 2017

Respect

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Pooja Rabary

16:07, Nov 30, 2017

Great idea and initiative!

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Sharda Mhatre

16:04, Nov 30, 2017

Great work mes

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Anjali Taide

15:56, Nov 30, 2017

Good going.....keep it up

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Antara Mohile

15:44, Nov 30, 2017

Keep it up !! Great work ��

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Sangram Dora

15:20, Nov 30, 2017

It's great work. Excellent. Good initiative towards the society.great idea.

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RUTUJA PARAB

15:09, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative

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Sukhdeep

14:44, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative towards development of society.

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priyanka dimri

14:43, Nov 30, 2017

I would say - Brilliant thought and great initiative taken by MES for the society.
A Noble Work !

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SUKHDEEP SINGH

14:36, Nov 30, 2017

Great job done by the institution. Such an inspiration!

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Sunil Sreenivasan

14:34, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative

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Viji Nair

14:15, Nov 30, 2017

Truly inspiring and promising initiative MES.

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Kiran Deshmukh

13:59, Nov 30, 2017

Great work

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Suparna Konar

13:44, Nov 30, 2017

Excellent work. It will really make a difference.

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Deepika Sharma

Edited on 13:47, Nov 30, 2017

Amazing thought.... Great initiative....

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Anuradha Sharma

13:41, Nov 30, 2017

Great effort by MES

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Aamir Shaikh

13:36, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative and contribution by MES towards society.

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Nithya Eldho

13:31, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative

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Rashmi Kulkarni

13:16, Nov 30, 2017

This idea is really awesome.

MES

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Pragati Gavhane

12:51, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative

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Shreeja nair

12:22, Nov 30, 2017

Great work

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sukhi

12:18, Nov 30, 2017

Mes keep doing the great work.

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prathamesh jawake

12:01, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative.

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jitendra londhe

11:58, Nov 30, 2017

Great initiative towards development of society.

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Sukhi Jatt

11:52, Nov 30, 2017

Excellent contribution done by MES towards society.

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sejal sawant

11:48, Nov 30, 2017

Great efforts MES.

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lijesh v

11:44, Nov 30, 2017

Good initiative

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tanik tyagi

11:42, Nov 30, 2017

great step MES,would love to be a part of it.

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CHAITANYA KULKARNI

11:34, Nov 30, 2017

Speechless...Your work is amazing.

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Chaitanya Kulkarni

11:29, Nov 30, 2017

MES GREAT INITIATIVE

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Sejal Sawant

11:25, Nov 30, 2017

Proud to be a part of MES, keep it up, all the best!

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SNEHA KHADE

11:22, Nov 30, 2017

Amazing work! Keep Going MES.

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Shweta Shirure

11:19, Nov 30, 2017

Nic idea

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Tejas Pawar

11:17, Nov 30, 2017

Excellent contribution done by MES towards society.

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PAWAR TEJAS SAHADEV

11:14, Nov 30, 2017

Great Initiative by MES

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Pratik Khandekar

11:12, Nov 30, 2017

Way to Save God gift -Nature and Special appreaciations for MES

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Khalil Shaikh

11:11, Nov 30, 2017

A brilliant idea wonderfully executed for the betterment of the society.

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Balaji Nagarajan

11:06, Nov 30, 2017

Wonderful idea and great initiative taken by Mahatma Education Society team for betterment of rural development!!!!

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ARIFUDDIN AHMED

11:06, Nov 30, 2017

Kudos to MES for their contribution in uplifting the poor and needy.

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Meena Khalil

11:04, Nov 30, 2017

Great effort. MES always leads by example to inspire everyone

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AYESHA CHIKTE

11:03, Nov 30, 2017

India needs projects like these to come up all over the country. Great work

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SINGH ROSHAN BAHADUR KISAN

11:01, Nov 30, 2017

Keep up the good work. And please let me know if I can get involved.

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Shivangi

10:58, Nov 30, 2017

Awesome idea

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sarika sawant

10:51, Nov 30, 2017

Nice

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Sakshi Pawar

10:50, Nov 30, 2017

good initiative

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Rutuja Kalyankar

10:44, Nov 30, 2017

better initiative

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Manali Shetye

10:42, Nov 30, 2017

good initiative in our society.

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Sajda Ansari

10:42, Nov 30, 2017

good initiative

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Aarti Ricky Pandey Bhot

10:30, Nov 30, 2017

Wonderful idea and great initiative taken by MES team for betterment of rural development. Thank you for all the hard work and dedication you put in.
Your efforts are truly appreciated.

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