New Delhi:EROS TIMES: The Directorate of Education, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, launched She Codes Clubs Program for girl students of Delhi Government schools, in collaboration with She Codes Foundation- a Not for Profit organization.
Speaking at the launch of the program, Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia said, “I welcome this initiative, and appreciate the efforts of the Harvard Alumni (founders of the She Codes Foundation) for coming up with this mission to educate and empower young girls in the field of Computer Science. It is a great opportunity for our girl students to master their coding skills and build a strong grasp over the subject- Computer Science. 1000 girl students of Delhi government schools have been enrolled in the program which will be accommodating 10,000 girls tentatively by March 2021.”
Manish Sisodia also agreed with the point made by Shailendra Sharma, Principal Advisor to the Director of Education. “Science is a subject that is only associated with boys, while Arts is a subject meant for girls according to the perception of Indian society,” said Shailendra Sharma. Deputy CM added, “This mindset needs to change and She codes will enable us to do that.”
Girls have to fight societal pressure every day to come to school- Deputy CM Sisodia
“Talking about the educational reforms and the current trend of girls outperforming boys in board exams, our efforts to encourage them goes in vain when we look at the hurdles girls face in their day to day lives. Societal pressure and regressive attitude towards girls’ education discourage them to take up higher education or pursue a career. This point was highlighted to me by one of our school counselors which is a crucial one, indeed. Many girl students are being sent to school with the mindset to obtain a degree which would act as a means to secure good marriage proposals for them,” said Dy CM Manish Sisodia
*Delhi Govt.’s Happiness class has managed to garner positive outcome across corners of the city- Deputy CM Manish Sisodia
“When I ask kids about the happiness classes, they would say that tension is reduced. A girl student said that in their homes, there is a lot of discrimination pertaining to education, her brother is sent to private school, while her parents tell her that they cannot afford to send her to a private school. There is unfathomable struggle faced by our girl students every day to come to school as they face opposition from their families on a daily basis. There is this big regressive mindset around it which needs to change,’ said Manish Sisodia.
Congratulating the team of She Codes for introducing an innovative program for Delhi government school students, the Education Minister also said, “This program is in its initial stage where we are enrolling 1000 girl students, which we aim to expand to 10,000 girl students by March 2021 and finally enrolling 8 lakh girl students by the end of March 2025. That is our plan. It is a great step toward bridging the gender gap in the field of technology and swiping away the mindset that supports ‘boys for science, and girls for arts’ kind of attitude. The aim is to equip our girls to be strong enough to pursue a career in technology.”
She Codes Foundation, a Harvard Alumni initiative, is a Not for Profit organization dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology by educating young girls in the field of Computer science. It aims to provide free and flexible Computer science and coding skills programs in India for girls.