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Showing the way to girls

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: A month-long road show of UNICEF, organised as part of the "Girl Stars'' project in four districts of Rajasthan, is highlighting the significance of education among girls belonging to marginalised communities in remote areas and creating awareness among the rural populace.

Three colourful trucks equipped with mobile theatres for screening the Girl Stars series of films, flagged off in New Delhi on May 9, entered the State on May 11 and will cover Bikaner, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Tonk districts till June 11. The entourage will later leave for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The Girl Stars project is a series of short films documenting the inspiring stories of 15 ordinary girls from the most disadvantaged communities across five northern States, who made a success of their lives and became self-sufficient by breaking the shackles of socio-economic constraints to attain education.

These young women have grown to become role models in their communities by selecting professions ranging from conventional teaching and nursing to the most unconventional ones, such as archery, bee-keeping, talk-show hosting and scrap management, and entered what have traditionally been men's domains.

UNICEF-Rajasthan Project Officer Shikha Wadhwa said here on Wednesday that the Girl Stars project was a "humble effort'' of the U.N. body to supplement the State Government's efforts to improve literacy levels with the focus on girls from marginalised and minority communities having the highest levels of illiteracy.

Despite the State Government's sustained efforts to improve literacy, Rajasthan is among the States having the largest number of out-of-school children or dropouts. )

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