Over 20 lakh girls enrolled across 30,000 villages in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, as Educate Girls aligns with RTE, NEP and ULLAS to earn Asia’s top public service award.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s most prestigious public service recognition, has honoured Safeena Husain and her organisation Educate Girls for their transformative work in enrolling out-of-school girls in some of India’s most marginalised and educationally underserved regions.
Educate Girls has worked across more than 30,000 villages in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, mobilising over 20 lakh girls for school enrolment since 2007. The organisation’s model is deeply aligned with India’s Right to Education Act, the Samagra Shiksha programme, the National Education Policy and ULLAS, the government’s flagship volunteer-driven education initiative.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award recognises outstanding contributions in areas of public service, social justice, and community leadership across Asia. The award is conferred after a rigorous nomination and review process that evaluates tangible and sustained impact in public welfare.
Educate Girls’ work is built on a community-led, door-to-door approach that identifies out-of-school girls, engages with families, and supports the return and retention of girls in schools. Its work has received wide support from state governments, district authorities and thousands of local champions and volunteers.
Safeena Husain’s leadership has steered Educate Girls into becoming one of India’s most impactful educational movements, with a data-driven model that addresses both access and learning outcomes. The organisation has also been recognised for its scalable model, use of gender parity indices, and results-based funding frameworks.
Educate Girls has repeatedly demonstrated that large-scale enrolment and retention can be achieved in remote, patriarchal and socio-economically challenged regions by building trust and accountability at the grassroots. Its model uses local community-based volunteers called Team Balika, who work closely with schools, families and local authorities to bring lasting change.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation noted that Safeena Husain and Educate Girls exemplify the transformative power of inclusive education and grassroots mobilisation. They described her work as a powerful example of how public participation, government collaboration, and unwavering commitment can redefine access to education.
The award ceremony will be held in Manila, the Philippines, on November 11, 2025, bringing international visibility to India’s community-driven education innovations.
About the Ramon Magsaysay Award:
The Ramon Magsaysay Award celebrates greatness of spirit and transformative leadership across Asia. Established in 1957, it honours individuals and organisations that have demonstrated impactful public service in areas such as government, education, health, rights, and the environment. Awardees are selected annually through a confidential global nomination process and rigorous evaluation.
About Educate Girls:
Educate Girls is a non-profit organisation working to tackle gender inequality in education. Since 2007, it has operated in partnership with governments and communities to enrol and retain out-of-school girls in India’s most educationally backward regions. Its interventions cover over 30,000 villages and have impacted the lives of over 20 lakh girls through enrolment, remedial learning, and community engagement programmes.
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