20% of school-age girls in India are not in school. With a national population exceeding 1 billion, that means 27.7 million girls (ages 7-14) are not receiving formal education (Census of India 2001). Data on excluded girls is limited, but it is accepted that multiple exclusions restrict girls' participation in school. Of the nearly 50 million children 7-14 years old not enrolled in school in India, 55 percent are girls. This figure is disproportionately high, as girls represent just 48 percent of all children aged 7-14 years old. 

Of the 27.7 million girls 7-14 years old not enrolled in school, 33 percent come from scheduled castes or scheduled tribes. This figure is also disproportionately high, because only 26 percent of girls this age come from scheduled tribes or scheduled castes.¹

CSR's interventions

Over the years, CSR has successfully evolved the Parivartan model in villages and urban slums of India. 

Currently, CSR runs a school in Etawah for the children of underprivileged sections of the society. Until 2004, CSR also ran Parivartan Praveshika, for the primary education of adolescent girls. These provided education to girls who had never been to school or who are early drop-outs. This non-formal education prepared them to enter the formal government run schools after 2 - 3 years.

Additionally CSR ran Parivartan Sakhi Sabhas, an adult literacy programme which aimed through non-formal education and counseling to combat violence against women. 

Milestones reached by CSR in 2003 included the education of over 2500 adolescent girls under the non-formal education system, and over 9000 women under the adult education programme.

¹ 'Inexcusable Absence: Why 60 Million Girls Still Aren't In School and What to do About It', 2006. Maureen Lewis and Marlaine Lockhead http://www.cgdev.org/doc/books/Inexcusable%20Absence/Overview.pdf