Girls on Wheels: Bicycle Programs in India and Kenya

For VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

 

In developing countries, attending school can be a daily struggle for some children.

 

They may walk several kilometers to school because their families do not have money to send them on buses or other forms of transportation.

 

With schools far away, and little money to pay for transport costs, parents worry about the safety of their children walking to school.

 

So, a number of parents keep their children at home. Or the child drops out of school: they leave without completing their studies.

 

These and other barriers to school attendance are the reality for many girls in poor countries.

 

But now, programs in two developing countries are helping to change that. The programs are giving girls “pedal power” -- transportation in the form of bicycles.

 

Power of the pedal

 

Rural areas of poor countries often have few secondary schools. So, it is common for students there to travel great distances to attend classes.

 

Bihar is the poorest state in India. Ninety percent of the state’s population lives in rural areas.

 

Until 2007, too many teenage girls in Bihar were dropping out of school. For Nahid Farzana, her home was 6 kilometers from school. And, her father did not have money for bus fare, she told the Associated Press.

 

But, that same year, the state government began offering bicycles to girls to help them get to school. The program has been so effective that three nearby states are now doing the same.

 

And the results are measurable. A 2014 study found that giving bicycles to teenage girls in India increased their secondary school enrollment by 30 percent. It also helped many of them stay in school long enough to take their final exams.

 

Western Kenya is experiencing success with a similar program. Until recently, there was a high risk of local girls dropping out of school and then becoming pregnant.

 

Loise Luseno is a 16-year-old girl from Kakamega, Kenya. In the past, she had to walk about 10 kilometers to reach school. Last year, she dropped out temporarily because of the distance.

 

For VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

 

In developing countries, attending school can be a daily struggle for some children.

 

They may walk several kilometers to school because their families do not have money to send them on buses or other forms of transportation.

 

With schools far away, and little money to pay for transport costs, parents worry about the safety of their children walking to school.

 

So, a number of parents keep their children at home. Or the child drops out of school: they leave without completing their studies.

 

These and other barriers to school attendance are the reality for many girls in poor countries.

 

But now, programs in two developing countries are helping to change that. The programs are giving girls “pedal power” -- transportation in the form of bicycles.

 

Power of the pedal

 

Rural areas of poor countries often have few secondary schools. So, it is common for students there to travel great distances to attend classes.

 

Bihar is the poorest state in India. Ninety percent of the state’s population lives in rural areas.

 

Until 2007, too many teenage girls in Bihar were dropping out of school. For Nahid Farzana, her home was 6 kilometers from school. And, her father did not have money for bus fare, she told the Associated Press.

 

But, that same year, the state government began offering bicycles to girls to help them get to school. The program has been so effective that three nearby states are now doing the same.

 

And the results are measurable. A 2014 study found that giving bicycles to teenage girls in India increased their secondary school enrollment by 30 percent. It also helped many of them stay in school long enough to take their final exams.

 

Western Kenya is experiencing success with a similar program. Until recently, there was a high risk of local girls dropping out of school and then becoming pregnant.

 

Loise Luseno is a 16-year-old girl from Kakamega, Kenya. In the past, she had to walk about 10 kilometers to reach school. Last year, she dropped out temporarily because of the distance.

 

The ups and downs

 

Even with the success of the bicycles programs, there are still problems.

 

Ainea Ambulwa teaches at the Bukhaywa secondary school in Kakamega, Kenya. He belongs to a bicycle supervisory committee at the school. He makes sure that the riders are keeping their vehicles in good condition.

 

Ambulwa says defeating poverty remains a difficult issue.

 

He says that some families will put heavy things on the bicycles and then they break down. Because the family lacks the money to have the bicycle repaired, the girl can no longer get to school.

 

World Bicycle Relief is based in Chicago, Illinois. It provides bicycles through another group: World Vision.

 

In 2015, the two groups launched a bicycle production factory in Kisumu, Kenya. The cost of the bicycle is around $180. That is too much money for most families in rural Kenya.