The Maharashtra government and the UNICEF have partnered to expand the Gender Transformative Programme to 120 schools in Dharashiv district by this month to address the root cause of discriminatory gender norms and stereotypes, officials said.

Dharashiv district is known for high gender disparities in the state.

The gender transformative programme (GTP) aims to provide equal opportunity of development to children in all their diversity, to prevent drop-out and child marriage and promote girls' education, according to the District Institute of Education Training (DIET).

The first phase of the programme, rolled out in 2022 by the UNICEF in 40 schools in Dharashiv (previously Osmanabad), has reached 4,958 students (2,291 girls, 2,667 boys), 193 teachers and more than 9,000 community members through play-based curricula and gender fairs, according to the GTP data.

The programme is aimed at adolescents aged 10-14 years studying in grades 6-8, teachers, education functionaries, school management committee members, parents and the larger community.

"The Gender Transformative Programme has increased engagement of women, teachers and students in various activities for gender equity. The students have become more confident and are leading the programme as champions, inspiring others to follow similar thoughts," Dr Dayanand Jathnure, DIET principal, Dharashiv, Maharashtra, told PTI.

"The community's involvement is more now and everyone is working collectively to achieve gender equality," he said.

The second phase of the programme, which was implemented in 2024, aims to expand to 120 schools, reach 21,060 children, 620 teachers and 12,000 community members, as per the data.

So far, the programme has reached 8,560 children in the district, according to the data.

Looking at the behavioural change among children and the community, the Maharashtra government in collaboration with the MSCERT (Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training) is mulling to expand the GTP in model schools across 36 districts in the state, according to the DIET.

"The Gender Transformative Programme in Dharashiv is more than empowerment - it's a movement to shift mindsets, challenge deep-rooted norms and build a future where every girl and boy has equal opportunities to thrive," chief of the UNICEF Maharashtra field office, Sanjay Singh said.

Along with this, the GTP engages with schools, local leaders, district and state administration, especially the MSCERT, he said.

"Seeing the success of the Dharashiv intervention, the MSCERT has built a capacity of 72 DIET trainers towards scaling up the intervention across the state. We are happy to collaborate with the state to scale up the intervention across Maharashtra," Singh said.

"By engaging communities, schools and local leaders, we are building a foundation for lasting gender equity in the region," he added.

However, one of the programme implementing partners, Men Against Violence and Abuse ( MAVA), said in the initial stage of implementing the GTP, they faced resistance from both teachers and parents in the community.

There was also a lot of hesitance and a sense of shyness among the children, MAVA said.

But when the programme progressed, both teachers and parents became supportive while children became less hesitant and started asking questions on gender stereotypes, it said.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.