Education for Everyone 100 Women

We are challenging teams of women

in four cities around the world.

To tackle everyday problems

that blight their lives.

In the workplace...

We need a working prototype

by tomorrow morning.

So, argh!

In education...

A small malfunction, emojis are not

showing up on the overlay.

On public transport...

I need, 15 more to do or something.

Seriously?

And on the sports field...

Using BBC outlets the teams

can appeal to help

from around the world.

They just have one week

to find a modern solution

to a long-standing issue.

Welcome to the BBC 100

Women Challenge 2017.

It's the second of our

100 Women challenges.

And this week we are in Delhi,

the capital of India.

Just under 26.5 million people,

and counting, called the city home.

And by 2020, it is on course

to become one of the richest

cities in the world.

In this programme we are asking,

why, despite all this economic

success, half of women in rural

India and a third of women

nationwide can't read or write.

We've pulled together a team of

women who are ready to face the BBC

100 Women Challenge.

They have been tasked to find

out what can be done

to increase female literacy.

Let's meet our experts.

This is the CEO of the Study Hall

Education Foundation which teaches

children in rural India

about gender quality.

We teach them that

they are equal people,

that they have a right to respect

and a right to a life

of their own choosing.

A health care entrepreneur

working in the US.

She is passionate about using

technology to increase

access to education.

Social class and cultural

disparities are the most prominent

issues that girls face

in India today.

I think tackling that within one

country with the various

languages that we have here,

is a real challenge.

A writer and journalist who has

written extensively about women

and gender in India.

It's going to be about women

and educating them that is truly

going to make India

into a great nation.

A teacher of some of Delhi's most

disadvantaged children whose

parents are imprisoned.

And finally, the founder of

an educational technology company.

She believes educating women makes

sound economic sense.

The men are educated

and if they are aware

of their gender equality

and their choices they will do

the same to their children,

and that is the same

to the entire population.

It is common sense.

Our experts' challenge is to come up

with an idea that will increase

female literacy both in India

and worldwide, in just five days.

They have been working on the

problem individually for weeks.

And have come together for the first

time to put their ideas into action.

So what is the global picture

for female literacy?

Almost two thirds of the world's

illiterate adults are women.

That is 479 million women.

A ratio that has not

changed for two decades.

The problem starts at school,

with girls less likely

than boys to attend.

15 million primary age girls

will never set foot in a classroom.

Why is this?

Girls miss school for many reasons.

Including, poverty, early

marriage and menstruation.

However, over the last decade,

millions more girls

have attended school.

For every 100 boys, 94 girls

completed primary school in 2014.

Compared to just 83 in 2002.

And older women

are still far behind.

Out of every ten women over 65 only

seven of them can read.

And in India that ratio

is even more striking.

According to the most

recent census figures,

only 28% of women over 60 here can

read and write.

And our experts want to make sure

that solutions meet the needs

of these older women.

To focus their efforts,

we have arranged for them

to meet Mehroonisa.

She will tell us why

she thinks education

is important and what she wants.

She was married at 14

and had nine children.

Which meant her education

was cut short.

One of her sons is now

known throughout India.

He is a Bollywood superstar.

She can read some Urdu, but

struggles to read and write Hindi.

In the run-up to the challenge,

the tech experts have been

developing an interactive electronic

book that they hope could

help to improve her literacy level.

And they are keen to see

what she thinks of the idea.

Can you explain, what is the

solution that we are talking about?

We are creating an e-book

that is image and video enhanced

to make it more interactive and also

more engaging for readers.

And you can use it

without the Internet?

Yes, we don't need

continuous connectivity,

because it is preloaded

and it is already loaded

onto the smartphone or tablet.

But not everybody is convinced

by the tech-based solution.

We know there is no Internet

penetration in vast

acres of the country.

And does everyone have smartphones?

She has one, but most people don't.

And if there is one at home

the men gets to use it,

that is the issue as well.

At the end of the first day

there are still lots

of questions about the e-book.

Tech experts work through the night

to try and show the others

what might be possible.

We are here to see which capable...

The tech sector in

India is growing fast.

Internet use here has

risen by 90% since 2015.

To open up minds...

But will that be enough

to persuade the others?

It's day two and the experts have

stepped out of the building.

Don't get any ideas.

They are still brainstorming,

but it is now fuelled

by a strong cup of Delhi chai.

Ladies, Delhi chai!

Having heard more about the e-book,

the team think a powerful way

to use this tech would be

to tell her own story.

But they also need something that

could appeal to the next generation.

And to find out more

about the challenges

facing younger women,

we've arranged for them

to meet Priyanka.

She moved to Delhi recently

from West Bengal where she lived

with her aunt and father

after her parents split up.

But she is behind in her studies,

as when she was younger her family

could not see the point

of sending her to school.

Eventually, Priyanka moved to live

with her mum in Delhi.

And she made sure that

Priyanka got an education.

We have got Priyanka and her friends

from school so we can hear more

about girls' education.

Right?

So everybody will tell

their stories, when they raise

their hand, I throw the ball.

Who raises their hand?

These kids go to the same

school in Delhi slums.

And they really wanted us to know

about friends and family

who lost out on education

when they got married.

The kids' stories are typical.

But the students also have ideas

for how to change things.

So the experts have plenty

of food for thought.

I really loved your idea as well.

That we should be using everything

that we possibly have,

and you spoke about a street play,

I think that is wonderful.

The experts were already thinking

of using drama as a way of raising

awareness about female illiteracy.

And after hearing the childrens'

stories, they decided

to turn their experiences

into a play to be performed

at the end of the week.

And work continues

late into the night.

While half of the team continue

to work on the play,

the others want to know how

comfortable she is with modern

technology, so they can see how

useful and e-book would be for her.

We have brought her all the way

from a village in Uttar Pradesh,

where she helps older women who have

never let technology,

to use some technology.

She is known as an Internet sathi,

and has trained over 600 women

in the last six months on how to use

the Internet and find their way

around a smartphone.

She helps Mehroonisa

navigate her way to the shops.

And soon she feels confident enough

to make a video call to her famous

son for the first time.

It has been a successful trip.

But will her new-found confidence

help inspire our experts

with their tech solution?

Hello, we are back.

Mehroonisa is very curious

about the technology,

she is very interested and I think

she had a lot of fun playing

with it and learning it.

I am optimistic that the e-book

will be a very good solution.

So if you see happy for example,

and you don't understand happy

you can see a happy

emoji and that will help

you understnad and correlate

other videos and links that help you

to illustrate your point clearer.

Inspired by Mehroonisa's shopping

trip, they decide to build chapters

into the e-book about how

to navigate daily life using emojis

and pictures to help

explain everyday situations

like using an ATM and increase

Mehroonisa's vocabulary.

These sections will be part

of the broader story

about Mehroonisa's life.

Where she was born, how

it is really her right

to get an education.

We're trying to put

that message across.

That it is every woman's right, no

matter what age, to have education,

and it is never too late to do that.

And the experts are also

working on the play.

Girls don't have any

control over their lives.

Tomorrow they need to show the kids

what they have done for the play's

first rehearsal and the prestigious

National School of Drama.

It is a nerve-racking time

for Priyanka and her school friends

as they get ready to rehearse.

After the rehearsal,

Veena tells me why theatre could be

a great way of getting

the team's message across.

But while the play is taking shape,

there is bad news for the rest

of the team working on the e-book.

Back at base.

It is a small malfunction

on a emojis not showing

up on the overlay.

They were working earlier,

it is a little worried

because it would be nice to have it

done right now.

We have news, you may not like it.

But it is what it is, OK?

So, you know this morning,

all the emojis were working great.

But then we wanted to change

the background to white,

so that it is kind of

like you know...

It is not happening?

There is a bug, because...

When will it be fixed?

Later tonight.

And the pressure is mounting

as they need to reveal the e-book

and the play to Mehroonisa,

Priyanka and her classmates

in just a few hours' time.

It is the last day of our challenge,

and despite yesterday's setbacks,

everyone is excited to see

what the team have come up with.

And I'm revealing our expert

solution to the world on BBC News.

We're at the end of the week

that was exploring the second

of the 100 Women Challenges

about female literacy,

and it has been such a week.

We spent such a good

time with experts.

But more importantly,

it is time for the kids

at Priyanka's school to see

what they think.

Across India, 93 girls attend

primary school for every 100 boys.

And that number falls

as the girls get older.

So the play could have an important

message for the girls here.

I will speak to the children

and they said we will take it

into the homes, to the street

corner,

which is the purpose of it.

There is no Internet required,

no technology required,

it is an oral tradition

and that is what has been working

here for centuries past.

That is what storytelling

has been done.

But the experts can't

take all the credit.

The play would not have

been possible without

the children's ideas.

Thank you very much.

And our experts are hoping that

Mehroonisa liked the e-book as much

as the kids enjoyed the play.

There was a specific point

when I had a conversation with her

and words hold her back.

She talked about her lack

of confidence in the small things

that she doesn't like,

and I was like, that can be fixed.

The use of emojis to be able

to communicate education

content is revolutionary.

I'm excited to see where we can take

this forward in India.

And the e-book also allows

Mehroonisa to share her story

with the next generation.

When the students read

it, they were like,

14 you were married?!

And there were questions

about the children, about her nine

children and how she had no time

for that because her life was work.

I think it is important for women

to tell a story and other women

to read them and ask important

questions about them.

The best solutions

are the most simple.

And if we can just bring those

to life, they can change the world.

That is it from Delhi.

Next week, we are in London

where we are looking for solutions

to sexual harassment on public

transport for the next

100 Women Challenge.