Varanasi is situated in the middle of the Indian carpet belt. The illiteracy rate in the villages of the region is considerable. In an adult education programme parents have learned how to read and write and are now aware of how valuable school education is for the life of their children. 

In May 2005, in cooperation with the organisation CES Label STEP started the first pilot project on adult education in Varanasi. With the help of a specially designed computer programme women and men were supposed to learn how to read and write in only four months. The evening course was well-attended, though exclusively by women. Five times per week during the evening more than 90 participants met for two hours and studied eagerly. Because the demand was very high in the surrounding villages even after the pilot project had come to an end, the extension for nine more courses in three years was decided.  

Understanding the value of education

For the women of Varanasi the evening courses were a chance in many ways: They learned to deal with letters and numbers and during the pilot project they profited as well from doctor's visits and informational meetings about hygiene and health precaution.

Label STEP realized the project extension in cooperation with Dr. Shambhunath Singh Research Foundation (SRF). In seven villages the courses were continued, this time, however, with a still more practically oriented focus: The part of the project in which the women were before informed about medical care was substituted by instructions on the application of writing in everyday life in the second project phase. Thus, for example, dealing with post offices and banks, reading timetables and buying tickets was explained to them. The women also learned to calculate the wages which they are entitled to independently.

Because many women realized that the things they learned are in deed useful to them in everyday life, they also became more understanding and engaged towards the education of their children. In addition, the role of women in the village communities was deeply strengthened by the acquired knowledge and their increasing independence.