How ‘Mothers of Courage’ are catalysing an education movement in India
“Education is like a lioness’s milk. The more you drink [it], the louder you will roar,” says Geeta, a Shiksha Chaupal Facilitator, in the award-winning film ‘Mothers of Courage’. In India’s Bihar, she, with 400 women leaders, brings together the local community for the education of girls. Four out of ten girls in the state get married before they turn eighteen and many drop out because of family pressure to earn or care for siblings and elders. Simmering beneath these realities is the belief that the education of girls matters less than that of boys. It is a tightly held belief – one that has historically kept women at home and continues to shape everyday decisions. It is this belief that these women leaders are changing, village by village.
These women leaders are part of Shikshagraha, a people’s movement to improve 1 million public schools in India by 2030. With daughters of their own, these mothers turn leaders for the community, taking a stand for the education of girls, spreading awareness and mobilising community members to come together and act. These mothers catalyse spaces called Shiksha Chaupals (loosely translated as ‘education convenings’) for diverse actors in the community, from young people and women to religious leaders and government representatives, to meet, reflect on equity in education and collaboratively come up with solutions for the problems they are facing. As of early 2026, these leaders have led to the creation of 12,500+ Shiksha Chaupals in Bihar, spanning 4,11,000+ members across 5,317+ villages. These leaders are champions of change, inspiring and enabling communities to find solutions for proximate problems. As more and more communities come together to solve, not only more solutions but also more champions will emerge, taking the movement farther. This is the potential of something simple spreading far and wide, adapting to different contexts and creating irreversible change.
What I find myself most drawn to is the force animating such exponential change – agency. Women who dare to speak up for what they believe in, for other women. Women who walk from one village to another, knocking on doors, urging communities to come together and co-create a better future for girls. Women who persist, despite everything. ‘Mothers of Courage’ is a story about these women.
ShikshaLokam, with its partner ecosystem, is weaving Shikshagraha – a people’s movement for education equity.
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