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{{Short description|School for underprivileged girls in Lucknow, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}{{Use indian english|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox school
| name = Prerna Girls School
| city = Lucknow
| state = Uttar Pradesh
| country = India
| type = Private, Same-sex
| established = 2003
| founder = [[Urvashi Sahni]]
| principal = Rakhee Panjwani
| grades = K–12
| campus_type = Urban
| affiliation = [[Study Hall Educational Foundation]] (SHEF)
| website = {{URL|https://studyhallfoundation.org/prerna-girls/}}
}}'''Prerna Girls School''' is a private, low-cost, K-12 school for underprivileged girls in [[Lucknow]], Uttar Pradesh, India. The school is recognised for its impact on girls' education, and was featured in an [[Emmy Awards|Emmy Award]]-winning documentary associated with the [[Obama Foundation]]'s Girls Opportunity Alliance. It was founded by [[Urvashi Sahni]], an educator and women right's activist in 2003. The school has over 1,000 current students and has served over 5,000 girls.

== History ==
Prerna Girls School was established in 2003 by Urvashi Sahni with an initial enrollment of 30 girls and a nominal monthly fee of {{Indian rupee|10}} per month to ensure affordability.<ref name="PebblesToPearls">{{cite web |title=Prerna Girls School |url=https://www.pebblestopearlsfoundation.ca/prerna |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Pebbles to Pearls Foundation}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Prerna Girls School {{!}} Study Hall Educational Foundation |url=https://www.studyhallfoundation.org/prerna-girls/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=www.studyhallfoundation.org}}</ref> It was created under the umbrella of the Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF), a non-profit organization established by Sahni, to address the educational needs of girls from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in Lucknow, particularly those from surrounding slums and communities who often worked as domestic help.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Jaffer |first=Mehru |date=2015-05-27 |title=One amazing school is giving underprivileged girls their first lesson in Feminism |url=https://thebetterindia.com/23332/prerna-school-giving-girls-their-first-lessons-in-feminism/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=The Better India |language=en-US}}</ref>

Prerna Girls School is known for adopting 'Critical Feminist Pedagogy,' an approach advocated by its founder Urvashi Sahini, to make students aware of gendered power structures, question established traditions and social norms, and develop self-esteem and the capacity to aspire.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Dhillon |first=Amrit |date=2017-03-18 |title=An Indian school converts submissive girls into empowered women |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/an-indian-school-converts-submissive-girls-into-empowered-women-20170318-gv11sd.html |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2017-02-16 |title=School for underprivileged girls teaches feminist principles in India |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/school-underprivileged-girls-teaches-feminist-principles-india-n719691 |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The curriculum is designed to be contextual and relevant to the girls' lives. The school has a current enrollment of over 1,000 students.<ref name=":4" />

== Recognition ==
The education model and mission of Prerna Girls School was one of the schools featured in the "Creators for Change on Girls' Education with Michelle Obama" documentary.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2021-07-06 |title=Lucknow school earns global recognition as documentary wins Emmy |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/lucknow-school-earns-global-recognition-as-documentary-wins-emmy/articleshow/84166816.cms |access-date=2025-05-30 |work=The Times of India}}</ref> The 49-minute documentary is a YouTube Originals produced with the help of [[Obama Foundation]]'s Girls Opportunity Alliance,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Obama |title=Laxmi’s story |url=https://www.obama.org/stories/laxmis-story/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Obama Foundation |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Obama |title=Kiran’s story |url=https://www.obama.org/stories/kirans-story/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Obama Foundation |language=en}}</ref> and was awarded the Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Non-Fiction Special category in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Media |first=Vox |date=2021-06-30 |title=Vox Media secures win and five nominations at 2021 Daytime Emmy Awards |url=https://www.voxmedia.com/2021/6/30/22557915/vox-media-secures-win-and-five-nominations-at-2021-daytime-emmy-awards |access-date=2025-06-29 |website=Vox Media |language=en}}</ref>

According to ''[[The Atlantic]]'', the school had "served over 5,000 girls from impoverished background" by 2017. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Willen |first=Liz |date=2017-10-16 |title=Fighting for Girls' Education in India |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/10/the-groups-fighting-for-girls-education-in-india/542811/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Education in India]]
* [[Feminist pedagogy]]

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book |last=Sahni |first=U. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtUBDgAAQBAJ |title=Reaching for the Sky: Empowering Girls Through Education: Empowering Girls Through Education |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-8157-3039-2 |access-date=August 13, 2025}}
{{Portal|India
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== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{coord missing|Uttar Pradesh}}

[[Category:Schools in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Feminism in India]]

Prerna Girls School - Revision history

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