I had the opportunity to travel to Bihar with my colleague Devi to understand how a WhatsApp chatbot—Pragati didi—fits into the lives of girls and young women who’ve dropped out of school. I spent three days at six different camps spread across Munger and Katihar district in Bihar, watched them solve activity sheets we presented, use the chatbot, and talk about what learning actually means to them.
I came back with much more than product insights! I came back wondering if education is enough.
On the Ground
The NGO, Educate Girls, they train preraks—educated women from the same village, who understand the community, speak the language, live the same reality. A prerak is a graduate who becomes a mentor to girls/women or to learners as they call it, who’ve dropped out.
These study sessions happen in camps. An anganwadi center. A classroom in a school in the block. A common village space. A room in a prerak’s house. The learners come to study—between household work, childcare, everything else.
The Paradox I walked into
The space was full of young faces. Too young. Counting as I look around: one girl is married with children. Another was recently married and is now pregnant. A third mentioned that her husband asks her, almost casually, “What will you do by studying? You have to look after the household anyway.”
Their goal today is to pass their Class 10 NIOS exams.
And what hit me immediately? These girls are smart, thoughtful, and eager to learn. They’re doing something remarkable. And yet, almost every force around them—family, husband, society—is telling them it doesn’t matter.
What struck me the most
During our activities, we watched them work through activity sheets and give feedback on the chatbot.
And I realized: They knew exactly what would help them learn better.
One woman—maybe 8th pass, dropped out, juggling household work—explained it: “I finish a chapter and solve the five questions on Pragati didi. But if I come back after five days to practice the same chapter, it’s the same five questions again. Can we have different questions?”
Another: “It only asks chapter-level questions. Can it give us book-level questions too?” She wants to go deeper and learn.
Many of them also said—”When something is hard, I either search it on ChatGPT or I scan the QR code in the book to watch the video summary.” But some of them also said they keep these videos running in the background. While cooking. While cleaning. Learning happens whenever there’s time. They’re fitting education into their lives.
What stood out to me was that they seemed very interested in understanding how technology could help them learn than in worrying about how to adopt something new. I had expected questions about navigating the chatbot, finding it on WhatsApp, or understanding how it worked. Instead, they moved past these questions with remarkable ease. When prompted to think about how the chatbot could support their learning, they had immediate ideas. For example, one learner asked — could it help us learn long, subjective answers too? They weren’t trying to adapt themselves to the technology. They were already imagining how the technology could better support their learning.
These girls/women understand themselves as learners. They know what they need:
When a girl asks for different quiz questions, she’s not just asking for better study material. She’s thinking. Problem-solving. Believing in her own abilities.
When the women come to camp despite everything—despite husbands questioning it, despite household work, despite carrying children—they’re making a choice. “I want this. I want to learn. I want to try.”
That agency is real. That motivation is real.
The prerak showing up? A woman from the village. Someone like them. Saying “I studied and I’m here to help you.” That’s real work. The chatbot is helping them practice, reminding them they’re not alone—that matters too.
This is power. Agency. Self-awareness. The ability to name what you need.
The girls are showing up. The prerak is guiding them. The NGO is building something real—creating a space where learning can continue long after formal schooling has stopped. Together they are creating possibilities that did not exist before.
The HARD PART
One woman recently joined the program. Her husband questions why she’s studying. Not mean about it—just a question.
And I think: Will passing a Class 10 exam change that? Will she be able to work? Will her family support it? Will the expectation to manage everything disappear? Will anyone suddenly value her work?
But at the same time, without that education, would those possibilities exist at all?
I think about another woman in the room carrying her child while she studies. Studying while being a mother, while managing household work, probably while hearing it’s pointless.
Does education alone free her? Or is it just the first step in a much longer fight—one where her family, her community, her society all have to shift too?
Where my choices come from
I grew up with two working parents. Both working. All the time. I watched my mother make decisions, have autonomy. I watched my father respect that. I absorbed a different message than most girls: “You can be independent. You can work. Your choices matter.”
That shaped me. Not just education—my parents’ lived example.
When I look at the learners, I think about their daughters. What will they see?
If their mother studies, gains new capabilities, and potentially earns a degree, but still carries the full burden of household work and faces barriers to using what she has learned because of expectations at home and in society, what is her daughter learning about what’s possible?
And still….
I left the camps with more questions than answers. Is education enough?
Maybe it’s not the whole answer. Maybe it’s just the part they can control right now. Maybe the certificate is what she achieves while everything else shifts slowly around her. So when she passes her exams, she has choices. So her daughter grows up seeing that education leads somewhere. So a certificate means something beyond just passing a test.
But the questions won’t leave me: What else has to shift? How do we make sure this education actually transforms her life—not just by giving her a certificate, but by expanding her choices?
I came to understand how a chatbot fits into exam prep. I left wondering what it takes for this Class 10 certificate, on its own, to reshape a life!
