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Magic Bus Impact

Magic Bus impacts the lives of its primary stakeholder, the child, in ways that are both manifest and subtle. Some of these impacts were captured in studies that engaged with children, their parents as well as other members of the community such as teachers and principals.

The information below is collated from the following studies →

  1. Praxis Impact Assessments in 2010 and 2012
  2. Baseline Study of children between the ages of 12 and 17 in 2012 (funded by Comic Relief)
  3. Study of Peer Leaders in the Magic Bus programme, 2011
If you want to get a copy of any of these reports, please write to →

DRIVING CHANGE

Magic Bus is driving change in 99 of India's poorest villages and slum settlements.

Click here to read the reports. Forward-arrow

Impact Area: Education

Participation in the Magic Bus program makes a child attend more regularly at school, reducing his/her chances of dropping out and increasing the possibility of the child moving into higher grades.

  • 95.7% of the children in our program have an attendance record of over 80%. (Study 2)
  • 98% of the adolescent girls at Magic Bus are in secondary school. (Study 2)

Impact Area: Gender

By the time a Magic Bus child finishes her or his first year in our programme, she or he is more aware of issues relating to gender-equity and rights, and is therefore better equipped to behave fairly with people of any gender.

  • 42% of the participants in our programme are girls. (National MIS)
  • 82% of children feel that sports are as important for boys as for girls. (Study 2)
  • 82.7% children believe that it is equally important to invest in a girl’s as well as a boy’s future. (Study 2)

Impact Area: Health and Hygiene

By the time a Magic Bus child finishes his or her first year, she or he starts exhibiting a high degree of health-related knowledge, beliefs and practices.

  • 77.52% of children at Magic Bus follow good practices related to personal hygiene including hand washing, brushing, bathing and cutting nails. (Study 1 )
  • A 100% of the sample selected of Magic Bus children who graduate from our programme believe:
    • That open defecation is a major health hazard. (This is significant especially in light of the fact that 60% of Indians still defecate in the open. (Study 3)
    • That substance abuse (including smoking cigarettes) is harmful. (Study 3)
    • That playing sports is crucial to maintaining a healthy mind and body. (Study 3)

Impact Area: Sexual and Reproductive Health

Young women and girls in Magic Bus report a higher degree of control over their sexual and reproductive health.

  • 82.66% of the girls know about and practice menstrual hygiene – washing their pads and drying them in sunlight, changing their pads regularly and maintaining genital hygiene to prevent yeast infections. (Study 1)
  • 77.78% Magic Bus children are aware about their bodies and can differentiate between good and bad touch. (Study 1)
  • By the age of 12, 80% of children are aware of the permissible legal age for marriage. Under current Indian laws, the legal age for marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys. (Study 1)