2. Inequalities in Schooling of girls in
India
From time immemorial, a girl child has been
considered as an unwanted entity and
discrimination against girls begins even before her
birth. Following are some inequalities prevailing in
schooling of girls in India:
1.Access and retention in education : Problems of
gender disparity and discrimination begin with
access to schooling because Insufficient attention
is being given to social and cultural barriers which
prevent girls and women from entering the
education system.
3. Inequalities in Schooling Cont....
2.Negative attitude towards the education
of girls : Girl’s education is considered to be
less important and parents keep a negative
attitude towards it.
3. Biases in allocation of resources: Biases in
intra-household allocation of resources mean
that boys tend to be favoured in terms of food
allocations, and spending on health care and
also education.
4. Inequalities in Schooling of Cont....
4. Reinforcement of gender discrimination
by educational institutions: Educational
institutions play a central role in the process of
socialisation. For instance, stereotypes
pertaining to responsibilities, roles and
opportunities, to which children are initially
exposed in family settings, are endorsed in
educational institutions.
5. Inequalities in Schooling Cont....
5.Inadequate facilities in schools: Schools
are unable to provide safe and sanitary facilities
for young girls to attend, and with the
population increasing at a rapid speed the
priority for new facilities is given to boys.
6.Shortage of female teachers: The problem
can be solved, but it starts with first educating
girls so they can aspire to be teachers.
6. Inequalities in Schooling Cont....
7.Lack of change in parental attitude: Provision
of mandatory and free elementary and secondary
education does not guarantee a change in parental
attitudes .
8.Reinforcement of gender roles: Ideologies that
shape female and male identities in Indian society
are mutually reinforcing across institutions, such as
the family, workplace, schools and community
leading to vicious cycles of under-investment in
females. Female education has suffered as a result of
this.
7. Inequalities in Schooling Cont....
9.Inadequate accommodation facilities :
Accommodation for female students is often
inadequate. Government hostels for Dalit and
tribal women are overcrowded and have poor
facilities.
8. Issues of Access/Resistance in
schooling of Girls
"Achieving enrolment in school is
not a problem, the real problem
lies in keeping students in school
and making sure they attend class
regularly,"
9. Reasons for parental resistance
Parental reluctance to educate girls is a huge factor
inhibiting their access to education.
1. Perception of women in society : women are
seen primarily as child bearers and rearers, then
education is sometimes viewed as an unnecessary
and extravagant indulgence.
2. Girls education doesn’t reap any returns: A
mindset that views education for girls as unlikely
to reap any returns ascribes to the view that
investing in the education of the male child
10. 3.Poverty :Economically poorer sections are
often not in a position to send their children to
school and are likely to invest in the male child
4.Unfavourable attitudes toward co-
education: Many people still condemn and
dislike the idea of co-education.
Reasons for parental resistance
11. 5. Availability of schools : Most of the villages do
not have a primary school within a 1km radius;
Also lack an upper primary school within 3km
(NCERT, 2005).
6. Fear for girl safety : Girls safety and moral
reputation is a gender-specific deterrent to school
attendance, in travelling to school, in mixing with
fellow students, in coming into contact with male
teachers and in living in residential facilities away
from home.
Reasons for parental resistance
12. Issues of Retention in girls schooling and
education
Grade retention has become increasingly
controversial as early 2000’s education
initiatives such as No Child Left Behind have
pressed schools to meet certain standards
defined by scores on standardized tests. It is
observed that in almost all the states of India,
there has been an increase in gross enrolment
ratio (GER) at the primary level across all social
groups between 2004–5 and 2007–8.
13. The net enrolment ratio (NER) at the primary
level also increased from 84% in 2005–6 to 96%
in 2007–8 for the country as a whole (Planning
Commission, 2011).
Issues of Retention in girls cont.......
14. Factors affects retention of girls
A combination of factors affects retention rates in
schools. These include :
1.Undervaluation of girls education
2.Availability of schools
3.Inadequate School Facilities
4.Quality of teaching
16. Factors affects retention of girls
10.Domestic work
11.Lack of qualified female teachers
12.Lack of transport facilities
13.Lack of hostel facilities for girls
14.Fear of sexual harassment
15.Long schooling hours
17. Issues of Exclusion in schooling of
girls
According to R .Govinda, author of the book,
“Who Goes to School: Exploring
Exclusion in Indian Education” , which was
recently released in the Capital, “When we talk
of exclusion, we think of scheduled castes,
scheduled tribes and minorities. However true,
it is important to look at exclusion inside the
classroom too. A child can be sitting inside the
classroom and still be excluded.”
18. Types of exclusion in schools
1. Social exclusion: In the world’s largest
democracy, where millions of adherents to every
major religion of the world reside, some Indian
teachers have forced children of lower castes, such
as Dalits, and minority religions, to sit separately
and clean classrooms and toilets comprising the
“persistent” discrimination in Indian classrooms.
2. Self /Silent exclusion: A child can be sitting
inside the classroom and still be excluded.” Actual
reasons can range from a discriminatory attitude, no
classes, etc. thus resulting in absenteeism or
dropout, which is silent exclusion
19. Reasons of exclusions in schools
There can be many reasons why some girls who
have started ,do not complete, school:
1.Discriminatory attitude
2.Poverty
3.Child marriage
4.Early pregnancy
5.Gender-based violence
6.Gender stereotypes and gendered
attitudes
7.Lack of female teachers.
20. Reasons of exclusions in schools
8.Lack of basic facilities
9.Sanitary facilities
10.Bullying
11.Ill treatment
12.Long school hours
13.Fear for girls safety
14.Health
21. Measures to improve Education
Facilities for girls/women by
government
The expansion of education among girls/women has
been an integral part of educational policies and
programmes.
The National Policy on Education 1986 (as modified
in 1992) lays emphasis on education of girls/women
through empowerment programmes.
Accordingly, Ministry of Human Resource
Development has taken a number of initiatives for
expansion of girls’ education, details of which are as
under:
22. Measures to improve Contd....
1.Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao :In the newly
announced Scheme “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”,
Rs.5.00 crore has been made available for
strengthening girls’ education in 100 specified
districts on the basis of Child Sex Ratio which works
out to Rs.5.00 lakh per district.
2.Digital Gender Atlas for Advancing Girls
:Ministry of Human Resource Development has
prepared a ‘Digital Gender Atlas for Advancing Girls’
Education in India which was launched on the
occasion of International Women’s Day in 2015.
23. Measures to improve Contd....
3.National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for
Secondary Education (NSIGSE) : It
provides Rs.3000.00 which is deposited in the
name of eligible unmarried girls .
4. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas
(KGBV) has been opened in Educationally
Backward Blocks (EBBs) where the female rural
literacy is below the national average to provide
for residential upper primary schools for girls.
24. Measures to improve Contd.......
5.Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA):In order to
ensure greater participation of girls in
elementary education, ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
(SSA)’ has targeted interventions for girls which
include opening of schools in the neighbourhood
to make access easier for girls, appointment of
additional teachers including women teachers,
free textbooks, free uniforms, separate toilets for
girls, teachers’ sensitisation programmes to
promote girls participation, gender-sensitive
teaching materials including textbooks.
25. Measures to improve Contd.......
6.‘Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan
(RMSA)’ : envisages enhancing the quality of
education by providing a secondary school within a
reasonable distance of every habitation, improving
quality of education imparted at secondary level,
removal of gender, socio-economic and disability
barriers.
7.In Higher Education sector: University Grants
Commission (UGC) has allocated special grants for
construction of Women hostels in the Universities.
26. Measures to improve Contd....
8.Udaan : CBSE has launched a scheme “Udaan”
to provide free online resources to girl students
of Class XI and Class XII for preparation of
admission test for the premier engineering
colleges in the country.
9. Advancement of Girls participation in
Technical Education :All India Council for
Technical Education (AICTE) has launched a
scheme to provide assistance for Advancement
of Girls participation in Technical Education.
27. Measures to improve Contd.......
Conclusion: Education is one composite single
variable, which has the capacity to transform
many odds turning in favour of girls more
specially so in the rural India. Therefore, an
exclusive emphasis on girl’s education is
necessary.
28. The surest way to keep people down is
to educate the men and neglect the
women. If you educate a man you
educate an individual, but if you
educate a woman you educate a
nation”.
Dr. J. E. Kwegyir Aggrey
29. Bibliography
• National Curriculum Framework for School Education,
(2000), NCERT, New Delhi
• National Curriculum Framework, (2005), NCERT, New Delhi.
• Srivastava Gouri, Yadav Mona, (2013), Training Material for
Teacher Educators on Gender Equality and Empowerment,
Vol.I, II and III, NCERT, New Delhi.
Website visited
• http://www.who.int /gender/gender_ mainstreaming/en/
index. html.
• Retrieved from http:// www.who.int /iris/ handle
/10665/44098
• Retrieved from http://www.rmsaindia.org/en/
