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| Improving Girls' Education and Status in India | | 'BETI BACHAO, BETI PADHAO' | | Dr. Pragya Khanna | 2/2/2015 10:36:11 PM |
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Education is one of the most critical areas of em
powerment for women. That women might have the
chance of a healthier and happier life should be reason enough for promoting girls' education; the development of skills, information and self-confidence in her that she needs to be a better parent, worker and citizen. A good analogy is tossing a pebble into water. The effect grows as the ripples keep spreading and have an impact far beyond the spot where the pebble originally fell. The same is true for educating girls. One girl's education affects not only herself, but her family and community.
I sit writing this piece as a reference to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi's emotional appeal to the people of India, saying he "comes as a 'bhikshuk' to beg for the lives of daughters" as he addressed a large gathering consisting predominantly of women at Panipat in Haryana, on the occasion of the launch of the National Programme "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao." Stating that we have no right to call ourselves 21st century citizens as long as we have an 18th century mindset, the Prime Minister called for an end to the discrimination between sons and daughters, saying this was the key to ending female foeticide.What would it take to improve girls' access to education? Experience in scores of countries shows the importance, among other things, of parental and community involvement, that is, the families and communities must be important partners in managing girl children's education; low-cost and flexible timetables, this is important in a country like ours wherein girls are denied education due to low family income. Where possible, there should be stipends and scholarships to compensate families for the loss of girls' household labour.
Also, school hours should be flexible so children can help at home and still attend classes. As far as possible there must be easy accessibility to schools as many parents worry about girls travelling long distances on their own. Many parents also prefer to have daughters taught by women. Relevant curricula and learning materials provided should be pertinent to the girl's background and be in the local language.
They should also avoid reproducing gender stereotypes. There are 600 million girls living in the developing world. Two-thirds of the world's uneducated children are girls, and two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults are women.
Around the world, girls and women continue to suffer from a lack of economic opportunity, inadequate health care and education, early marriage, sexual violence, and discrimination. Numerous studies have demonstrated that educating women and girls is the single most effective strategy to ensure the well-being and health of children, and the long-term success of developing economies.
There are compelling benefits associated with girls' education:
" Reduction of child and maternal mortality
" Improvement of child nutrition and health
" Lower birth rates
" Enhancement of women's domestic role and their political participation
" Improvement of the economic productivity and growth
" Protection of girls from HIV/AIDS, abuse and exploitation to name a very few.
All over the globe, girls constitute over half of the children out of school. Only 30 percent of all girls are enrolled in secondary schools. In many countries, less than one third of university students are women. An average girl from a low-income, rural household gets less than five years of schooling and never learns to read and write, to add and subtract, as opposed to an average boy who generally gets an opportunity to fully complete his primary education.
The phony outlook persists in many cultures that it is more beneficial to send the son to school because sons will stay in the family, whereas girls leave the family to join her husband's family after she gets married.
This emphasizes gender stereotypes that a women's place is in the home taking care of children, cooking, cleaning and doing other unpaid work. In more than 100 countries, school is not free and many parents cannot afford the tuition or the cost of uniforms. Faced with social and economic barriers, parents often choose to invest in their son's, and not their daughter's, education. Unsafe travel over long distances to and from school and the lack of separate toilets for girls are other reasons why millions of girls are forced to stay out of school and denied an education.
These factors also explain why girls drop out at much higher rates and at earlier ages, sometimes only completing two years of school; compared to a boy who is more likely to make it to secondary school and beyond.
The high rate of child marriage in many countries means many girls never have the opportunity to go to school or are forced to drop out of school at a young age. Education is crucial for the empowerment and emancipation of girls and women, and the realization of all other human rights. According to a survey educating a girl has a transformational effect that changes communities and societies. Education empowers girls by introducing new ways of thinking about traditions and issues, and challenges traditionally held gender roles. Education helps a girl to respect herself and to be respected by others. Education drastically reduces child marriage. On average, a girl with 7 years of education will marry 4 years later and have 2.2 fewer children. A girl who completes basic education is three times less likely to contract HIV. Knowledge and skills learned at school will be passed onto her parents and the community. Education is essential for a strong economy. One extra year of school boosts a girl's future wages by 10-20 percent. Children born to educated mothers are two times more likely to survive past the age of 5. Moreover, education fosters critical thinking skills, which are essential for effective leaders and democracy as the world needs more women to solve global problems!
Nevertheless, progress in girls' education has been one of the success stories in women's rights and global development of the past 20 years. Since 1990, when only half the girls living in low-income countries were in school, the number of girls in primary school increased two and a half times by 2012, that is, from 23.6 million to nearly 63 million and today 80 percent of girls in low-income countries are enrolled, however, despite their enrolment, they are not regularly attending schools due to the reasons mentioned above.While girls' education has received some attention as a result of global advocacy, a wider view of education is needed and should undoubtedly include the physical, social, economic and political circumstances in which girls are living. Several steps need to be taken in order to give concrete shape to the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign and educators in India have an important role to play. It is clear that there is a dire need for initiating structural changes that can somehow uproot the regressive and misogynist practices in the country. Numerous efforts are being made to tackle the gender based inequality but the main question is regarding the sustainability of these projects. Not only is it important for more girls to attend educational institutions but it is imperative to re- structure the system itself.
Only then will the goals of feminism be achieved. Let us hope the Govt's. ambitious 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign will sensitize people about the need for the safety and education of the girl child, skewed sex ratio, prevention of female foeticide and women empowerment. However it is true that women have to harness their power. It's just learning not to take the first 'No'. And if you can't go straight ahead, you must go around the corner and make things possible.
There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.-Kofi Anan. |
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