Condition Of Women Education In India- A Critical Analysis

Abstract

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”

-Brigham Young

Women are at the heart of most societies. Regardless of whether they are working or not, mothers are very influential people in children’s lives. Educating girls is one of the most important investments that any country can make in its own future. Education has a profound effect on girls’ and women’s ability to claim other rights and achieve status in society, such as economic independence and political representation. Education for women is the best way to improve the health, nutrition and economic status of a household that constitute a micro unit of a nation economy. In this context, it can be argued that lack of woman education can be an impediment to the country’s economic development. In India, women achieve far less education that of men. As per the Census report 2001, the literacy rate of women is 54.16 per cent and that of men is 65.38 per cent. There has been a sincere effort to improve the education attainment of women by both government and voluntary organizations. The changes in the policies and infrastructural supports on primary, secondary and higher education reflect the initiatives of the Government of India towards women education. This paper examined the trends in women education, the investments on education and infrastructural supports in India. In sum, the study revealed that there have been concerted efforts to encourage girls to attend schools, which would lead to higher literacy in future. The study also revealed that there are several infrastructural barriers to women education in India. The study calls for focused approach towards increasing women centered educational infrastructure so as to reduce the women drop-out rates and to improve female literacy levels in India. In this paper an attempt has been made to critically examine the reality and also to look for solutions.