A Look At Women In Education In India

Don't have an account?
Just enter your email id or mobile no and create your account in two easy steps!

🇮🇳
- 🇮🇳
- 🇳🇿
LOGIN

I am a
looking for
Country

[{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498035634298","data":"I recently came across an article in The Hindu speaking about the first ever women graduates in Electrical Engineering in India; not only were they the very first women to do so, their certificates had the printed stylised 'He' struck off by a pen and 'She' written by hand. <\/p>India has a long history of education, we've always valued gaining a valuable education and getting ahead in life no matter what, especially as the world became more industrialised by the day. Vast swaths of India was still uneducated by the time we gain our Independence, but the men of this country, even prior to August 15, 1947, were actively encouraged to go seek an education. So does it surprise you that the three women mentioned earlier, PK Thresia, Leelamma George and A Lalitha, only graduated in 1943, not even 100 years ago.  <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498037342580","data":"594a3cbb17e4d"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498037357060","data":"We are a superstitious and conservative country, while the world may rapidly move forward with their progressive ideals, we've stuck to some old practices, too stubborn or too ignorant to see past it. It was only with the advent of education in the masses that we slowly started uncoiling from the fetal position we had put ourselves in against the onslaught of progressiveness in the rest of the world. Despite this, despite India rapidly pushing itself to join the rest of the world today, we remain a conservative society where women are still objectified, still seen as a burden, and in rural areas, not even allowed to have an education, because of preconceived gender roles chosen for them by faceless people. <\/p>That is, of course, if a girl child is even allowed to live after making the mistake of being born. It is for this reason and the systematic oppression of women carried out over many centuries backed by a religious mandate that we need to make amends and fix the issue of women participating in education as well as the workforce. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498037727066","data":"594a3e5569064"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498037769461","data":"After the census of 2010-2011, the government released data on the number of girls in schools against 100 boys (also in schools). Needless to say, the numbers are abysmal, to say the least, and very rarely equal, with the number being higher by 1 in just one case. You can find the data by <a href=\"http:\/\/mhrd.gov.in\/sites\/upload_files\/mhrd\/files\/SES-School_201011_0.pdf\">clicking here.<\/a> <\/p>From the above numbers, it is clear to see how poorly Punjab fares in this regard, and why it was a crucial poll promise for the recent elections. Punjab's program not only provides free education till PhD, but also free textbooks which will also be made available to download. <\/p>It's natural to wonder if this is being unfair to the boys, but it is also important to remember that the major reason boys get denied an education is that their family is too poor to afford one, whereas the major reason a woman gets denied education is that she simply is a woman, and often times, in a country where women are supposed to be subjugated and domesticated, dancing to the whims of men, nothing scares them more than an opinionated and educated woman. <\/p>Boys will also never be killed because they were born as boys, but girls have and continue to be so. Female infanticide was so ingrained in our society that at one point in our history, there were entire clans where no single female child was allowed to survive, killed in childbirth and the mothers punished for 'daring to give the man a girl child.'<\/p>Times changed, so did the methods of female infanticide. Ultrasound revealing the fetus's gender was used to abort immediately if the child was a girl. You see times changed, our heartlessness did not. The same people who would sign praises of Indian culture were also killing their babies only because it was female. But The Great Indian Hypocrisy deserves a blog post of its own, so maybe some other time.<\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498039173625","data":"594a45601e553"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498039561812","data":"The system is not perfect, of course. You could argue that merit should decide who gets to have the benefits of such a program, but merit is a system that assumes that everyone it assesses starts from an equal position, an equal blank slate that is filled by the candidates themselves. Can you, with a straight face and hand over your heart, say with conviction that women are equal to men in this country at the moment? <\/p>The other argument would be that this should be restricted to schooling, and not higher education, but studies have shown that girls who usually graduate high school aren't allowed to go for their higher studies because many rural areas still do not think that a girl deserves to be educated beyond the bare minimum, which is progress in itself because not so long ago, people thought even educating a girl was pointless. <\/p>Times are a-changin'. India currently has a large socio-economic divide that it has to deal with. In fact, we have plenty of problems to deal with, including overpopulation, jobless growth, an increasingly young population turning 18 every month without jobs to go for and education to opt for. The privileged among us emigrate to first world countries while the rest of us have to stay back because we have no choice in the matter. There are those who choose to stay back of course, but that's another story. <\/p>Despite its many problems, I still love India, if for nothing else but for the simple fact that I was born here, I have my roots here, I have friends I can rely on and I would hate anything happening to them. I too want to see its economic boom continue for a really long time, and one of the best ways to do so is to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2013-03-07\/the-economic-benefits-of-educating-women\">educate the country's women<\/a>. Education will lead to more women becoming independent, becoming entrepreneurs, teachers, professors, scientists, pilots, sailors, soldiers and more, and not to mention they will be in a position to make a choice on when they want to be mothers as well. <\/p>Yes, there is a direct co-relation between education of women and rising population. The less a woman is educated, the more children she is likely to have. The United Nations Population Fund also issued data showing the correlation, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unesco.org\/education\/tlsf\/mods\/theme_c\/popups\/mod13t01s005.html\">article<\/a> on it, explaining how it happens.<\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498040434365","data":"594a48f05092b"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498040481706","data":"Even when girls do go to school, they still have to deal with catcalls on the street, with the ever-present threat of sexual assault looming like a sword over their heads, especially in rural areas. In urban areas, even privileged women aren't spared the sexism at the workplace or in college. The next time you hear someone say, 'Despite being a woman' before any sentence, do understand that that person is being casually sexist, and might not even know it. <\/p>Of course, with systematic oppression comes sexism in many different layers of society. Free education to girls will put them up for a life of independence, where girls who grow up to be women will be equipped to make their own choices, but they will still have to deal with the rampant sexism and objectification glorified by our great 'culture.' Education is just one part of the issue, the current participation of women in the workforce is an abysmal 13.4%, and this is just the salaried class, the labourer class having higher participation in the workforce.<\/p>That battle and much more will be fought in the coming years. The only way this country, my country, your country, is moving forward is when the women are empowered. <\/p>And no, I'm not Rahul Gandhi in disguise. <\/p>"}]

Message

Experience the best version of stumagz by getting the app.

Get College News, Updates
at just 5 MB

Complete Form

Experience the best version of stumagz by getting the app.

Get College News, Updates at just 5 MB

Complete Form

Responses

Get College News, Updates
at just 5 MB