Education for Girls: The Rural Perspective

Education for Girls: The Rural Perspective

India is quite prominent for its patriarchy and misogyny. From the genesis of humankind, the male sex has always been benefitted for nothing but just belonging to that very gender. The females, on the other hand, have been deprived of their rights from the beginning. While other countries vanquished this orthodox impediment, India failed to bring into its culture, the upliftment of women in the society on a big scale. Whilst the urban areas in India developed and provided women with their rights to education, the rural areas lacked majorly in this aspect.

As per the 2011 census, only 65.46% of 586 million females are given the opportunity to complete their education. All over India, only 56.08% of the female population in rural areas are allowed to get minimum education. It is an old tradition in India for men to study, work, and earn for the family and women to stay at home and look after the family and kids. People have followed this preposterous tradition for ages without thinking twice about the women of the society. They fail to understand that women have an equal right to get educated as men do. For India to become a developed country, women need to be well-educated too. Decades have passed and India still fails to come under the list of developed countries. the sole reason being female illiteracy and lack of encouragement given to today’s women to make the country a better place.

Education is a constitutive part of human life. It provides us with vast knowledge about the affairs occurring around us and helps us to view it from an independent perspective. It not only assists us to gain information about the worldly phenomenons but also guides us to look at life untrammeled. Now, should this opportunity be given only to the male population? Absolutely no. Being a citizen of India, women have as much right to education as men have. Debarring women from education does not only lead to inequality but also results in a higher illiteracy rate. India’s women need to be more educated and well aware of our surroundings. 

Providing girls with proper knowledge by sending them to educational institutions will help them explore their hidden skills, make them feel self-confident, and prepare them to engage in the development process. In the past few years, women like Indira Nooyi (CEO of PepsiCo), Arundhati Roy (Writer), Mary Kom (Boxing Champion), Irom Sharmila (Political Activist), have proved that women are in no way less than men. They have corroborated that women are equally competent when it comes to making the nation proud.

Reasons to support education for girls

  • Confidence and self-respect – Educated women tend to be more confident about themselves and their actions. They gain self-respect and know when to stand up for themselves.
  • Ameliorate the socio-economic growth – As stated by the World Bank, women can lift up to a 25% increase in wages in the future with a minimum one year of secondary education. Female education also increases the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) with the upliftment of 0.3 percentage points per percentage point growth in female education.
  • Emboldening human rightsIn a society where women are well educated, gender equality is more likely to be prominent. And when there is equality among the genders, women get more opportunities to be in power and lead the government. Female leading the government results in an unprejudiced system of governance.
  • Minimal chances of marital abuse Educated women, who are aware of their rights and have the courage to stand up for themselves are much less likely to endure domestic abuse than the illiterate ones. Literate women do not marry at an early age, thereby reducing the risks of being badgered by their counterparts. They choose to marry at an age when both the life partners are mature enough to understand and respect each other.
  • Reduction in mother and child mortality rate Women who are educated and well informed tend to marry at a later stage of life when it’s suitable for their body to handle childbirth. This not only increases the chances of the mother and child being healthy but also gives a woman more sense of maturity to raise a child.
  • Proselytizing social incorporation – For years and years, girls living in rural areas have been told that their place is at home. Illiterate girls have no social life and don’t know how to act around people because they have never been outside the four walls of their house. Now, educating these girls would help them in building confidence to speak with other people in society and become a part of the community. It helps them to build their own identity and represent themselves without the help of any other person. It teaches them to not be ashamed of who they are and instead embrace it in a gracious way as to feel like they belong.

It is rightly said that if you educate a woman, not only does she become aware but her family also gets educated. Giving importance to that, organizations like – Make A Difference, Pratham, The Akshay Patra Foundation have embarked on a journey to revamp the condition of women in rural areas and to educate them. India’s women have suffered a lot and there’s absolutely no excuse for it. We have made our women weak, by instilling in their minds that they belong at home and not out, working and earning for themselves. 

A small step can make a huge difference. It’s for you to decide whether you want to take a step ahead or a step back. Educating girls would make India a better and developed country with respectable and knowledgable citizens. Girls are the future of India. It’s time for us to stand together and push our daughters towards freedom and independence.

Written by
Tanishka Srivastava
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