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GIRL CHILD EDUCATION

Article · April 2016

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GIRL CHILD EDUCATION
*Shaifali Rachna Puri
*Director, Snehal Education Private Limited, Punjab, India,
*Director, Ana Publishing Private Limited, Punjab, India.
*Director, Saujanaya International Educational Foundation (NGO)

ABSTRACT
Girls’ education is like sowing the seed which gives rise to a revitalised, cheerful and full grown family plant. Educated
women have the capacity to bring socio-economic changes. Lack of education denies the girl child, the knowledge and
skills needed to advance their status in the society. Educating the girl child will enable her to realise her full potential,
to think, question and judge independently. The benefits of educating women are immense for the society.

Key Words: Girl child education, discrimination, family, women college.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Author Dr Shaifali Rachna Puri has more than 15 years teaching and managerial experience. Her area of
expertise is communication skills, English Hons, Elective English Functional English. She has worked as
examiner and as question paper reviewer at Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, Punjab. At present she is
running an Educational Institute, Publishing house and an NGO. She has 15 national and International
publications in her name. She has presented more than 20 papers in various National and International
Conferences.

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Introduction: There was a time when many people believed that it was not necessary to educate girls. Today people
realise that girls’ education is essential for the human society. The modern age is the age of awakening of girls. They
are trying to compete with men in all spheres of life. The world honoured Malala Yousafzai the Pakistani activist for
female education by awarding her a Noble Prize.

Discrimination
There are many people who oppose girls’ education. They say that the proper place for a girl is her home. Based on this
regressive thought, they argue that the money spent on a girl’s education is a waste of resources. This view is
erroneous, because girl’s education can bring about a silent revolution in the society.

Why educate the girl child?

Girls’ education is like sowing the seed which gives rise to a revitalised, cheerful and full grown family plant. Educated
women have the capacity to bring socio-economic changes. Lack of education denies the girl child, the knowledge and
skills needed to advance their status in the society. Educating the girl child will enable her to realise her full potential,
to think, question and judge independently. It would make her a wise decision-maker, develop civic sense in her and
make her learn to respect and love her fellow human beings. Offering basic education to girls is a definite way of giving
them much greater power that will enable them to make genuine choices over the kinds of lives they wish to lead. This
is certainly not a luxury. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women establish it as a basic human right. Education is one of the most critical areas of
empowerment for women, as was affirmed in both the Cairo and Beijing women’s conferences. Status of women in
today’s world depicts some of the clearest examples of the discrimination women suffer. Women account for 2/3rd's
of the world's illiterate adults, and girls account for 2/3rd's of the world's children without access to education . This
means there are twice as many girls as boys among children not attending school and among illiterate adults there are
twice as many women as men. This is an appalling situation. It calls for serious attention of the global policymakers for
reasons summarised below ―

1. Economic prosperity: Education is the fundamental instrument of change available to women to empower themselves
to come forward to ensure their own prosperity and contribute towards economic development of the larger society.
2. Economic empowerment: As stated above, real time change in the condition of women in the society is not possible so
long they remain backward and economically dependent on men. Economic empowerment comes with economic
independence after securing employment which is again dependent on education.
3. Right to considered choice of profession: It has been amply proved that educated women can be as successful as men
in almost every sphere of life. Giving the girl-child equal opportunity for education will help her to plan to become a
successful professional in whatever field she chooses to be in.
4. Improved life: Education enables a woman to live a good life and preserve her identity as an individual. She can then
ensure that her rights shall never get trampled. Thus, a society that has a broader outlook regarding female education
can secure an improved life for its women.
5. Improved health: Education will instil in women awareness about the importance of health and hygiene. Proper health
education will greatly empower women to lead a healthy life-style. Women’s education has a multiplier effect because
an educated mother can take good care of her baby and also care for the welfare of the family as a unit.
6. Role model: Educated women are looked upon with dignity and honour by millions of young girls as role-models to
follow, in shaping their future. They can inspire a whole generation of young women to tread in their footsteps to
make it big in life and leave a mark for their juniors to emulate.
7. Gender justice: Educated women are more informed about the rights of women for justice. They are better equipped
to raise their voices with conviction about gender discrimination in society especially in workplaces, violence against

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women and against various maladies like female foeticide, child-marriage, dowry, trafficking in girls, forced prostitution
and other instances of injustice meted out to their less educated compatriots.
8. Poverty alleviation: Women’s education goes a long way to alleviate poverty of the masses. A report of the World
Bank’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Team working in Latin America and the Caribbean revealed that
women’s growing participation in the labour force, particularly among low-income women was instrumental in
reducing extreme poverty in the region. The Bank further stated that school-age children living in households that are
dependent on women’s income are more likely to be enrolled in pre-school and secondary school, improving their
chances of advancing to higher education. Educated Indian women have been found to have inspired various
successful schemes of poverty alleviation like forming women’s self help groups, women’s cooperative ventures in
dairy farming etc in rural areas. Experience of commercial banks has shown that women can be better trained to be
good borrowers for repayment of bank loans. These experiences suggest that women’s education can positively impact
poverty alleviation in the society.
9. Better parenting: The educated woman has the skills, information and self-confidence that are essentially needed to
be a better parent. A child in his/ her formative years is normally more attached to the mother who has a profound
influence on shaping the child’s personality. An educated mother, therefore, can play a discerning role in grooming her
child to be a better citizen in every way.
10. Demographic advantages: Following factors that have come to light as a result of various studies on women’s
education, point to the benefits a society derives for having an educated female population.
a) Effect on population growth: An educated woman is likely to marry at a later age and have fewer children. Studies
show that an extra year of schooling for girls reduces fertility rates by 5 to 10 per cent.
b) Future earnings: Studies from a number of countries suggest that an extra year of schooling will increase a woman's
future earnings by about 15 per cent, compared with 11 per cent for a man.
c) Effect on infant mortality: Children of an educated mother have a higher probability of survival in third world
countries; for example, in India the infant mortality rate of babies whose mothers have received primary education is
half that of children whose mothers are illiterate.
d) Productivity at work: An educated woman has been found to be more productive at work and hence is likely to be
better paid. Dividend for educational investment for women is often higher than that for men.

Scenario in India: From ancient times dating back to about 300 BC, there was practically no education for women in
India. Only a few upper caste and upper class women received some home education. There was tremendous social
resistance even to that, being looked upon as a disgrace. In 1824 the American mission started a girls’ school which
went on to have 400 students in 1829. Thereafter, the missionaries and a few Indian voluntary organisations started
some girls’ primary schools, particularly in Bombay, Bengal and Madras presidencies. After the end of the First War of
Independence of 1857, the local bodies like the municipalities were encouraged to open primary schools. Training
colleges for women were established in 1870 for the first time and women were trained to become teachers in girls’
schools. In 1916, SNDT Women University in Bombay became the first institution of higher learning for female
students. Things have changed a lot since then. Educational statistics of 2014 show that there were 112.3 million girls
enrolled against 120.5 million boys up to secondary school level (I-X). At senior secondary level the figures are 10.4 and
11.7 million and in higher education these figures are 13.3 and 16.3 million, respectively. From a dismal beginning
education of women has definitely made some strides, yet there is much distance to cover before this gap between
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girls and boys is bridged . Today, the pet project of Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, “Beti bachao beti
Padhao” (save daughter, educate daughter) to save and empower the girl child, is making waves all over the nation. It
makes a strong statement against female foeticide and in favour of girl child’s education.

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In conclusion, given the unhappy situation in women’s education in the third world countries, its importance cannot be
overemphasised. The benefits of educating women are immense for the society. What can be a better way to describe
these benefits for the society than reiterating the words of the American humanitarian worker, Greg Mortenson,
“Educate a man, you educate one person, educate a woman, you educate a complete family?”

Reference:

1. http://www.americasquarterly.org/women-are-key-to-poverty-reduction-says-world-bank-report
2. http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/statistics/EAG2014.pdf
3. http://www.qmsmodeltown.com/introduction.html
4. http://www.savegirlchild.org/right-of-education.html
5. http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/ngirls.htm
6. http://www.importantindia.com/7240/importance-of-girls-education/
7. http://www.importantindia.com/17061/essay-on-importance-of-women-education/

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