BY SARAH PERIASWAMY Women’s Education in India

What’s the Problem? While India has expressed commitment to education, it still has one of the lowest literacy rates for women in Asia (Velkoff, 1998). The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act was only passed in 2009 (Thapliyal, 2012). This is 20 years after the Supreme Court of India stated that the Indian State had avoided its responsibility to realize the right to education for its citizens (Thapliyal, 2012)

Why Are Women Not Educated? In early years, women were under the control and considered property of their husbands, which limited the educational and occupational opportunities (Rahi, 2015). Women were not seen as able to perform work that required intellectual development (Rahi, 2015). Traditional patriarchal norms put women as a secondary status which strongly affects women’s health, financial status, education, and political involvement (Rahi, 2015).

How Does This Violate Human Rights? Article 1- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights Article 2- Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Article 23-Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment Article 26-Everyone has the right to education. It shall be free at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.

Why Is This Needed? Research has proven that the impact of women’s rights and decision making power in families helped reduce poverty (Oztunc, Oo, & Serin, 2015). The female labor force participation rate is found to have an important on economic growth per capita (Oztunc et al., 2015). Women’s education is a huge factor that leads to increasing female labor force participation because this will increase the amount of educated women to enter the labor market and earn higher incomes (Oztunc et al., 2015). Female education can lead to change regarding traditional attitudes towards women’s roles (Oztunc et al., 2015). Right to Education is for all human beings, which includes women

Statistics In 1991, out of the 330 million women aged 7 and over, less that 40% were literate (Velkoff, 1998). The average attendance rate for females primary school attendance is 74%, which means most have a very basic level of education (Oztunc et al., 2015). But an average rate of 14% of girls go on to further their education in middle school or high school (Oztunc et al., 2015).

What Is Being Done? The status of Indian women has risen in the last four decades (Reddy, Reddy, & Naidu, 2015). Previously, it was thought that increasing literacy would decrease female foeticide (Kumari, 2015) It has been found that by increasing literacy, female foeticide still increases (Kumari, 2015) Women teachers are being recruited so they can encourage girls to continue learning and go further with their education (Kirk, 2006)

What More Can Be Done? People can buy and donate resources (books, notebooks, computers) for schools in India. Change the opinion on gender stereotypes that discriminate against girls going to school Help these women gain skills that can help them get jobs, as well as help further their education Stop foeticide toward female babies, by not just increasing literacy but also encouraging a change in mind-set about women (Kumari, 2015)

References Kirk, J. (2006). The Impact of Women Teachers on Girls’ Education. Retrieved December 9, 2015, from f Kumari, D. (2015). Autonomy of educated urban women and their attitude towards female foeticide in India. Human Geographies -- Journal Of Studies & Research In Human Geography, 9(1), doi: /hgeo Oztunc, H., Oo, Z. C., & Serin, Z. V. (2015). Effects of Female Education on Economic Growth: A Cross Country Empirical Study. Educational Sciences: Theory And Practice, 15(2), Rahi, A. (2015). Gender Discrimination in India and Its Solution.International Journal Of Multidisciplinary Approach & Studies, 2(4),

References (cont.) Rami Reddy, C., Varaprasada Reddy, Y., & Krishna Naidu, R. V. (2015). A Study on the Changing Values among Women Students in Present Society. Journal Of Social Welfare & Management, 7(2), Thapliyal, N. (2012). UNACKNOWLEDGED RIGHTS AND UNMET OBLIGATIONS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE 2009 INDIAN RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT. Asia- Pacific Journal On Human Rights & The Law, 13(1), doi: / X Velkoff, Victoria “Women's Education In India.” Retrieved July 2015 ( /wid-9801.pdf).