The History of Women’s Education in India
Read this article to learn about the history of women’s education in India!
Women’s education in India plays a very important role in the overall development of the country. It not only helps in the development of half of the human resources, but in improving the quality of life at home and outside.
Educated women not only tend to promote education of their girl children, but also can provide better guidance to all their children. Moreover educated women can also help in the reduction of infant mortality rate and growth of the population.
Although in the Vedic period women had access to education in India, they had gradually lost this right. However, in the British period there was revival of interest in women’s education in India. During this period, various socio religious movements led by eminent persons like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar emphasized on women’s education in India.
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Periyar and Baba Saheb Ambedkar were leaders of the lower castes in India who took various initiatives to make education available to the women of India. However women’s education got a fillip after the country got independence in 1947 and the government has taken various measures to provide education to all Indian women.
As a result women’s literacy rate has grown over the three decades and the growth of female literacy has in fact been higher than that of male literacy rate. While in 1971 only 22% of Indian women were literate, by the end of 2001 54.16% female were literate. The growth of female literacy rate is 14.87% as compared to 11.72 % of that of male literacy rate.
(i) Educating the women will empower them to seek gender equality in the society.
(ii) Women will be able to earn that would raise their economic condition and their status in the society.
(iii) They will be aware about the advantages of small and planned family and this will be a big step towards achieving stabilized population goals.
(iv) It has been reported that the single most important factor affecting high total fertility rates (TFR) is the low status of women in many societies. Women education will help increase the age of marriage of women and they would tend to have fewer, healthier children who would live longer.
(v) Women on being educated would be able to rear their children in a better way, leading to their good health and provide them with better facilities.
(vi) Women are also the victim of capitalism and development. Due to some development activity like dam building or mining, they get rehabilitated. The men folk get some compensation and migrate to towns in search of some job while women are left behind to look after the family with little resources. They are compelled to take up some marginalized work, which is highly unorganized and often socially humiliating. Women education can greatly help restore their settlement and dignity.
(vii) Education of women would mean narrowing down of social disparities and inequities. This would automatically lead to sustainable development.
