WUNRN
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
January 24, 2008
Shri A.K. Sengupta
|
Girls’ Education in India: Strategies, Interventions and Programmes India has made
remarkable progress since independence in various aspects of girls’ education
like greater access to and enrolment in schools, decline in drop out rates
and in the number of out of school girls, greater transition to upper primary
level and special help provided to disadvantaged sections of the
society. We have also in place the constitutional and policy framework
enshrining the vision of girls’ education that enabled the Government to
design different strategies, interventions, schemes and programmes with
specific objectives that impinge on girls’ education. Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan
Foremost among
these, is the programme for the Universalisation of Elementary Education
(UEE), called Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), launched at the turn of the
century (2001). This national flagship programme has a clear focus on
bridging and eliminating gender differences in enrolment, retention and
quality of learning. There is a thrust
and special focus on girls’ education in the planning and provisioning for
UEE, in SSA. Some of these are listed below: · Free textbooks to all girls upto class
VIII · Separate toilets for girls · Back to school camps for out-of-school
girls · Bridge courses for older girls · Recruitment of 50% women teachers · Early childhood care and Education
centres in/near schools in convergence with ICDS programme etc. · Teachers’ sensitization programmes to
promote equitable learning opportunities · Gender-sensitive teaching-learning
materials including textbooks · Intensive community mobilisation efforts · ‘Innovation fund’ per district for need
based interventions for ensuring girls’ attendance and retention. A range of strategies and interventions have been evolved that are designed to improve girls’ participation in education, at building systemic responsiveness, motivating girls and their parents and forging partnerships with community based groups for girls’ education. Efforts are also made to address issues within the classroom to enable a conducive learning environment and monitor progress along key indicators in girls’ education. Strategy
Focused Equally On ‘Demand’ And ‘Supply’ Sides
The
Government interventions towards girls’ education are not only targeted to
address enormous infrastructural deficiencies but also centuries-old cultural
and psychological problems. The two
broad stands on this strategy has been to focus equally on the ‘demand’ and
‘supply’ sides. On
the supply side the government aims to make the education system responsive
to the needs of girls to serve as the pull factor. In actual practice, it means - § ensure access to schools § increase proportion of women teachers § training to enhance gender sensitivity of
teachers § develop gender sensitive and relevant
curriculum & textbooks. § provide supportive structures such as
Early Childhood Care and Education centers § provide alternative learning facilities § ensure basic facilities in schools –
toilets and drinking water The community
demands for girls’ education is also sought to be generated through – · motivation and mobilization of parents and
community · enhance the role of women and mothers in
school related activities · ensure people’s participation in school
committees · strengthen links between the school,
teachers and community. Gender
Perspective
While
designing programmes for girls’ education, the education administrator
addresses both ‘generic’ and ‘specific’ issues. The gender perspective is sought to be integrated
in all the programme components and the ‘specific’ interventions such as
incentives to offset economic disadvantage, relaxation of norms for tribal
areas etc. are contextualized interventions required to address various
factors of disadvantage. Intensive and innovative efforts are taken up at the
micro-level to retain focus on girls’ education and mobilize women/women’s
groups for girls’ education. Even
while an over-all improvement has been noticed, it is necessary to target
areas where girls’ education is lagging behind. Towards this end, the Government of India
has launched two focused interventions for girls – the National Programme for
Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL) and the Kasturba Gandhi
Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV). These schemes
are targeted to reach out to girls from marginalized social groups in over
3,000 educationally backward blocks in the country where the female rural
literacy is below the national average and the gender gap in literacy is
above the national average. NPEGEL Scheme
The
NPEGEL scheme is meant for the educationally backward blocks (EBB) where both
girls who are in ‘in’ and ‘out’ of school, are targeted. The out of school
girls include never enrolled and drop out girls. In the case of girls in
elementary school, the thrust is on girls with low attendance rates and girls
with low levels of achievement. Ensuring a positive self image and to
eliminate gender bias in the classroom is also in the design of the
scheme. According to latest (upto
30.09.07) available data, the reach of NPEGEL includes 3272 block, 40,171
clusters, 35,254 model cluster schools, 25,537 ECCE support, 24,387
additional rooms, 9,67,063 remedial teaching, 1,53,324 bridge courses,
1,85,494 gender sensitization of teachers and 71,46,300 uniforms and other
incentives. To
impact on the enrolment and retention scenario, the NPEGEL scheme is a
holistic effort to tackle the impediments to girls’ education at the micro
level through flexible, decentralised processes and decision making. It is well known that children become
vulnerable to leaving school when they are not able to cope with the pace of
learning in the class or feel neglected by teachers/peers in class. The
scheme stresses the responsibility of teachers to spot such girls and pay special
attention to bring them out of their state of vulnerability and prevent them
from dropping out. Recognising the need for support services to help girls
with responsibilities with regard to fuel, fodder, water, sibling care and
paid and unpaid work provisions have been made for incentives that are
decided locally. Just as gender sensitive teaching learning materials,
introduction of additional subjects like self defence, life skills, legal
rights, gender etc. have been provided in the scheme, efforts to ensure a
supportive and gender sensitive classroom environment through systematic
sensitization and monitoring the classroom is also inbuilt in it. Kasturba
Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme
The
second major initiative, in the EBBs, is the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya
(KGBV) scheme that provides for setting up of residential upper primary
schools for girls from SC, ST, OBC & Muslim communities. This scheme
targets areas of scattered habitations, where schools are at great distances
and are a challenge to the security of girls. This often compels girls to
discontinue their education. KGBV addresses this through setting up
residential schools, in the block itself. The KGBV scheme
very specifically targets § Adolescent girls who are unable to go to
regular schools. § Out of school girls in the 10+
age group who are unable to complete primary school · Younger girls of migratory populations in
difficult areas of scattered habitations that do not qualify for
primary/upper primary schools. As the KGBVs
specifically targets communities where girls are more disadvantaged, such as
SC/ ST, OBC and Muslim minorities, the scheme provides for a minimum
reservation of 75% of the seats for
girls from SC/ST/OBC and minorities communities and 25% to girls from
families that live below the poverty line. The reach of the KGBV’s include – · 2180 sanctioned – of these 270 are in
EBBs with 20 percent Muslim population · 1564 KGBVs operational · Of total enrolment (25% SC, 32% ST, 26%
OBC, 5% Muslim and 10% Below Poverty Line). · About one fourth of the girls enrolled
in the EBBs with Muslim concentration are Muslims. India is deeply committed to Universalization of Elementary Education of satisfactory quality by 2010. Greater focus and efforts are now being made to extend the gains to the “last mile” and to ensure that not only all girls are in school but they also complete the cycle of elementary education with quality education. |
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