Due to the economic growth experienced; India is no longer considered a poor country (it in fact rated a middle-income country by the World Bank) and yet a high percentage of children still do not receive an adequate education. This is due to both the low percentage of girls who are enrolled in schools, and the high level of drop-outs among females. As a result of this, women have a lower literacy rate with around 50% of the overall female population being illiterate.
Why is the enrolment percentage so low?
There are many factors which contribute to this; cost being the most obvious, with many families unable to afford school fees, books and equipment or travel costs. Furthermore, men are seen as more important within Indian tradition and so families will pay for their son's education before their daughter's. Many children are also sent to work, instead of school, in order to support their families. Many young girls get work in factories and are later engaged in a forced marriage to ease the financial burden of the family. Distance, lack of encouragement and a fear for safety are all other reasons contributing to girls missing school in India.
What is being done?
To tackle this problem, the government of India has recently launched the saaksharbharat mission for female literacy - the aim of which is to bring down female illiteracy by roughly half of its current level. The education of women in India is seen as an important problem to tackle, mainly due to its implications on the improving standards of the country. It is well-known that a higher rate of literacy equals a better quality of life. For Indian women, as studies have suggested, a higher rate of literacy would reduce the levels of pregnancy among younger women and subsequently infant mortality - a problem that haunts the country. It would also have an effect on earning potential, nutrition and health and living conditions for the whole family.
Despite the problem being wide-spread, there is a large disparity between female literacy rates from state-to-state. Some such as the state of Kerala have a high female literacy rate of about 85% and also the lowest infant mortality rate and highest life expectancy in India. However, six of the twenty four Indian states have literacy rates well below 60% - the rural state of Rajasthan being the worst, with female literacy rates of 10%.
What else can be done?
The reality is that despite the attempts made, the policies implemented by the Government of India do not provide sufficient educational needs to all. Furthermore do the promotion of India's economic status to €middle-income'; many countries including the U.K have announced they will end aid to India within the next couple of years. Charities run a variety of educational programmes across the world, and many are now based in India with the aim of tackling this problem. These charities rely on those who donate online or sponsor a child in India through monthly payments. With the money raised programmes such as Read India are made accessible to many girls; providing basic reading and maths lessons to preschool and primary school aged children.More money is needed to tackle these issues and to honour the rights of a girl child to an education - a fundamental human right.