Women Empowerment Through Education - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2139 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/09/21 Category Advertising Essay Type Argumentative essay Tags: Empowerment Essay Study Essay Did you like this example? WOMEN EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EDUCATION *Rashmi Joshi ** Laxmi shree mishra WOMEN EMPOWERMENT is a global issue and discussion on women political right are at the fore front of many formal and informal campaigns world wide. The concept of women empowerment was introduced at the international women conference at NAROIBI in 1985. Education is milestone of women empowerment because it enables them to responds to the challenges , to confront their traditional role and change their life . So that we can’t neglect the importance of education in reference to women empowerment India is poised to becoming superpower , a developed country by 2020. The year 2020 is fast approaching ,it is just 13 year away . This can became reality only when the women of this nation became empowerment . India presently account for the largest number no of illiterates in the world . Literacy rate in India have risen sharply from 18. 3% in 1951 to 64. % in 2001 in which enrolment of women in educati on have also risen sharply 7% to 54. 16% . Despite the importance of women education unfortunately only 39% of women are literate among the 64% of the man. Within the framework of a democratic polity , our laws , development policies , plan and programmes have aimed at women’s advancement in difference spheres. From the fifth five year plan(1974-78) onwards has been a marked shift in the approach to women’s issues from welfare to development . In recent years ,the empowerment of women has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women . The National Commission of Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the right and legal entitlements of women . The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of panchayats and Municipalities for women , laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local level . The purpose of t his paper to focus on the women empowerment through education and this study based on secondary data . *Research Scholar , Depart of Economics ,B. H. U, Varanasi INTRODUCTION The world of humanity has two wing one is women and other man. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. The Baha’I writings This statement clearly focused on the importance of women in our society . Women constitute an important segment of any community and perform multiple role as mother, housewife, and wages earners . Women are important productive workers in India’s national economy despite the fact that much of their work falls in the indivisible or un-organized category. In reference to Women ,the concept of â€Å"EMPOWERMENT† is a global issue and discussion on women’s right are fore front of many formal and informal campaigns world wide . The concept of women empowerment was introduced at the international women conference at NAROIBI in 1985 . Women E mpowerment has five components :-†¢ Women’s sense of self worth †¢ Their right to have and to determine choices †¢ Their right to have access to opportunities and resources †¢ Their right to have the power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home †¢ And their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order ,nationally and internationally (1) Education is milestone of women empowerment because it enables them to responds to the challenges , to confront their traditional role and change their life. Empowerment is an active and multidimensional process which enable women to realize their full identity and powers in all sphere of life . Empowerment of women is very much essential to achieve sustainable development . Quoting UNFPA report, â€Å"the state of world population 1992†, the News of Bernard Van Leer Foundation says, that there can be no sustainable development witho ut development of women , because it is women who contribute most for development for children. (2) Education is milestone of women empowerment because it enables them to responds to the challenges , to confront their traditional role and change their life . So that we can’t neglect the importance of education in reference to women empowerment . Education is the first step towards empowerment and the most crucial factor in over all development of the individual as well as nation . Literacy sets one free from ignorance ,exploitation and poverty . It liberates the minds , opening up new horizon ,new hope/ opportunities and self –confidence further equipping them with the knowledge ,skills , self respect and freedom to participate sustain and excel in their life . Illiteracy on the other hand breeds ignorance ,which ,leads to exploitation , poverty, neglect crimes and number of social evils . Literacy deprives women from all opportunities and further prospects of leadi ng a meaningful life and enjoying good standard of living . Education is an effective instrument for social and economic development and national integration . Education enables women to understand their social and legal rights, become economically independent ,, acquire a voice in the affairs of the family and the community . Education is a gateway to information , opportunities and empowerment. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: The main objective of this paper to focus on the importance of education in reference to women empowerment and identify the major weakness in women education in India . India is poised to becoming superpower , a developed country by 2020. The year 2020 is fast approaching ,it is just 13 year away . This can became reality only when the women of this nation became empowerment . India presently account for the largest number no of illiterates in the world . Literacy rate in India have risen sharply from 18. 3% in 1951 to 64. 8% in 2001 in which enrolment of women in education have also risen sharply 7% to 54. 6% . Despite strong linkage between women’s education and their equality or empowerment ,female literacy remain very low in India . This is specially in the case in the rural areas . Unfortunately only 39% of the women are literate among the 64% of man . In this reference our government also focused on the education to empowerment of women. The National Policy on Education (1986, revised in 1992) states : â€Å" Education will be used as an agent of basic change in the status of women . In order to neutralize the accumulated distortions of the past ; there will be a well –conceived edge in favor of women . The National Education system will play a positive ,interventionist role empowerment of women . It will be foster the development of new values through redesigned curricula , textbooks ,the training and orientation of the teacher, decision- makers and administration ,and the active involvement of education institution . This will be an act of faith and social engineering . The removal of women’s literacy and obstacles inhibiting their access to ,and retention in , elementary education will receive overriding priority , through provision of special support services , setting their time target , and effective monitoring. EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT :Some Positive Signals The Census 2001 provisional reports indicate that India has made a significant progress in the field of literacy during the decade since the last senses in 1991 . A comparison of 19912001 census figure shows that†¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ The literacy rate in 2001 had been recorded at 65. 38% as against 52. 21% in 1991. The literacy rates recorded an impressive growth rate 13. 17% points from 52. 21% in 1991 to 65. 38% in 2001 the highest growth in one decade since independence. The female literacy has been higher at 14. 87% for the males at 11. 72% during this decade. The gape between male and female lit eracy rate has decreased from 24. 84%points in 1991 to 21. 70% points in 2001. The population in seven plus age group increased by 172 million during 1991-2001, while 204 million additional person became literate The total of illiterates has come down from 328 million in 1991 to 296 million in 2001. The decline in number of illiterate population is as large as 31. 96 million during 1991-2001. The decline among male was 21. 45 million and 10. 51 million among female . †¢ All the state and union territories without expectation have shown increase in literacy rates during 1991-2001. The state and union territories which have moved forward by more than fifteen percentage points during the decade are Rajesthan (22. 48), Chhatisgarh (22. 27), Madhya Pradesh(19. 44), Dadar Nagar Haveli(19. 33), Andhar Pradesh (17,02), and Uttar Pradesh (16. 65) †¢ Kerala continues to lead in the race of literacy , with male literacy at 94. 20% and female literacy at 87. 85%. †¢ Bihar recorde d the lowest literates both in case of male 60. 32% and female 33. 57%. In India there has been considerable progress in literacy since independence . The literacy rate for the total population has steadily gone up from 18. 3% in 1951 to 65. 38% in 2001. This table shows a clear picture of progress in literacy rate in India. †¢ Table: India Literacy rate 1951-2001 Year Literacy Rate(%) 1951 18. 33 1961 28. 30 1971 34. 45 1981 48. 57 1991 52. 21 2001 65. 38 Literacy rate for the decade ending 2001 shows encouraging trends . Gape Between male and female literacy rate: 2001 Literacy- Men Literacy-Female Gape Betwee male and Female literacy Source : Cencus of India , 2001 Literacy rates for the decade ending 2001 shows encouraging trends . During the last decade the gender gape in literacy has also decreased from 24. 84% points in 1991 to 21. 0% points in 2001 . Although the census of 2001 gives us very optimistic picture with regard female literacy . But actually there is still mu ch remains to be done . Because the concept of women empowerment actually fulfill when the gape between male and female literacy will be reduced at grass root level. Generally when we saw the gape between man and women literacy all over India’s state we find that approximately 20% gape in literacy between man and women. We can see this difference clearly through this table— 75. 85% 54. 16% 21. 69% 1991 64. 13% 39. 39% 24. 845 Gap increased 11. 72% 14. 87% Large Diffrence in Male and Female Literacy among the State: National Average :Male-75. 85% , Female-54. 16% State / U. T. Kerala Mizoram Lakshadweep (U. T. ) Goa Delhi (U. T. ) Chandigarh (U. T. ) Pondicherry (U. T. ) Andaman Nicobar (U. T. ) Daman Diu (U. T. ) Maharashtra Himachal Pradesh Tripura Tamil Nadu Uttaranchal Gujarat Punjab Sikkim West Bengal Manipur Haryana Nagaland Karnataka Chhatisgarh Assam Madhya Pradesh Orissa Meghalaya Andhra Pradesh Rajasthan Dadra Nagar Haveli (U. T. ) Uttar Pradesh Arunach al Pradesh Jammu Kashmir Jharkhand Literacy Rate 90. 92 88. 49 87. 52 82. 32 81. 82 81. 76 81. 9 81. 18 81. 09 77. 27 77. 13 73. 66 73. 47 72. 28 69. 97 69. 95 69. 68 69. 22 68. 87 68. 59 67. 11 67. 04 65. 18 64. 28 64. 11 63. 61 63. 31 61. 11 61. 03 60. 03 57. 36 54. 74 54. 46 54. 13 Male Literacy Rate 94. 20 90. 69 93. 15 88. 88 87. 37 85. 65 88. 89 86. 07 88. 40 86. 27 86. 02 81. 47 82. 33 84. 01 80. 50 75. 63 76. 73 77. 58 77. 87 79. 25 71. 77 76. 29 77. 86 71. 93 76. 80 75. 95 66. 14 70. 85 76. 46 73. 32 70. 23 64. 07 65. 75 67. 94 Female Literacy Rate 87. 86 86. 13 81. 56 75. 51 75. 00 76. 65 74. 13 75. 29 70. 37 67. 51 68. 08 65. 41 64. 55 60. 26 58. 60 63. 55 61. 46 60. 22 59. 70 56. 31 61. 92 57. 5 52. 40 56. 03 50. 28 50. 97 60. 41 51. 17 44. 34 42. 99 42. 98 44. 24 41. 82 39. 38 Bihar 47. 53 60. 32 33. 57 Sources: Adapted from information given in figure in figure 17 census of India 2001. Reason of increasing Gap between male and female literacy in India : †¢ Pover ty is attributes as one of the main cause of deprivation of girls from education . They need to either take care of their siblings at home , and do household work and work outside and contribute financially to the family . A recent report on the extent and depth child poverty in the developing world found there be some 135 million children between 7 and 18 years old without any education at all , with girls 60% more likely than boys (16 % compared 10%) to be so â€Å"educationally deprived†. Inadequacy school facilities is another barrier . According to the PROBE report ,44% of the school do not have play ground . 54% of the school did not have drinking water, 72% of the school did not have library ,84% school did not have toilet and 2% of a school have single teacher. Parents are hesitant to send their girls to schools that have only male teacher . Lake of qualified female teacher is a major barrier to girls education . Fear of sexual harassment is another aspect in de terring girls from attending schools and a factor contributing to the high droop out rate . Fixed schooling hours do not suit girls in rural areas ,as they are need for domestic work at home or in farms and fields during these hours. This is one of the cause of the lower participation rates of girls in education. (3) †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ CONCLUSION AND SUGESSIONS: At present when we talk about 21st century , and women empowerment , we feel very embarrassing when we see a women in a very itiable condition in our society on the other side we feel very proud when gains highest position represent our nation . If we want to realize women empowerment Firstly we will try to minimize the literacy gap between man and women and give priority to educate a women. So that education plays a crucial role in accelerating the women empowerment . Thus education seen as â€Å"Unique investment† in present and future in reference to Women Empowerment. The National Policy on Education states that Education will be used as driving force of basic change in the status of women in socity . Access and equality are the two most important components to empower women and to facilitate the delivery of social justice to them . If we want to achieve and sustain a high growth rate must have educate women without any discrimination. REFRENCES : †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ (1) Sshay Sushama. , â€Å"Women and Empowerment† Discovering house , New Delhi,1998; Page no. 11 (2)https://www. un. org/popin/taskforce /guide/iatfwemp. gdl. html (3) https://volunteerthoughts. blogspot. com/2005/08/girls -and-wonens-education-inindia. html Sumanthy. M and Nagendran. K. , â€Å"Women Empowerment : Ethics and logics, southern economist ,July 15 2007. ol. 46 Page no. 5-6 Janaki. D . , â€Å"Empowerment of women through education :150 years of university education in India â€Å", University News ,vol44(480 ,Nov27-Dec032006, page no 82-84. Akth ar Najma. , â€Å"Higher education in Future† ,Manak publication Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi 2000. Das Suranjan. , â€Å"The Higher Education in India and the challenges of Globalization†, Social Science vol. 35,No 3-4 ,March-april 2007. Wixard Kausar and Arya vrat Vijay. , â€Å"Women in Higher Education in the work force :Need to Bridge the Gender Gap, â€Å", University News ,Vol 45(3) ,Dec. 10-16, 2007 . Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Women Empowerment Through Education" essay for you Create order