Chapter I

Introduction

1.1 Introduction

First step towards education is literacy. Education is an instrument of social change. It empowers

individuals and communities, generates an awareness of one’s own potentialities and inner

strengths equipping people to combat oppression, exclusion and discrimination. The function of

education in the progress of the traditional people has been very well stressed by educationists

and sociologists. Education may mean formal or non formal education. Formal education means

learning in the structured school setting. It is necessarily organized and is supported by state

government partially or totally. Non formal education would be learning in any kind of setting

which takes place apart from the specific school program. Out of these two, which one is better

is matter of opinion. It all depends upon the conditions under which people receive education.

For all those who have crossed the normal age limits for formal education, non-formal education

remain as the only alternative. Hence, non-formal education can be viewed as an alternative to

formal education; offer a way to devise an effective approach to learning and education.

Education is the foundation on which rests the edifice of society and democracy. Illiteracy

constitutes a major hurdle in the way of rapid social, political and economic development of the

country.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) define

literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use

printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of

learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential,

and to participate fully in their community and wider society." The United Nations Development

Program’s (UNDP’s) Human Development report published every year, reveal that India is one

of the least literate societies in the world with large rural-urban and male- female disparities.

A child’s education starts from his or her home. Parents are the first teacher of a child. But, the

role of a mother is more important in the growth of the child. So a mother should be educated in

this regard. As rightly said by Mahatma Gandhi “If you educate a man you educate an individual,

but if you educate a woman you educate an entire family”. So, we can say that Mahatma Gandhi

was aware of the importance of educating women. But, in our country people are still not aware

of women’s rights and significance of their learning. In our country the birth of girl child is

considered as a stigma on family. Women in India have always been regarded as the weaker sex

as Indian society is patriarchal in nature. She has often been treated as a source of pleasure and at

times been bought and sold as a market commodity. She has generally never been given any

freedom but has been kept within the four walls of the house, deprived of all her rights. Even

though women have been granted equal rights with men in principle by our Constitution, in

practice, we find a large number of women being illiterate, ignorant and they continue to be

dominated and exploited by their male counterparts.

There is rapid development in the field of IT, Media, Technology in our country. Yet it lags

behind in issues of development of women. In many Indian villages, literacy rate of women is

very poor. The progress of a country directly depends upon the development of women in that

country. Education plays a key role in the progress of a nation. If India wants to be in the list of

developed countries and emerge as a super power then immense consideration needs to be given

to the education of women. The root cause of all the problems that women face today is

illiteracy. If a woman is educated then, she will be aware of her rights, which in turn help in

uprooting problems such as dowry system, female foeticide, child marriage etc. If a wife is

educated then she does not need to depend on her husband for her financial needs. If a woman is

working then she will get the respect of her in-laws as she would be economically independent

and contribute to the household expenses.

Mahatma Gandhi mentioned women as baronial. As he rightly said, “If she is weak in striking,

she is strong in suffering.” Women are stronger than men in expressing their emotions, love and

compassion. The development of a child is greatly influenced by the mother as compared to the

father as he or she remains most of the time with his or her mother.

We are very proud of India as our motherland. All our rivers have feminine names. But we ill-

treat women and do many injustices with them. Our society is male dominant; emphasis is given

on the education of men rather than women. Many still believe that a woman’s life begins and

ends in a household and within realm of reproduction. So they opine not to educate them. Due to

illiteracy, many women still think that they are here to serve their husbands and in-laws. Due to

unawareness, girls are married when they are under-age and give birth to children much before

they reach maturity. This in turn cause many health related problems in them. They are also

unaware of family planning due to which the size of their family increases and they cannot

educate and feed their children properly. In contrast, if a girl is educated then she will be aware

of the legal age for marriage and appropriate time for giving birth to children. An educated

woman will be aware of various family planning schemes and she will have right number of

children whom she is able to feed and educate. An educated mother understands the importance

of educating a girl child. The education of women will help in reducing the population of our

country which is the main hindrance in our development.

It has been noted that women are more dedicated than their male counterparts in various fields.

They perform their allocated task/ job with more sincerity. If given a chance then women can

rise to the top in their fields. If Kiran Bedi’s parents had not educated her, then she might not be

the first IPS officer of India. Same is the case of Kalpana Chawla, first female astronaut, who

brought laurels to our country. Today Sonia Gandhi (UPA Chairperson) is among the list of 50

most powerful women of the world. Indira Nooyi (Pepsico India CEO) and Chandra Kocher are

both world’s most powerful women heading multinational companies in India.

A Journey of Women’s Education in India:

Numerous studies suggest that India will become one of the superpowers, a proud developed

nation by 2020. This must awaited period is just 8 years away. Even if we do become a

superpower, will we still be truly defined as one? Can we call ourselves “developed’’ if one

major section of the society i.e. women is lagging behind?

Census of India shows that though, literacy rate of women sharply rose from 7% to 54.16%

(1951-2001), unfortunately only 39% of women are literate as compared to men’s 64%.

But the picture was not quite like this in the ancient India. During the Vedic period, women

enjoyed a status in the society at par with men. They were poets, writers and sages. However, the

picture did not remain same for quite long. Invasion by Mughals brought not just authentic spices

and artwork but it also brought along with it their views on women equality. They imposed

purdah system and believed that a women’s contribution was just towards breeding, rearing and

restricted to the household. The ancient Indian woman went through a long dark period of

suffering due to this. However, the period of “British rule” witnessed a revival in women’s status

especially their education. Eminent leaders like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra

Vidyasagar, Jyotiba Phule and Baba Saheb Ambedkar who fought relentlessly for our country’s

freedom from the British rule, believed that the nation would not be free unless it is free of all

evils and prejudices concerned with women and hence, they worked very hard towards their

upliftment.

A major progress was achieved due to government’s efforts post independence. The newly

formed government and the Constitution of India laid much needed emphasis on women’s

education through various acts of parliament and reservations, which resulted in the growth of

number of women enrollment in schools and colleges. In fact, it can be seen that the

development in literacy among female is higher than that of male!

1.2 Review of the Related Literature

The overall progress of a nation depends upon its educated citizens, sound education for people

belonging to all strata of the society. The health of the nation depends upon it education policy

that must try to reach out to every individual in the remotest of the corners of the country. In a

male dominated society like ours, preference and importance is given to the men rather than the

women that have adverse ramifications. The research undertaken reviews the existent literature

presented in this section. Any study of female literacy essentially requires to illustrate in broad

categories; regional variation, religion-wise variation, social- economical-demographical

variation. An attempt has been made to examine the research gaps in studying about female

literacy.

Education

Imam (2011), in his research “Education for Sustainable Development: Issues and Challenges in

India” examined the issues and challenges & status achieved relating to education for sustainable

development in India and made basic recommendations in education for sustainable development

by getting better Basic Education and creating awareness about environment and proper training.

Thus, education must be available for all at subsidized rates through public funding. However,

Singh, et. al. (2012) in their paper titled “Higher Education in India: A commodity for the rich

and elite” have concluded that due to privatization of education in India, the cost of higher

education is increasing and is out of reach of low and medium income groups. This is

detrimental to the society as ultimately it affects the female child who gets deprived of education.

F. Ram, et.al. (2009) through their study of “Understanding the distribution of BPL cards: All-

India and selected states”, suggests that 44% of BPL cards (27 million) were distributed to the

non-poor households in the country and yet three-fifth of the poorest don’t possess BPL cards.

Education for such is a distant dream. Durkheim (1897/1951) rejected the notion that education

was a social transformer. Instead, he argued that education only reflected the society and thus did

not create it. However, in the United States John Dewey (1939) believed that education could

become a force for democratic movements for human liberation to achieve a fair distribution of

political power. Paulo Freire’s (1970) pedagogical goals developed in northeastern Brazil. The

world’s poor and oppressed needed to be equipped with educational experiences to enable them

take control over their own lives by fostering a ‘spirit of enquiry’ leading them to critique

situations of social injustice. Maxine Greene (1933) an educational philosopher integrated

aspects of Freire, Dewey, and feminist thinking. Greene believed that, democratic learning

involved teachers listening to student voices. Listening allows teachers to understand students

better. It would introduce multiple perspectives and cultural diversity into the classroom thereby

encouraging students to take risks and contribute their social critiques to the classroom dialogue.

Learning involved discovering new questions about the world and ourselves and thereby fosters

critical thinking. According to N. J. Usha Rao (1981) education is one of the relevant indices of

development. In fact technical and vocational education helps in securing employment, increases

the levels of income, consumption and status. This has been concurred by Paswan and Jaideva

(2002). Patwardhan (1973) has pointed that education is a channel of upward social mobility.

According to Bowman (1992), Education enables a women to: a) acquire the ability to manage

her household in a better way within the given budget constraint; b) ensure that the good

nutritional standard and hygiene are maintained; c) regulate the fertility behavior in a

planned way and d) contribute to the quality learning in succeeding generations. Hence, it is

imperative that boys and girls both must get an equal opportunity to good and basic education.

That is not the case in India as Rani (2010) research highlights the factors responsible for low

literacy rates among women. It focuses on the National Development Council’s aim and

objective, which primarily says increase literacy rate. Shaikh (2012) has pointed out that as level

of education increases, participation by Muslim minority decreases due to insensitive education

policy towards cultural and linguistic diversity of tribal society as uniform standards cannot be

applied. Joshi (1993) research on “Educational Infrastructure for Women” discusses that though

general educational facilities have increased but quality of education has deteriorated. The

country is still facing acute problem of massive illiteracy, failure to universalize elementary

education, slow progress in education and unemployment among the educated persons. The

literacy rates of female had improved but still female literacy is lagging behind in comparison to

male counterpart. He has pointed out the regional variation, imbalances and disparities in all the

sectors of education. Aggrawal (2001) has examined the various dimensions of access and

retention in District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and found that significant gains in

access and retention have been made, both under the formal as well as alternative systems of

primary education. Despite considerable progress in enrollment and retention, it is becoming

evident that additional efforts would be required before the overall objectives of DPEP can be

fully realized. In order to improve the quality of data, steps and the community has to be

strengthened, secondarily, periodic validation of data through scientifically designed sample

surveys should be undertaken, and the margin of error should be estimated at the district level.

Zaidi and Awais (2012) have documented that the Bijnor district came in backward category in

terms of educational facilities as low number of schools, low teacher student ratio, characterizes

it. Government schools are poorly maintained and dropout cases are alarming. Children have

been sent to the schools only to receive scholarship and mid-day-meal. Their Scholarship and

earned money are being misused for drinking and gambling by their father. Serious efforts are

required in this direction.

Female Literacy

Jyothi and Rajaiah (1988) have pointed out that the gap between male and female population is

increasing whereas sex ratio is decreasing. Although there is an improvement in literacy level of

female but gap / disparity has also increased. Yadav and Kumar (1993) state that education is a

key to Progress and until Indian women are educated they will not be able to enjoy their rights.

More efforts are required in the rural area than urban area for improvement in female literacy.

According to them huge drop-out rate could be attributed to social restrictions on movements of

grown-up girls outside their homes. Garad (2012) pointed out Gender based inequality, Social

discrimation, occupation of girl child in domestic chores, low enrolment of girls in schools, low

retention rate and high dropout rate are variety of factors responsible for poor female literacy

rate. Nathwani (2012) has concluded in his study titled “Education for Women Empowerment”

that in reality no country has managed to eliminates the gender gap. Rights, responsibilities and

opportunities of individuals should not be determined by their gender. Thankachan (2012)

established a relationship between literacy rate and women’s status in India and found that

Female literacy has positive relationship with sex ratio, women’s economic status index,

women’s social status index, women’s health status index, gross gender development index and

negative relationship with gender disparity index which further indicate that enhancement of

literacy is a better way for gender development and promoting the status of women in the society

and in the progress of a nation. Tariq and Waquas (2012) have identified that poverty,

inadequate school facilities, lack of female teachers, gender bias in curriculum are the factors

influencing gender inequalities in school enrollment in India in their study “Gender Disparity in

Education in India”. Khan and Pandey (2012) research on the topic “Girls Dropout is black spot

on Indian Education” have identified that low family income, involvement in activities of

domestic chores, care of younger ones, lack of interest in study, ill health of girl, negative

attitude of society, fear of teacher, mental disability and early marriage are prominent reasons of

girl’s dropout from schools. Stromquist (1992) has identified various benefits of literacy for

women, such as better maternal behaviors regarding child health and child rearing, and effective

family planning. Although women could use literacy to increase their access to new knowledge,

most literacy programs do not encourage this because their curricula are still designed along

sexually stereotyped lines that emphasize women's roles as mothers and household managers.

The Public Report on Basic Education in India (1999) by a probe team based on Census

(1991) and National Family Health Survey (1992-93) found that educational achievements in

India are highly uneven. General literacy rates vary in great deal by region, class and caste.

Illiteracy has been virtually eliminated from most advanced state like Kerala while states like

Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are the worst performer. Dreze and Sen

(2002) report quotes that ‘…there are evidences that better education (particularly female

education) contributes to the reduction in gender based inequalities’. Chakraborty and

Chakraborty (2009) conclude that Education and decision to work are not related in South 24

Parganas.The higher level of education by head of the household reduces the probability of

women’s work participation that is probably because the head of the household’s educational

level proxy for family income. Saroja (1999) has analyzed the organization of schooling and the

factors affecting school dropouts among girls in schools in Ron Taluka of Gadag district,

Karnataka and advised that there is a need to start separate girl schools in villages, employ more

female teachers and make the school environment attractive with sports facility. Policy makers

and concerned officials should do needful towards universalize elementary education. Kishor

and Gupta (2009) estimated that the sex ratio of children attending school is 889 girls per 1,000

boys and the percentage of ever-married women with 10 or more years of education has risen

very slowly from 11% in NFHS-1 to 17% in NFHS-3. Choudhury and Sarkar (2012) have

found disparities in educations exist among females and it advances with age in their survey-

based study. Inadequate infrastructural facilities (like lack of accommodation, proper and

separate sanitation, female teachers, hostel etc.) in the schools are important barriers for the

women educational development. Phule and Jundhale (2012) found in their study that Solapur

district exhibits a lower percentage of literacy among its female population than the state

literacy. It is due to drought proneness of the district and maximum population is engaged in

primary sectors i.e. Agriculture, livestock etc. and it is an impact of over all low economic

development of the district. Ahmad (2012) has identified key links between education and

women empowerment and assessed the current size of the gender gap by measuring the extent to

which women in India have achieved equality with men in terms of educational attainment and

reducing the gender gap at all level of education would be focus area. Khan and Khan (2012)

emphasized that the policy-makers of adult education should develop an integrated educational

package that is integrated with savings and credit group activities and livelihood enhancement

programs.

Female Literacy and Health

The adverse impact of illiteracy of females on infant survival was citied by various authors

across the globe. Caldwell (1979) and Pant (2010) studied the relationship between women

education and child health, predicated that each additional year of mother’s education decreases

under-five mortality by 9% decrease. Martin (1995) found that higher education is consistently

associated with lower fertility and concluded that education enhances women's ability to make

reproductive choices. Panopoulou and Tsakloglou (1999) studied the relationship between

fertility and selected socioeconomic variables among 13 developed and 55 developing countries

and found a negative association between fertility and female education but a positive

association between fertility and levels of infant mortality. Buragohain (2003) studied the

female literacy in the northeastern region of India to know relationship between high female

literacy rate with each of Infant Mortality Rate, mean age of marriage, total fertility rate using

spearman’s correlation coefficient and found that female literacy has positive impact on the

decline of infant mortality rate. Ghosh and Usha Ram (2009) estimates level of development

coupled with literacy among women, female autonomy in terms of work participation, access to

safe drinking water, proper practices during diarrhea among children is needed to reduce infant

and child mortality among schedule caste population. Factors affecting infant mortality for non-

schedule castes and tribe population are birth order, safe delivery, and practice of exclusive

breast-feeding and the interaction effect of any antenatal check up through female literacy.

Tulasidhar (1993) found that the relative impact of maternal educations on child mortality is

three times stronger than that of female labour force participation. Nair, Kutty, et.al. (1995)

found strong relationship between female literacy and infant survival among Hindus and

scheduled castes/tribes as well as a reduction in mortality among the infants of literate Muslim

mothers as observed in their community in the rural areas of Dakshina Kannada districts of

Karnataka state. This study’s striking observation was that in all communities, agreater

proportion of literate women stay back at home as housewives whereas a high proportion of

illiterate female go for work especially unskilled in nature. Definitely, this is not by choice but

due to the poor economy of the family. Murtha, Guio and Dreze (1995) in their district level

study of 14 states in India found that female literacy and female labour force participation have a

significant impact on fertility. Agnihotri’s (2001) research on infant and child mortality of major

Indian states indicates a more rapid decline in male mortality rates as mortality levels decline.

However many states known for their gender bias do show evidence of the ‘substitution effect’,

i.e. more rapid decline in female infant and child mortality rates in the wake of increasing

incidence of pre–natal selection. Krishnan (1975), Cleland and Van ginneken (1988) found

that role of education is an important determinant for service utilization. Streatfield et. al.

(1986) has identified that educational level is another factor responsible for the use of a

particular health care choice. Desai and Alva (1998) found that there is a strong relationship

between maternal education and three markers of child health (infant mortality, children's height-

for-age, immunization) for 22 developing countries. Mishra and Retherford (2000) study

estimates levels of child malnutrition and found that more than 50% of children under age four

are malnourished and found strong relationship between maternal education and nutritional

status of children. Kateja (2007) established an inverse relationship between the female literacy

and mortality rates (IMR and MMR). The study also found a positive correlation between infant

mortality and maternal mortality. Jindal (2010) found determinants of low birth weight of child

in her survey based study. This survey research found that dietary habits, protinex, leafy

vegetables consumption habits of the mother, pre pregnancy age and weight, pregnancy related

health problems and total weight gain, adequacy of iron &folic acid tablets of mother and

smoking/alcohol/drug consumption habits of father affect the outcome of pregnancy whereas

female education was contributing no significant impact. Kapoor (2010) found strong influence

of female literacy and female work participation on infant mortality at the district level. An

increase in male laborers in non-agricultural work and decrease in poverty reduces child

mortality.

Female Literacy and Fertility

Subbarao and Raney (1995) using national estimates from 72countries found that female

secondary school enrolment of 1975 is inversely related with the total fertility rate of 1985 but

male secondary school enrolment of 1975 shows weak relation. On the basis of Health Surveys

from nine Latin American countries, Martin and Juarez (1995) in their research entitled

‘Education and Fertility’ established that Women with no education have large families of 6-7

children, whereas better educated women have family sizes of 2-3 children. Ainsworth et. al.

(1996) found inverse association between female schooling and fertility in fourteen countries of

sub-Saharan Africa, female primary schooling has an inverse relation with fertility in about half

of the countries but female secondary schooling is universally associated with lower fertility and

the strength of the relation increases with increasing years of schooling. In Bangladesh,

Akmam’s (2002) study shows a significant and inverse association between education and

fertility. In Bangladesh Khan (1993) found significant negative direct and indirect effects of

maternal education on children ever born in both rural and urban areas. Education functions

indirectly through age at marriage. Further, he found that education has greater effect in urban

areas than in rural areas. Bhat(2002) observed that around half the decline in total fertility rate

was due to decline in the fertility rate among illiterate women in India.Closer home in India,

based on Census (1981) data Sharma and Retherford (1990) have pointed out that female

literacy rate had a strong effect on total fertility rate. An increase of ten percentage point in

female literacy rate reduces the total fertility rate by slightly less than one half children per

women, about half of the effect of female literacy rate on total fertility rate is direct and about

half is indirect through reduction in child mortality. Javali (1978) studied the correlation

between literacy rate and crude birth rate using 18 states & 4 union territories estimates and

found that female literacy and crude birth rate are inversely related. Parasuraman, Roy et al.

(1999) found that among the different socio-economic variables examined, the net effect on

fertility was the maximum from women’s education. It has substantial impact on the demand for

children and fertility regulation. Sekhar and Jayaraman (No date) have suggested that higher

levels of female literacy lead to lower TFR and higher rates of female work force participation

lead to lower TFR. Dixit (2009) found determinants of fertility decline that emerged from her

study were the region of residence, composition of children, standard of living, ever use of

contraceptives, women’s education and experience of child loss. Jindal (2010), attempted to

understand trend in levels of educational development among females, disparity index and to

discern the factors responsible for high female literacy rate and found that factors responsible for

increase in female literacy rate are increasing male literacy rate, slowly decreasing female work

participation as marginal and main worker, decreasing total fertility rate and increasing mean age

at marriage in the state of Maharashtra. In the study of 54 developing countries, Abadian (1996)

found that female autonomy which operational through age at marriage of women, differences in

ages between spouses and rate of secondary schooling among women had a negative and

significant impact on fertility. Further she observed that education acts directly on fertility rates

and works through infant mortality rates to decrease fertility. Jindal and Pandey (2011) found

that the difference in general fertility rate between illiterate and literate groups of women is

29.28 points in Rajasthan. As the educational attainment of female increases, this difference is

decreasing in Rajasthan.

Female Literacy and its effect on the Society

McClamroch (1996) found that the percentage of women in the labour force is directly related

to total fertility rate where as the average number of years of education for women is indirectly

related to total fertility rate using cross national data of 71 countries. Acharya (1998) pointed

out gender disparity against women in health, economic and socio-cultural aspects, which vary

from state to state. On the combined scale, Rajasthan appears to discriminate against women the

most, least in Kerala. Social development, female autonomy and fertility transition have

association with gender disparity while economic development seems to have no say in this

respect. Harish (1993) has stated that in the urban areas of all the southern states non-economic

factors like Urbanization, Reproductive behavior, Female Heads of households, literacy levels of

education, Marital Status turns out to be more important in explaining the spatial variations.

Sandhu (1996) study on Punjab village data, found female literacy, family standard of living and

women towards contraception are not significantly correlated with fertility. Mammen and

Paxon (2000) in their study found that cross-country and individual- level data indicate that

Women’s education levels and the education levels of their spouses appear to be important

determinants of women’s labour market activities. McAlister and Baskett (2006) used

polynomial regression analysis with a sample of 148 countriesand found that the Human

Development Index and Gender Development Index are powerful predictors of both maternal

and infant mortality rates whereas female literacy rate and combined enrolment in educational

programs are moderate predictors of maternal mortality rates. Vaithilingam, et.al.(2007)

examined the levels of female literacy rate, crude birth rate, crude death rate, infant mortality rate

and natural growth rate as well as relationship of female literacy rate with each of the above

mentioned vital rates among Indian states and union territories. They identified Kerala, Mizoram,

Chandigarh, Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi and Pondicherry as states which have

high female literacy rate, low birth rate and low infant mortality rate. On the other hand the

BIMARU states Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Utter Pradesh except Rajasthan have shown inverse

relationship between female literacy and each & every vital rates. Singh (2003) in her analysis

“Study on high mortality of children in Melghat region considering economical and

demographical factors” found that in Melghat birth rate as well as death rate of children are very

high and most of the people get married between the ages of 18 to 20 years and immediately

after one year of marriage, they bear a child. Bhat and Sharma (2005) found that the

significance of education in the development process is not only to be appreciated in terms of its

direct benefits but more importantly because of its externalities. The latter are colossal,

particularly in the context of the education of women. The role of women’s education in

reducing fertility rates and infant and child mortality rates; in improving the health status of the

family; in increasing the various freedoms; personality development and attitudinal and

behavioral changes, has been borne out by significant evidences from across the developing

world. Sebastian and Navaneetham (2007) found that education, age, marital status, place of

residence, economic status and husband’s employment turned out to be significant in

determining women’s entry into the work force. Further shows that importance of skill-oriented

education rather than general education in improving the employability of women. Ahmed

(2011) in her study of “Female Work Participation and Literacy in Maharashtra” reveals that

female literacy rate, proportion of urban population, proportion of Muslim population, per capita

GDDP are having a significant effect on FWPR in the total population. Female literacy and

Muslim Population are found to have a significant effect on FWPR in the rural population while

in urban data only proportion of Muslim population is found to be significant. Srivastava (1986)

made investigation to identify factors influencing female mean age of marriage and found that

Female literacy has stronger influence than male literacy rate. Das and Sahoo (2012) in their

study of “Determinants of Female Literacy of Scheduled Tribes in India” found that female

literacy rate is positively related to male literacy of STs, per cent of ST teachers, per cent of

female teachers and per cent of schools within habitations, and negatively related to per cent of

schools without teachers, per cent of ST population, wage rate, dependency rate, female work

participation Rate and poverty.

Hope for the Future

Kumar (1993) in his paper titled “Declining Sex Ratio in India” has studied sex composition of

India’s population, which declined by 11 points between 1961 and 1971 and also noticed a five

point decline from 1981 to 1991. He pointed out from the data on sex ratio over time that there

has been serious concern in various quarters about the decline in sex ratio during the 1980’s one

may say that this is a part of the monotonic trend if the 1971 sex ratio is corrected for female

undercount. The decline in sex ratio may be largely due to a rise in sex ratio at birth. Majumdar

(2005) in his study found that decrease in the numerical values of the factors like birth rate,

growth rate of infant mortality rate, considered for measuring Human Development Index(HDI)

tend to focus on the social impact on female literacy. The study showed that the rate of female

literacy has significantly been increased during 1991-2001 causing significant decrease in the

above social factors and hence increasing the HDI for different states of India. Sharma (2007)

studied the level of literacy among females in districts of Punjab in total, rural, urban and in

Gurdaspur that has shown remarkable growth in female literacy in all the areas from 1991 to

2001. In the same paper trend in dropout and enrollment of girl shows negative attitude towards

girl child education. Jindal and Pandey’s (2012) study reveals that female literacy rate is

inversely linearly related to Total Fertility Rate in Rajasthan. Results shows female literacy has

improved but Government need to enforce their Programmes more effectively and enrollment of

Girls / Females in School & Colleges should be promoted. Sharma (2012) in her study “Are

Women Really Empowered: A Case Study of Yamuna Nagar District” have found that educated

women are working for upliftment of their family status hence getting respect from family and

husband, can make decisions about their lives and kids’ lives and also participate in political

decisions. Butool (2012) found that the general fertility rate shows a decreasing trend with

increase in the levels of education of females in all the considered group of population. It is also

evident from the results that work participation rate of females is low both at national level as

well as at the state level. Apart from it, main workers show lower general fertility rate than the

marginal workers both in India as well as in Uttar Pradesh. Thus, it can be safely said that

females with better education and betterworking status are showing lower general fertility rates

or in other words, they are more conscious to the birth control. Jindal and Pandey (2012)

“Statistical Study of Female Literacy and Selected Socio-Economic and Demographic Variables

in Uttar Pradesh” found an unseen benefit in the area of female education. They found that

factors responsible for increase in female literacy rate, are increasing male literacy rate, slowly

decreasing female work participation as marginal and main worker, low impact of urbanization,

gradually increasing mean age at marriage and weak participation by percentage of below

poverty line families in support of female education. All over the country, a gradual shift has

been noticed for women’s empowerment through an increase in their literacy rates.

Review of Provisions for Girl’s Education under the Five-Year Plan’s from reports of Indian Government:

India being a developing country education forms the base on which the wheels of progress will

run. The leaders who drafted the Constitution were well aware of the importance of education.

The constitution provides for equality amongst all citizens irrespective of caste, creed or gender

and forbids any discrimination based on race, religion, caste or gender. Being a male dominated

society where ‘Man is supposed to be the provider and the caretaker’, it had envisaged that the

girl child and people from the backward castes will be affected. Hence, the constitution

empowers the state to practice Protective Discrimination in favour of girls / women, children and

any socially and educationally backward classes or the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

After years of foreign rule, finally when we attained Independence on 15th August 1947, the

education system in our country was far from what was desired. Limited education facilities

ridden with inequalities of castes, gender and regimes, disparity and biases in favour of the male

child. Hence, a consternated effort was required to bring parity in education where the girl child

and the child from the scheduled caste or tribe could share the same classroom.

The Constitution through its Article 45 directs the State to make available compulsory education

for all children until they attain 14 years of age, within a period of 10 years from the

commencement of the Constitution. This education should consist of 5 years of primary

education, and 3 years of upper primary education, for the age group 6-14 years.

The First Five Year plan did not lay much emphasis on a girl’s education. It merely suggested

equality among genders and the specified the urgency of improving the scenario of girl’s

education by adoption of various steps. It also, emphasized on providing education and work

opportunities, which were equal in all respects, to both the sexes. The Second Five Year Plan

apart from above, also, acknowledged the importance of parents in the mission and hence,

stressed on getting them educated as well and talked about tailoring the education more towards

girls and their perspectives. In the first two five year plans, a special need for education for

women was not felt as education as a whole was to be encouraged among all sections of the

society. Nevertheless, things began to take a different route from the onset of Third Five year

Plan. Here, initiatives, which comprised of school courses for adult women having an emphasis

on ‘child care programs’ were started. Even though, the efforts were put up until the Fourth Five

Year Plan, there existed a huge gap in the thorough tapping of available resources at various

stages of education. However, a big boost came in the form of the Fifth Plan which treated boys

and girls same in the eyes of education. To attract student to the schools, free mid day meals

along with other incentives like free textbooks, uniforms and attendance (to those who attended

regularly) were handed out to encourage participation and retention of girls in less developed

classes of the society. To make parents feel comfortable about their girl child’s safety in the

school, more and more women teachers were being hired. The Sixth Plan gave space to no

excuse for existence of the unequal opportunities in the field of education for either of the sexes.

It gave importance to making elementary education universal, availability of balwadi and day

care centres, higher number of women teachers in school, more number of girl’s hostels and

encouraging the attendance of girls in courses like Science and Mathematics. Finally, it was the

National Policy on Education (1986) that paved way in the Seventh Plan. This plan laid top

emphasis on eradication of illiteracy in women by removal of hurdles that were stopping their

entrance in elementary and higher education and their retention. However, it was the Eight Plan

that witnessed a transition from women’s development to their empowerment. It assured that the

benefits of development from different sectors will be equally available and distributed between

men and women. It stressed on the fact that just like men, women too were equal participants in a

nation’s advancement. The Ninth Plan gave preference to overall development of a women by

stressing on ‘quality living’ through investments in health, cleanliness, demographic profile and

economic productivity.

Provisions were made to have school in the villages itself or in the nearby areas as girls found it

difficult to travel long distances to attend schools. The Tenth Plan devoted itself in making the

elementary education as wide spread as possible.

The goals for the Tenth Five-Year Plan were as follows:

i) Universal Access ii) Universal enrolment iii) Universal retention iv)Universal Achievement

v) Equity looking at the ineffectiveness of the earlier plans special targets were firmly nailed in

the Tenth Plan.

a) Tie all the loopholes that exist in stages of enrolment, retention and learning achievement in

primary stage by the year 2007 and reduce the loop holes in the upper primary stage by 5% by

the same year.

b) Use unique strategies and methods of interpositions to include girls.

This Plan also aimed attention at certain women oriented programs like, already existing Mahila

Samakhya and two new ones (The kasturba Gnadhi Swantra Vidyalaya and the National

Program for the Education of Girls at the Elementary Level). The above-mentioned new

programs will be having following characteristics:

• Prime attention on societies with sections that are less developed and educationally

lagging behind, primarily, for girls.

• Spotlight on girls belonging to schedules classes and tribes and minorities.

• Understanding and handling reasons responsible for a girl not getting a chance to be

educated.

• Making available required support system for women/girls and also, informal learning

environments.

• Facilitating them to surpass the hurdles in their path of attaining education.

The 11th Plan of Government of India pays special attention to empowering women through

Education. The 11thPlan aims to increase adult literacy to 85%.Vocational training for both men

and women will be accorded top priority under this plan. Over and above all these, special

provisions have been made for elementary education for girls under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

(SSA).

• Here, the girl students are provided with free learning books, exclusive girl toilets and

appointment of women professors whose percentage with that to male professors will be

50%.

• Chances for out of schools girls to get back to educations through availability of school

camps, courses especially for older girls and exhaustive community amassing methods.

• Provisions of centres that specialize in childhood care near the schools.

• Programs for teachers that stimulates them to be better guides and sensitive towards

various issues, which in turn will enhance better education.

To encourage education among girls, numerous organizations were established. The important

committees are:

� Durga bai Deshmukh Committee or National Committee on Women’s Education (1958-

59)

� Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India (1962-63)

� The Committee to Look into the Causes for Lack of Public Support Particularly in Rural

Areas, for Girl’s Education and to Enlist Public Cooperation, 1963

� Committee on Differentiation of Curricula for Boys and Girls, 1964

� The Education Commission (1964-66)

� 1986 – A Review Committee for Review of National Policy on Education, 1986 in 1990

� The National Perspective Plan for Women (1988-2000)

To summarise what these committees - over a period - have suggested:

• In elementary schools, appointment of women professors whose post occupation

percentage with that of male professors will be 50%.

• Making it compulsory for every school to have a minimum of atleast one women

professor and in case there are not any women teachers available then compulsory

appointment of school mothers.

• Compulsory exclusive toilets for girls and boys in co-educational schools.

• For girls whose family income is below a certain level, there will be availability of cash

or resources to bear the expenditure of school stationary, books, uniforms and other

equipment, up to the middle level in school.

• To encourage regular attendance habits in school, awarding of 2-3 prizes, which would

be educational in some manner or the other. Also, giving out attendance scholarships to

girls from poor backgrounds.

• Changing of the already existing society mindsets about girls development and

encouraging them towards education.

• Provisions of cheap or free transportation systems for middle and secondary schools.

• Availability of girl’s hostel facilities, which have day boarding and lodging facilities.

• Primary focus on making education as cheap as possible and allowing payment to be

made in kind.

• Schools should have flexible timings.

• Availability of crèches for siblings

• Provisions for awards to the villages that show major improvement in girls participations

in schools.

• Elimination of gender bias by restructuring and modifying the school curriculums.

• Making the masses aware of the need and benefits of girl’s education through various

technological support systems like media.

• Women heads in coeducation schools

• Schools must be provided within walking distance.

1.3 Need of the Study

The above review reveal that Literacy is generally recognized as an important input for social

upliftment especially in areas of population control, health, hygiene environmental degradation

control, empowerment of women and weaker sections of the society. Another important fact is

observed that female literacy is shown as determinant of developments but developments can

also leads to improvements in female literacy. This research is design to unravel the other side

i.e. to identifying the factors responsible for increase in female literacy. The Indian subcontinent,

with its large size, wide structure, socio-economic and gender disparities is better understood and

better interpreted when studied at regional/districts level.

Socio-economic development particularly education plays a key role in reducing fertility,

mortality and morbidity. However, in recent years, question is that to what extents the socio-

economic development linked with all vital rates in Indian context or is there over time attributed

to some other factors. Some Study show positive correlation between female literacy rate and

female work participation rate whereas some studies shows the same to be insignificant. Without

using statistical tools, one cannot show any causal linkage between female literacy rate, female

work participation rate, fertility, mortality and development. This study may help in identifying

problem areas so that policies can be framed for social and economical development of India.

This research aims to take a fresh look at the present situation of education among females in

India primarily based on data provided in the Census of India. However, various items included

on education are evaluating the educational/ literacy level development among females,

measuring inter-districts inequalities in female education. It will focus intensively to find out

determinants for its variations in female literacy in various selected states and pooled data of

districts of India as well as causal linkage between various socio-economic - demographic

variables and female literacy.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

Considerable regional diversity in terms of social, economic and demographic characteristics

prevails in India. This is true not only among the states but among the districts of same state. In

general, these striking variations in level of education, female work participation, nutritional

standards, infant mortality rate, employment, income distribution, political commitment etc.

among the states in the livelihood of the common people and their interaction. Thus, any country

level study is like to hide variations at lower level. As well as several studies reported that

relationship between female literacy and socio-economic-demographic variables, vary from

country to country, continent-to-continent, developed countries to developing countries and even

within a country or state. Hence, it is necessary to study these characteristics at the districts

level.

This study involves the analysis of the following aspects in all the districts of India.

� Assessing the levels of literacy, among females in States and in all the districts of India.

� To examines relationship between female literacy rate with each of Infant Mortality Rate

(IMR), Child Mortality Rate (CMR), Total Fertility Rate (TFR), Female Work

Participation Rate (FWPR) and mean number of births per ever married woman (MNB)

at district level for India using Census 2001 data.

� To examine the possible impact of the educational attainment of female on their fertility

behavior in India and its states.

� The extent of gender disparity in literacy in India, all States and its districts.

� Assessing the factors (selected socio-economic and demographic variables) responsible

for increase in female literacy rate in the pooled data of the districts of India.

� Assessing the factors (selected socio-economic and demographic variables) responsible

for increase in female literacy rate in the selected states of India.

� To assess the time required for 100 percent female literacy in India, all States and its

districts.

1.5 Organisation of Research

The present thesis consists of six chapters.

Chapter II: Methodology

Various modes of data collection techniques (quantitative, qualitative) adopted are discussed in

this chapter. It also explains the techniques used in the subsequent analysis.

Chapter III: Study Area and the Study Population

This chapter consists of two major sections. First section describes the profile of the study area

as well as study population and second section examines relationship between female literacy

rate with each of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Child Mortality Rate (CMR), Total Fertility Rate

(TFR), Female Work Participation Rate (FWPR) and mean number of births per ever married

woman (MNB) at district level for India using Census 2001 data. Also an attempt is made to

examine the possible impact of the educational attainment of female on their fertility behavior in

India and its states.

Chapter IV: Female Literacy: Trends, levels and Projection

This chapter consists of three major sections. The first section demonstrates the educational

development among females. The second section describes inter-districts inequalities in female

education and the third section will be projecting time required to achieve 100% female literacy.

Chapter V: Factors influencing Female Literacy

Chapter V deals with studying relationship between various socio-economic - demographic

variables and female literacyusing districts estimates. It includes casual linkage between various

socio-economic - demographic variables and female literacy.

Chapter VI: Summary and Conclusion

Chapter VI concludes the thesis with the recapitulation of major findings of the study. This

chapter also examines the scope for further research. A few limitations of this study have also

been included in this chapter.