Education can give a man perfect way of thinking, develop inner instinct and understanding with his nature, society, culture and self. If we want to quote the line ‘education makes a man and a woman perfect’ then we need to accept education as a necessary instrument for the enlistment of the society. If we look in the history of the movement for improving women status all over the world, it shows that education is the most powerful instrument of changing women’s positions in the society. After the independence, emphasis has given on education to equip women for carrying out their multiple roles in the family. Education of men and women should have many elements in common but should not be identical in all respects. In the educational institutions, right from primary to the higher education, there is a need to stress importance in the fundamental aspects of all religions so that hatred does not develop among the students of both sexes. Indian culture has given a great impetus to the value system and it will come through education only. If values are inculcated right from the beginning in the minds of all, the nature of the society will change automatically.

Therefore, a visible strategy has to be developed wherein children especially girl child, in a number of areas are brought together and give them basic facilities such as food, clothes, books etc (though already mid day meal has introduced to get more enrolment in the schools) and taught in their mother tongue in the schools. Even the Government has given more focus on girl’s education (Beti Bachao Beti Padhao). There are sincere needs and efforts in order to ensure the congruity between value education and empowerment so that women are given equal opportunities and responsibilities in the society, and this is only possible when girls are provided basic education which includes social awareness, political awareness, legal awareness and other important issues. The article focuses on this congruity of education & empowerment.

Keywords: value education, women empowerment, participatory development, instrumental values, intrinsic value, gender equality

Education makes a man perfect’ was the motto of our culture because only education can give a man perfect way of thinking, develop inner instinct and understanding with his nature, society, culture and self. But now question what about women? Are they not in the part of our family and society? Or do they not have right to learn or right to have education so that we can quote the line as ‘Education makes a man and a woman perfect’? Everyday ebullient incidents are highlighted in newspapers regarding the atrocities committed on women irrespective of the fact whether they are educated or not. The most important thing is that they need to be given completely free and compulsory education (now it is free up to the age of fourteen) education so as to make them aware of the rights and duties and possibly free legal aids so that they can fight their cases without spending money to unknown person. The position of women is not satisfactory in India especially in rural areas compared to men and they cannot enjoy equal rights and status par with men. Though, it can be seen that the number of institutions imparting women’s education have increased considerably during the last 70 years after independence and the problems also equally increased due to population explosion and thereby we find the imbalance in the society where there is the dominance of male over the female.

Women education in ancient India

In ancient India, women were highly educated and perfect scholar of the Vedas. It has been clearly mentioned in Shatpatha Brahmana. Gargi, Maitreyi were the great scholar of Vedas. They were well versed in old Vedas. There were also many examples of women who were remained unmarried for long time devoted themselves to higher studies. There were also eight learned women who composed Mantras for the Vedas. They were: Vishvavera Atreyi, “Apala Atreyi, Indrani, Kakshivati Ghosh, Surya, Savitri, Dakshina Prajapati, Vak Ambhirini, and Ratri Bhardwaj”. It is also said that Rigvedic collection contained hymns composed by different women. Maitreyi was deeply interested on philosophy and Gargi was a great philosopher of religion. Many of the women made teaching their profession. There were boarding houses for girls students under the supervision of women teachers. Many women in Buddhist families used to live a life of celibacy in pursuit of religion and philosophy. Gargi, Maitreyi, Kausalya, Tara and Draupadi were no doubt highly learned women of ancient times. It is interesting to know that girls were free to go through the Upanayana ceremony, were a sacred thread, live a life of celibacy. Bhavabhuti, the author of Uttar Rama Charita has indicated that Atreyi studied the Vedanta with Rama’s sons Lava and Kush in Valmiki’s Ashram. There are also examples that women were so advanced in knowledge that they challenged men of acknowledged learning in public discussions on philosophical and metaphysical subjects. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad gives an instance of Gargi who challenged Yajnavalkya in the court of Janaka, King of Videha and at the end made him defeat with the words “O Gargi does not ask me too much”.

Women education received a great set back during the period of 200 B.C. to 1200 A.D. because of the deterioration of the studies of women and the lowering of the marriage age in the society. Gradually girls lost privilege of Upanayana, the Vedic initiation and were not considered fit to recite Vedic mantras or perform Vedic sacrifices. But somehow rich, royal and aristocratic women continued to receive a fairly good education. Besides, the study of Sanskrit and Prakrit, they could learn domestic arts, fine arts like music, painting etc. Educated ladies in cultured families contributed to the enrichment of the literature. Also during the period of 1200 to 1800 A.D. the percentage of literacy among women drastically went down especially during the Muslim rule. Society as a whole became prejudiced towards female education. The pardah system stood in the way of girls beyond a certain age being sent to schools, though, very young girls had some schooling where ever possible. Sultana Raziah who became queen of Delhi was an educated princess. Mughal Emperors provided liberal education to the princess. Akbar set up certain chamber in Fatehpur Sikri for girl’s school. Daughters of Rajput Chiefs and some Bengali Zamindars were able to read and write. Even some British people like David Hare, Porf. Patton and Bethune did considerable progress for the education of the girls in India.

The period 1800 to 1854 A.D. impressed by work done missionaries and Englishmen, several great Indians supported the opening of girls’ schools and breaking down the popular resistances against women education. Among them Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar played a very pivotal role. Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor General of India declared that no single change in the habits of the people is likely to lead more important and beneficial consequences than the introduction of education of female children. Educational Despatch of 1854, promised financial assistance and even direct action. However, due to the disturbances which occurred in 1887, the policy got slowed down. The visit of Miss Mary Carpenter, the English social reformer to India was of great significance. She felt that the training colleges for women teachers are essential and because of her efforts, it was possible to start the first training college for women primary teachers in 1857. By 1892, there was 2600 primary schools, 81 secondary schools, 15 training institutions and one college for women and girl‘s education. First women to get the degrees of an Indian University were two students of Bethune’s school, now a college, who graduated themselves from the Calcutta University in 1883.

During 1882 -83, the recommendations of the Indian Education Commission were available in which stress was given for women education which included the support of girls schools from Public Funds, the payment of liberal grants-in –aid offer of free ships, scholarships and raising of a class of women for teaching girls through various plans etc. However, the progress of women education mostly depended on private enterprises. In 1901-2, 11 colleges, 356 schools, 3982 primary schools and 32 training institutions were meant for girls. One significant development during this period was the starting of a career in medicine for women. There were 76 women in medical colleges and 166 in medical schools during the beginning of 20^th century. Lady Dufferin Fund was created for the medical education. By 1921, education was transferred to Indian control and this showed better progress in women education mainly due to the awakening created during the First World War. By 1921-22, there were 19 colleges, 675 secondary and 21956 primary schools for girls and again the emphasis was on private efforts. Another significant event was established of S.N.D.T Women’s University in Bombay by Maharishi D.K. Karve in 1916.

During the period 1921-47, there was further boost to the women education in the country. The age of marriage for girls was increased and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi also helped in awakening of Indian women. At the time of independence i.e. 1946-47, there were 2370 secondary schools for girls, 21479 primary schools for girls and 4288 institutions for professional, technical and special education for women. This also showed an increase in co-education system especially in the schools as there were almost 40-50 percent of girls studying with boys.

So the above description shows the very brief history of the women education from the Vedic period to till political independence of India. It also shows that women were having good quality of education during Vedic period and they took higher position par with men in the society but gradually these conditions underwent changes due to the political, social and economic factors resulting in the rising of illiteracy and ignorance.

The post-independence era (after 1947) had tremendous improvement in women education. The new constituted government also focused on the improvement of education and education commission was constituted. On the other hand, a number of voluntary organizations made considerable efforts for women empowerment focusing on education as an important indicator. 20^th Century also witnessed the social, political, economic improvement, gender justice, gender equality, women’s rights, human rights, social action, social legislation, custodian justice etc. Especially after the introduction of New Economic Policy and in the era of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG), opportunity has come to the door step of our society and also there is a race for the acquisition of goods so as to lead a better level of living in the society. This tendency is more common in urban areas than rural areas. Today women take up jobs outside their home to augment family resources. Education and economic independence is creating immense self-confidence among women. Today the contribution of women in economic development can be seen in different capacities such as mother, house wife, officer, scientist, doctors, politicians technocrat, social workers etc. both the education and economic status of women is an indicator of social development. Trend of literacy rates of women has increases over the years (Table 1&2) (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Census of India, Office of Registrar General, India.

It is accepted that education is an important value which is necessary for the enlistment of the society. Education is a life long process and is essential for human resources development at all levels. Education helps intellectual, social and emotional development of human beings. It also brings about reduction in inequalities in society presuming that education leads to equalizations of status between individuals coming from higher to unequal socio-economic strata of the society. If we look in the history of the movement for improving women status all over the world, it shows that education is the most powerful instrument of changing women’s positions in the society. Education for women was regarded as a means to improve their status within the family and not equip them to play any role in the wider social context. After the independence, emphasis is given on education to equip women for carrying out their multiple roles in the family. Education of men and women should have many elements in common but should not be identical in all respects. The education of women should make her familiar with the problems of home management so that she may take her place in home with the same interest and same sense of competence. The education system should produce men and women of character and ability committed to national service and development, only then, there would be the possibility of national progress.

Few years back we have celebrated International Women’s day with considerable fanfare. Women’s issue still do not figure on priority lists. The picture is no dismal in the higher education front. While women occupy around 50 percent positions in higher educational institutions in other parts of the world, it has recently gone up from a shoddy 10 to 40 percent in India. The University Grants Commission (UGC), therefore, deserves a pat on the back for having started the “Sensitization, Awareness and Motivation” workshops with the avowed objective of “capacity building of Women Managers in Higher Education” in the institutes of higher learning since 2002. The objective is to train women holding middle level and higher positions in higher educational institutions to help them catalyse the system to move toward gender justice by bringing in their perspectives into decision-making. The UGC has been emphasising gender equity and an inclusionary approach through its policies and curriculum design. These have been clearly articulated in the 11^th Plan of the Commission. In order to achieve this goal we need to increase the number of women in decision-making positions in the higher education and develop a gender friendly environment”. (The Statesman, 17^th March, 2009).

Practically it has seen that in India, the development of education has been mainly confined to middle and higher middle class families. The majority of female population is still illiterate. The situation in rural areas is much worse as compared to the urban areas, though the large number of colleges and universities has been established and the level of women education is increasing gradually (Table 3). It is also envisaged that the National policy on Education could be an important strategy for achieving the status of women in the society. The National Education System could play a positive role in the empowerment of women and leads to development of new values. Hence government needs to implement the policy very effectively and purposively so that it could reach to the target and only then there will be a remarkable change in education system in India.

Very first question is how and what way education in participatory development leads to women empowerment. The imperative need of gender partnership in matters of development has been recognised, though it is late. It is well known that gender equality in economic, social and political areas, as fundamental rights, is guaranteed by our constitution. Assigning a role, performing a role and deriving results by the women could take place only under certain set of conditions. In a country like India, where parliamentary democracy is involved, the conditions should be created in which women’s voices are heard and their needs are recognised and participation is noticed by one and all. For such a situation, it is necessary that women should be empowered in various areas such as social, economic, political, cultural, legal, moral etc. They need to be involved in decision making process also.

On the other side, if we look at the conditions of rural women, it may be observed that rural women do not have access to resources and one can not go in for high investment areas. They have number of disadvantages namely less or no resources, no technical expertise, no experience with outside economy and no demand with the products they produce. It is, therefore necessary that the expert should see how best to make women’s role effective for the nation’s progress particularly in rural areas. It is also equally important to support sensitization programmes to bring about awareness and general political approach, ensure access to service and facilitate them to function as equal partners and participate in the planning, implementing and development programmes particularly in the context of the assessed role of women in Panchayati Raj. What is more urgently needed is to promote women’s upliftment approach and equal rights guarantee. It is true that no country in the world treats its women as its men. It is also well known that there can not be any educated people without educated women. They need to get opportunity in the general context so that they can pass it to the next generation and without education, political role in the development could have no meaning. Women, by virtue of gender non-discrimination in terms of equal access to power structure can play a crucial role in the society. Both women and men should share power on equal terms. In the present era of globalization, women need to be given a unique place in the society rather in the misogynist society.

Women in rural areas need basic facilities such as water, nutrition, fuel, food for their children and also basic transport facilities. Above all they need education through which they can read and right and become aware of the political scenario of the country and in particular the problem of the village in which they live. During the Fifth Five Year Plan, the minimum needs of the programme had eight components which are very essential for the rural women, such as elementary education, rural health, rural water supply, rural roads, rural electrification, rural housing, nutrition and environmental improvement of urban slums in which rural men and women reside. Later in Sixth Plan, adult education was added. Subsequently, in Seventh Plan three more items were added, namely rural domestic energy, rural sanitation and public distribution system. Even during Ninth Plan, integrated approach has been adopted towards the empowerment of women. Some funds are earmarked for women components and also there has been monitoring mechanism for general development. Another important factor is to welcome and initiative the participation of women in public front. The constitution of India also provides for equal rights and privileges for both men and women and special provision for women to help and improve their status in the society. Planning has also focused for women’s concern and empowerment through participation. The present stages is the changing phases for the women because with out women participation development would be one sided and it is not desirable to keep them away from the development of the nation. The efforts should be to remove all obstacles in their way of active participation and empower them with all necessities so that they can lead better life. Entrepreneurship is now recognised as a full fledged new frontier towards which women are trying to fulfil their aspirations economically and socially. But where is the empowerment of women especially of rural women? For their empowerment, education needs to be reached to them in all aspects and with out education empowerment would not be fully materialised in the present fast society.

Enhancing women’s participation in economic activities is very crucial not only for achieving poverty reduction & economic development but it also crucial for over all social development and empowerment. Reducing gender gap in participation in economic activities contributes towards many other benefit of economic prosperity such as improvement in child survival, overall family health, reduction in fertility etc. The economic activities are broadly classified as organized and unorganized, each of which may be in the formal or informal sector. Participation of women in economic activities in formal sectors of industries, services and agricultural sector is measurable, but activities of women in informal sectors such as house works, training and education of children, activities in agricultural sectors and household services are still not measured. Women constitute roughly half of the economically active population, but their contribution to economic activity is far below the potential.^1–11

As per 2011 census, the Work Force Participation Rate (WFPR) is highest for Himachal Pradesh at 51.85 followed by Sikkim at 50.47 and lowest WFPR is observed for Lakshadweep (29.9) and UP (32.94). The highest WFPR is observed for males in Daman & Diu at 71.48 and for female was observed for Himachal Pradesh at 44.82 (Table 4).

The WFPR for females in rural area has decreased from 28.9 in 2007-08 to 26.1 in 2009-10 and further reduced to 24.8 in 2011-12 (Table 5). As per NSS 68th Round, in rural areas the most of the females and male workers are self-employed at 59.3 and 54.5% respectively. However, in urban areas, the percentage of female self-employed are 42.8% and also the same percentage of females are regular/salaried employees. Similarly, in urban areas, males who are self-employed workers are 41.7 whereas the percentage of salaried/waged workers is 43.4% (Table 6&7).

From the above parameter of women involvement in various developments in the fields of agriculture, jobs, Member of Parliament etc. has shown that no doubt education leads to empowerment. But the fear factor is that all these development mostly urban affiliated compare to rural areas of India. Still need to play roles realistically for their development. From the above discussion it is clear that there are sincere needs and efforts in order to ensure that Indian women are given equal opportunities and responsibilities in the society, and this is only possible when girls are provided basic education which includes social awareness, political awareness and other important issues. If the growing children are made aware that they have equal rights in the society then they could fight for their rights. It is disheartening to note that women are not allowed to encourage keeping themselves aware of their moral and social rights which results disparity in the society especially in the rural areas. They even have to face different kinds of obstacles daily life. To remove all these obstacles and for the enhancement of empowerment of women, it is essential that social workers, welfare agencies, civil societies and other prominent leaders should lead a campaign for inculcating values for women’s empowerment which include all kinds of development and education. Here the responsibility would be entrusted to all of us to create awareness among women regarding the fundamental rights of women in the Indian society. This could provide a satisfactory and dignified life and will helps for their empowerment at large.

None.

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest to disclose.

None.

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