 INTRODUCTION

In Ancient India women enjoyed an equal status and had equal educational opportunities with men. Both boys and girls used to undergo a ceremony of Upanayana in Vedic days to study Vedas. Atharvaveda emphasised the importance of education of women for a successful marriage and happy home. It was only in Mediaeval India that political and social transfor- mation lowered the status of women and consequently their participation in educational activities. Society had built a pre- judice against women's education and girls received little educa- tion at home. After the advent of the British rule, however, a climate was built in favour of women's participation in econo- mic and social life and female education received an impetus, although the opportunities remained limited and only a very small percentage of women could avail themselves of the edu- cational facilities and pursued an independent career. Social traditions continued to stand in the way of broadening the scope and sphere of educational and employment avenues for women.

With the achievement of independence, the entire outlook towards women changed for the better and a new era was ushered in activising the social, economic and legal changes re- quired for equalising the status of women with men and their equal participation in the national life of the country. The Constitution of India provides for equal rights and privileges for men and women and also some special provisions for their development and upliftment of their social, economic and political status. Articles 15(1), 16(1) and 16(2) respectively state that "The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them" and that "There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment under any office under State".

In pursuance of the constitutional directive, the Government, since independence, have enacted from time to time, a number of legislations to raise the status of women in India and to reduce the traditional gap of inequality between men and women in the socio-economic structure of the country. Attempts have also been made to introduce programmes of development aimed at enabling women to play their role in national life in an effective manner. Partly as a result of changes in the social structure and partly because of effective measures undertaken to speed up the process of development of women, the status of women in national life has undergone a considerable change.

In all the six Five Year Plans drawn for the national develop- ment, special provisions have been made for the welfare and development of women. Briefly, these programmes aimed at providing minimum health facilities integrated with family wel- fare and nutrition of women and children; acceleration of women's education; their increase in labour force and welfare services for women in need. As a result of this and other welfare programmes, the living conditions of women have im- proved and they have become increasingly conscious of their rights and capabilities.

Education has been an important factor of development, which has helped in raising the status of women and their role In society since independence when there has been an accele- rated rate of expansion of women's education among girls and women. While the percentage of girls and women enrolled was only 25 of the total enrolment in 1951, it has risen to 35 at present. Similarly, the literacy rate of women has increased from 7.30 per cent in 1951 to 24.88 per cent in 1981. The proportion of enrolment of girls to boys in educational institu- tions has also risen from 33 per cent to 55 per cent during this period. At the primary stage of education, 62 girls for every 100 boys are now under instruction, as against 38 in 1951. The number of literate, women in the country has increased from 14 million in 1951 (Census) to nearly 80 million in 1981 (Census).

Despite all development measures and constitutional and legal guarantees leading to betterment of the social and economic life of women, their educational advancement and improvement in their participation rate in the national life of the country, women still lag far behind men almost all the sectors including education. Owing to the persistent high mortality rate, because of a variety of reasons, the sex-ratio of women has been declin- ing, which is a significant indicator of inequality between men and women. According to the 1981 census, there are only 935 females per 1,000 males, as against 941 in 1961 census, while this composition is quite opposite in the developed countries, where the sex ratio is favourable towards women. Similarly, the expectation of life at birth, another good indicator of deve- lopment, shows that it is 44.7 for females, as against 46.4 for males. It is expected to rise to 51.6 for males and 49.7 for females in 1981 (census). The literacy rate is almost double for men; for every 100 literate women there are 201 literate men (1981 census). Inspite of stupendous expansion of education among women, their participation rate is 1/3rd of the total enrolment, as against their population proportion of 48 per cent. For every 100 boys under instruction, there are only 55 girls. While the goal of universalisation of lower primary education (I-V Classes) has been almost achieved in respect of boys, it is still a distant goal in the case of girls, where enrolment ratio for the age-group 6-11 is only 68. The position is worse in the case of middle education (age-group 11-14), where only 29 per cent girls are under instruction in classes VI-VIII, as against 54 per cent boys. In Higher Education (General), there are only 40 girls for every 100 boys and in the case of professional higher education, only 15 girls for every 100 boys are receiving education and training.

The participation rate of women labour force has remained almost stagnant at 28 per cent, as against 57 per cent in the case of men. While a few women in all walks of life have reached the top position, women on the whole, continue to be concentrating in low-scale. low-wage and drudgery involving jobs. Women are mainly employed in unorganised sector of

the economy, which engages an overwhelming majority of female workers (over 90 per cent). This is also linked with their low participation rate in the training programmes in Industrial Training Institutes, Polytechnics, Engineering Colleges, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, technical and industrial sectors.

This, then, in short, is the extent of inequality that exists between men and women in the country. The development of education among women is the main instrument through which we can narrow down this inequality and accelerate the process of social, economic and political change in the status of women.

There are two schools of thought about the role of women in our society. One traditional school of thought, consisting of majority, strongly feels that the place of women is at home. The second school of thought, more radical, feels that women should be allowed to shoulder the same responsibility as men in the society and this extends beyond the home; consequently an openings available to men should be available to women also. The synthesis of the two views lies in extending the scope and openings for women in the field of education, because if a wo- man has to stay at home and play the role of a housewife she can discharge this responsibility in a better way, if she is edu- cated. At the same time, education and training would enable the women to enter into an economic life, if she wants to choose the independent career or if it becomes necessary for her to augment the family income. Educational development and acquisition of vital skills are therefore, necessary for a women, if she has to play efficiently even her traditional role as a wife and a mother.

Again, some women are required to work outside their home. In fact, manpower estimates made from time to time by the Planning Commission and other agencies pointed out that there would be an effective demand for women in all fields of human activities as time goes by. We cannot, therefore, overlook the future roles of women as participants in national activities which he outside the home. Giving their views on the roles of women

in society, the Education Commission (1964-66) stated "For full development of our human resources, the improvement of homes and for moulding the character of children during the most impressionable years of infancy; the education of women is of even greater importance than that of men. In the modern world the role of women goes much beyond the home and the bringing up of children. She is now adopting a career of her own and sharing equally with man, the responsibility for the, development of society in all its aspects. This is the direction in which we will have to move. In the struggle for freedom, Indian women fought side by side with men. This equal part- nership will have to continue in the fight against hunger, poverty, ignorance and ill health. Thus a woman is to be considered as an equal partner of a man individually as well as a member of the society. To achieve this objective, imparting of educa- tion to women is essential and this includes inter-alia adequate provision for professional and vocational courses, suited to their tastes and aptitudes. This will fully equip the women for per- forming her duties and shouldering heavy responsibilities, both at home and outside.

Considering the level of social, economic and technological advancement of the country, which is still in a transitory stage, the role of a women will continue to be distinct from that of a man, even in equal partnership atleast for sometime to come. Educational planners and policy makers may, therefore, have to take into account the fact that the women's interests in the field of work differ widely from that of men and they may, there- fore, have to formulate suitable curricula, syllabi and contents of courses for women, equality of educational opportunities notwithstanding. Equality of opportunities should not be mis- understood as identity of opportunities. The scope and con- tents of educational courses at high/higher secondary stage should be diversified enough in accordance with the recommen- dations of the various Committees notably the National Com- mittee on Women's Education, which has emphasised on the optional professions for Home Science, Nursing Music, Fine Arts which are of some special interest to women, in addition

to facilities for other common courses like Mathematics and Science, which are essential for getting admission in university courses.

The problem of women's education has been examined by a number of Committees since independence-the National Committee on the Education of Women under the chairmanship of Smt. Durga Bai Deshmukh; the Committee on Differentiation of Curricula between Boys and Girls under the chairmanship of Smt. Hansa Mehta; and the Commit-tee under the chairmanship of Shri M. Bhaktavatsalam which studied the problem of 6 States where the education of girls was less developed. The Educa- tion Commission 1964-66 reviewed and endorsed all the recommendations of these Committees.

The recommendations of the National Committee on Women's Education (1958-59), which has a great bearing on women's education in India and which were fully endorsed by the Education Commission and which still hold good are briefly summarised below:-

(i) The problem of providing universal primary educa- tion in India is mainly the problem of expanding girl's education. Top priority should therefore be assigned to this programme in the Five Year Plans.

(ii) Public opinion should be educated to overcome traditional prejudices against girls' education; appointment of women teachers; popularising mixed primary schools wherever possible and on demand opening separate schools for girls at higher secon- dary stage, providing books and writing materials Tree and where needed, even clothing, providing part-time education for girls in the age-group 11- 14, who could not attend school on whole time basis because they are required to work at home.

(iii) Special central assistance should be made available to all States until 80 per cent of the girls in the age- group 6-11 were enrolled. The amount of assist- ance should be calculated partly on the basis of

non-attending girls in this age-group and partly on the basis of the girls in the same age-group and actually enrolled in schools. For instance, 75 per cent of the funds available might be distributed to the states on the basis of non-attending girls and 25 per cent on the basis of girls enrolled. There would thus be substantial assistance to the less ad- vanced States and the advanced states would also get some credit for the efforts they had already made.

(iv) The Centre should assume responsibility to see that parity between boys and girls is reached as early as possible and the States draw up the necessary pro- grammes to achieve the required targets to be fixed by the Centre for the fast development in the coun- try and to provide necessary central assistance.

The main recommendations of the Hansa Mehta Committee appointed by the National Council for Women's Education on differentiation of curricula between boys and girls are as fol- lows:-

(i) In the democratic and socialistic pattern of society which we visualise, education will be related to individual capacities, aptitudes and interest which are not strictly related to sex. There would, there- fore, be no need in such a society to differentiate curricula on the basis of sex.

(ii) In the transitional phase in which we are at present certain psychological difference between men and women as well as certain divisions of social functions based on them will have to be accepted as a matter of fact and as a practical basis for building up the curicula for boys and girls. While doing so, how- ever, care should be taken to see that values and attitudes which are essential in the long run are increasingly built up in men and women and that

no step is taken which will tend to perpetuate or intensify the existing differences.

The Education Commission (1964-66) agreed with these recommendations and suggested the following course of action for prescribing special curricula for girls:-

(i) Home Science is one of the options provided in the curriculum proposed at the higher secondary stage. This would be a popular subject but it should not be made compulsory for girls.

(ii) Music and fine arts form another group of subjects which are popular with girls. At present, the pro- vision made for the teaching of these subjects at the secondary stage is meagre. Steps should be taken to introduce these courses on a larger scale.

(iii) Mathematics and science are important subjects and adequate preparation therein is essential to gain admission to significant courses at the university stage. Special efforts should, therefore, be made to encourage girls to study mathematics or science at the secondary stage and special efforts should be made to prepare women teachers in these subjects.

India is emerging as a major democratic country under socialistic pattern of society in which both men and women have to play their respective roles in national activities. Our future programmes will therefore have to be formulated to achieve this objective.

In the foregoing paragraphs, we have briefly discussed the changes that have taken place in the social and economic status of women, their advancement in all spheres of life and the gap that still remains to be bridged to achieve the desired goal of equality of sexes. In the subsequent portion of this brochure, the educational development of girls and women that has taken place during the last century will be reviewed, analysed and future lines of action suggested for bridging the gap of inequality that exists between the education of girls and boys.