WOMEN EMPOWERMENT THROUGH HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA
DR V.V.BARTHWAL
LECTURER IN
E.A.F.M.
Govt College
Sardarshahar-331403(Dist-Churu)
M-09461328741 INDIA
ABSTRACT
Women’s role in social-economic
development of a country is crucial. It constitutes almost half of the population in world. Education in general and higher education in particular ,
is a milestone of women empowerment because
it enables them to respond to the
challenges , to confront their
traditional role and change their life.In India , women education is a
major cause of concern , as literacy rate of women is very low – that is 65.46 percent for India and
52.70 for Rajasthan. Health related situations are also alarming and not being provided adequately to
them.Their participation in work force is also very low.It shares 19.9% (India)
and 17.4% (Rajasthan) of active work force engaged in unorganised sector
.Their representation in national parliament is also very low.These are major concerns , which
hinders their further growth and
development .These are acting as barriers in efforts of India making India
as a developed nation.It can only be
attained through expansion of quality of women higher education(general,
technical, legal, and medical and also skill development courses). It is
important to mention that in India,the illiterate workforce amounted to 30.7 % of the total in
2009-10 , which is twice their share of the 15.2 percent contribution to GDP .On the other hand ,
graduates and above , who constituted over 29 percent to GDP.Hence it is Higher
education , which can play it’s crucial role in women empowerment .The higher
education is a process by which one generation
transmits the culture to the
succeeding generation.It is one of the most
powerful instrument for making a frontal
the assault the citadels of
poverty and inequalities and thus laying
the basis for sustained economic growth
and effective governance. The paper describes the facts related to women empowerment .It widely
discusses gender related issues in terms
of education, health, their share in employment and national parliament .It
concludes with this remark that gender disparities are sole reason behind their
backwardness .All round efforts should be made to eliminate gender related
disparities prevailing in these areas of
health, education , employment and representation in parliament.Paper also
attempts to make a deep study of expansion of higher education – while focusing
on women in higher education .In this
line, on the top , Quality higher education to be made accessible to women.
Key words : higher education , women empowerment, gender
disparities, active workforce, literacy rate.
Introduction :
Women power has been given top most place in our Indian culture and
society since Vedic period. Degradation in cultural and moral values in recent
time , women are now victim of many
social and economic evils.They are being exploited in all spheres of life The gender disparities in all walks
of life is on increase ,say- education,economic,social, health care and
decision making process.This widening gap is
the sole reason behind backwardness of women and subordination. Till
1950,her role in economic development was not recognized fully and
entirely neglected .After that she was
given due importance as major contributor of economic development .Pt
Jawaharlal Nehru rightly points out that “If you educate a man you educate an
individual , however if you, educate a
women you educate family .Women
empowered means , mother India empowered
.There is no need of giving any evidence to mention that women power is crucial
to play a vital role in contributing to the countries development .Women power
in India has also been a major preoccupation of both the government and civil society as educated
women can play very important role in
the development of economy. Education plays a critical role in empowering the women.
It is only possible by eliminating all
kinds of discriminations ,which the women have been facing in our country
today. Equality, development and peace can only be attained through creating
more employment opportunities , health
care facilities, and imparting quality education in general and higher
education in particular and their larger involvement in decision making
process and representation in
parliamentary democracy of nation. Imparting quality higher education of it’s
all segments (general, medical, engineering, legal and contemporary skills
related courses) is essential for their empowerment. Unfortunately , today
Indian women is lagging behind in all
spheres of life.Female literacy in India is only (65.46%) ,enrolment ration in
higher education is (44 %) ,IMR( 49 per 1000 person) and MMR (254 ) are also
very high and also not adequate representation
of women in our parliament (Loksabha)
is only 11% .These are major
concerns , which are needed to be tackled.
HIGHER EDUCATION AND
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT :
Higher education plays a catalytic role in empowering the
women, can be enlisted as below :
1.Higher education enables women to fix themselves up in society into
which they are found themselves.
2. Explore the world , manipulate it for their survival and
establishment of themselves.
3.Potentials deposited in individuals are explored through
higher education so that individuals can
acquire training and knowledge
in a profession.
4.Enable them to cultivate confidence and habits and develop right attitude to work and life
as good citizens.
5.Empowering women with knowledge , skills and self confidence
necessary to participate fully in development process.
6.Provide opportunities to women to fulfill their needs. These needs
comprise with special learning
tools(such as literacy ,oral expression, numeracy and problem solving) and basic learning
contents such as knowledge, skills,
values and attitudes required by human
beings to be able :
1.To survive
2.To develop their full
capacities
3. To live and work in dignity
4. To participate fully in
development
5. To improve their lives
6.To make informal decision
making
7. To continue learning
7.Through higher education flow of ideology and culture of nation ,
states and it’s people.
8.Misinformation and constricted learning behaviors that women
internalized can also be filtered through education.
9.It plays a very important
role in the over all development of the
country.
10.Women with higher education helps in development of the human
resources , but in improving the quality of life at home and out side .
11.Educated women not only tend to promote education of their girl
child , but also can provide better guidance to all their children.
12.Women with higher education can also help in the reduction of
infant mortality rate and growth of population.
Measures
for Women’s Empowerment Initiated in
India
I-The
Constitution of India - Provisions Relating to Women
The Constitution of India not
only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt
measures of positive
discrimination in favour of women for removing the cumulative socio-economic,
educational
and political disadvantages faced
by them.
II-Advancement
of Women through Five Year Plans
There has been a progressive
increase in the plan outlays over the last six decades of planned
development to meet the needs of
women and children.
The outlay of Rs. 4 crores in the
First Plan (1951-56) has increased to Rs. 7,810.42 crores in the
Ninth FiveYear Plan, and Rs.
13,780 crores in the Tenth Five Year Plan.
There has been a shift
from“welfare” oriented approach in the First Five Year Plan to
“development” and “empowerment”of
women in the consecutive Five Year Plans.
III-Constitution
of India Guarantees
1. Equality Before Law for Women
(Article 14)
2. The State not to discriminate
against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of
birth
or any of them [Article 15 (I)]
3. The State to make any special
provision in favour of women and children [Article 15 Equality of
opportunity for all citizens in
matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State
(Article 16)
4. The State to direct its policy
towards securing for men and women equally the right to an adequate means
of livelihood [Article 39 (a)];
and equal pay for equal work for both men and women [Article 39 (d)]
5. To promote justice, on a basis
of equal opportunity and to provide free legal aid by suitable legislation or
scheme or in any other way to
ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by
reason of economic or other
disabilities [Article39A)
6. The State to make provision
for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief
(Article 42)
7. The State to promote with
special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of
the
people and to protect them from
social injustice and all forms of exploitation (Article 46)
8. The State to raise the level
of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of
Public Health (Article 47)
9. To promote harmony and the
spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India and to
renounce practices derogatory to
the dignity of women [Article 51(A) (e)]
10. Not less than one-third
(including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the scheduled
castes and the scheduled tribes)
of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every
panchayat to be reserved for
women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in
a
panchayat [Article 243 D (3)]
11. Not less than one-third of
the total number of offices of chairpersons in the panchayats at each level to
be
reserved for women [Article 243 D
(4)]
12. Not less than one-third
(including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the scheduled
castes and the scheduled tribes)
of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every
municipality to be reserved for
women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to different constituencies
in a municipality [Article 243 T
(3)]
13. Reservation of offices of
chairpersons in municipalities for the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes
and
women in such manner as the legislature of a State
may by law provide [Article 243 T (4)]
IV-
The
Objectives of the National Policy for Empowerment of Women include
(i) Creating an environment
through positive economic and social policies for full development of women
to enable them to realize their
full potential
(ii) The de-jure and de-facto
enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedom by women on equal
basis with men in all spheres -
political, economic, social, cultural and civil
(iii) Equal access to
participation and decision making of women in social, political and economic
life of
the nation
(iv) Equal access to women to
health care, quality education at all levels, career and vocational guidance,
employment, equal remuneration,
occupational health and safety, social security and public office, etc.
(v) Strengthening legal systems
aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against women
(vi) Changing societal attitudes
and community practices by active participation and involvement of both
men and women
(vii) Mainstreaming a gender
perspective in the development process
(viii) Elimination of
discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child; and
(ix) Building and strengthening partnerships with
civil society, particularly women’s organizations
IV
STATUS OF WOMEN AT NATIONAL LEVEL
Child
Sex Ratio has dropped
Years Female per thousand Males
(0-6 yrs.) Sex Ratio
1991 945 927
2001 927
933
2011 919
940
The United Nations Children Fund,
estimated that up to 50 million girls and women are missing
from India population because of
termination of the female focus or high mortality of the girl child due to lack
of
proper care.
Women
as work force:
1. Female share
of non-agricultural employment is only 17%.
2. Participation of women in the
work force is only.
· Only 13.9% in
the urban sector
· Only 29.9% in
the rural sector.
3. Women’s wage rates are on an
average:
· Only 75% of many
wage rates and
· Constitute only
25% of family income.
4. Women Occupy Only
1. Only 9% of parliamentary seats
2. Less than 4% seats in high
courts and supreme courts
3. Less than 3% of administration
are managers are women.
4. Literacy Rate
Year Person Male Female
2011 74% 82.14 65.46
Women
& Health:
· The Average
nutritional intake of women is 1400 calories daily. The necessary requirement
is
approximately 2280 calories.
· 38% of all HIV
positive people in India are women, yet only 25% of in AIDs cure centres in
India are
occupied by them.
· 92% of women in
India in India suffer from gynecological problems.
· 300 women die
every day due to childbirth and pregnancy related causes.
· The maternal
mortality ratio per 1,00,000 live births in the year was 440.
Female Foeticide
Female foeticide in India increased by 40.2% between
1999-2000
Employment
in organized Sector:
28 Million
people were employed in the organized sector in 2009 compared to 27.7 million
in 2001.
The percentage
of women employed in organized sector was 17.8% in 2001 and 19.9% in 2009.
Employment
in organized sector
India /Rajasthan
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
|||
Total
Employed
|
%
of Women Employment
|
Total
Employed
|
%
of Women Employment
|
Total
Employed
|
%
of Women Employment
|
|
India
|
277.8
|
20.0
|
275.5
|
20.0
|
281
|
19.9
|
Rajasthan
|
12.10
|
12.1
|
12.2
|
17.0
|
12.6
|
17.4
|
WOMEN
IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENT
Key Points
1. Representation of women in
the Panchayati Raj Institutions (37%) is a marked improvement over their
representation in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (11%).
2. India is ranked 111th in the World
Rankings of Women in national parliaments, compiled by the Inter- Parliamentary
Union, below Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and even Saudi Arabia.
3. Women comprised 6.9% of the
total contestants in the 2009 General Elections, out of which only 10.9% were
elected.
4. Women voters also fall below
the 50% mark, and despite awareness campaigns, the percentage of women in the
new electorate falls short of even the national average.
WOMEN ENROLMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION :
However , women enrolment in
higher education has also increased from 14% in 1950-51 to 44% in 2012-13.Gross
Enrolment Ratio for female is 12.7%
against 17.1% for males , as mentioned below :
SEX
|
GROSS ENROLMENT RATIO
|
MALE
|
17.1
|
FEMALE
|
12.7
|
Table
Men and Women Students Grouth in Higher
Education (1950-51 to 2012-13)
|
||||
Year
|
Men
(1000) |
Women
(1000) |
Total Enrolment
(1000) |
Women as Percentage of All Subjects
|
1950-51
|
157
|
17
|
174
|
10.00
|
1960-61
|
252
|
43
|
295
|
14.60
|
1970-71
|
1563
|
391
|
1954
|
20.00
|
1980-81
|
2003
|
749
|
2752
|
27.20
|
1990-91
|
2976
|
1439
|
4415
|
32.50
|
2000-01
|
4988
|
3012
|
8000
|
37.60
|
2005-06
|
6562
|
4466
|
11028
|
40.50
|
2012-13
|
13468
|
10687
|
24155
|
44.20
|
Source
: Enrolment of Women in Higher Education
(Selected Educational Statistics 2005-06) University, Grant Commission Annual
Report, Various Years.
|
||||
WOMEN COLLEGES IN INDIA :
So far, women colleges are
concerned their number has also increased
from 412 in 1970-71 to 4266 in
2011-12,But it’s share in total number of colleges is still only 12 percent ,
as it is mentioned in the following
table :
WOMEN COLLEGES IN INDIA
YEAR
|
1970-71
|
2000-01
|
2010-11
|
2011-12
|
|
TOTAL
COLLEGES (NO)
|
3604
|
12806
|
33023
|
35539
|
|
WOMEN
COLLEGES IN INDIA
|
412
|
1578
|
3982
|
4266
|
|
% OF
TOTAL COLLEGES
|
11.43
|
12.32
|
12.06
|
12
|
|
Source
: UGC Annual Reports - Various Years
|
|||||
WOMEN UNIVERSITIES :
There are few women universities
are in function in India. No new women university has established in
Recently.Some of the women
universities are being mentioned as below :
S.No.
|
Name
of the University
|
Establishement
|
State
Universities
|
||
1.
|
Smt.
Nathibai Damodar
Thackersay Women
University,
Mumbai
|
1951
|
2.
|
Sri Pamavati Mahila
Vishwavidyalaya Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
|
1983
|
3.
|
Mother
Terasa Women
University,
Kodaikanal, Tamilnadu
|
1984
|
4.
|
Karnataka
State Women
University,
Bijapur, Karnataka
|
2003
|
5.
|
Bhagat
Phool Singh
Mahila Vishwavidyalaya
University,
Sonipat Hariyana
|
2007
|
Private University
|
||
1.
|
Jyoti Vidyapeeth
Women’s University, Jaipur Rajasthan
|
2008
|
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS :
In
conclusion ,prevailing gender
disparities in terms of education, health, employment and representation
in national parliament are sole reasons behind this discrimation.As gender discrimination at work constraints economic growth , increases poverty
and negative effect on the wealth
and well being of families and
communities.Therefor utmost importance
should be given to eliminate all kinds of gender disparities.Realizing the
necessities for higher education in poverty alleviation and women empowerment ,
gender mainstreaming of higher education is the need of hour . The attitude of
man dominant society should change and
try to be very cooperative with women
and encourage her greater participation in decision making process at household
level, local, state, national and international level. There is a pressing need
to take in hand the challenges hampering
the access of higher education to women in India .It is also necessary to
identify and resolve barriers such as male
attitude to women’s role and capabilities can help to open up more
involvement for women in higher education.
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