Gender gaps in education

Assam has made a remarkable progress in improving its literacy rate and now figures among the top five states in the country. The State's literacy rate is higher than the national average but the gap in literary rates of males and females continues to be wide. Data from a survey conducted by the National Statistical Organization (NSO) show that against 90.1 per cent literacy rates among males, the rate among females in the state is 81.2 per cent. To draw a parallel, Kerala not only continues to be the most literate state with literacy rate of 96.2 per cent, it has also reduced the gap between male and female literary rates. Against 97.4 per cent of male literacy the female literacy rate in Kerala is 95.2 per cent. The gap at all India level is 14.4 percentage points against 2.2 in Kerala and 8.8 percentage points in Assam. In 2011 Census, this gap in Assam was 11.58 percentage points. These figures call for a special focus on women's education in the state for bridging the gap. The NSO carried out country-wide survey from July 2017 to June 2018 and data from the survey are the latest available data for formulating policies and strategies. Assam's literacy rate has jumped to 85.9 from 72.19 in 2011 Census while the national average has increased to 77.07 in 2017-18 from 74.07 in 2011. The International Literacy Day observed on this day is an occasion for the State to reflect on the key findings of the survey documented by the NSO in its report titled "Household Social Consumption on Education in India". The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education in the country and in the state too the educational institutions have remained closed ever since the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March. Ensuring that the achievements in literacy rates are not lost due to the disruption is a tough challenge but requires innovative approaches. The UNESCO decided that the International Literacy Day 2020 should focus on 'Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond' to reflect on the role of educators and how to make teaching methodologies and pedagogies innovative to overcome the pandemic disruptions and challenges. The NSO report shows that the gender gap becomes more prominent in higher levels of education in the state. Against 8.2 per cent of males of 15 years and above completing graduation and higher levels of education only 3.9 per cent females in the category successfully completed graduation and higher levels. In sharp contrast, the percentage of females in this category in Kerala is higher at 16.1 as compared to 13.6 per cent for the males. In Assam, the gender gaps are visible both in rural and urban areas which keep reminding the policy makers and educators that there can be no room for complacency in mere improvement in the literacy rates. Successful completion of higher levels of general and technical education has been a bigger challenge for human resource development in India. The gross attendance ratio in the state falls sharply in post higher secondary level to 16.5 per cent as compared to national average of 22.8 per cent. This calls for identification of the reasons behind huge drop in post higher secondary level. Ensuring the gender parity in gross attendance ratio in this category appears to be tougher job and wide gap prevailing between male and females reflect inadequacies in the education system in the state. While financial constraint is a common reason for both males and females for dropout, domestic work and marriage are two major factors that pushes up the female dropout rates across the country. This requires multisectoral convergence of schemes of different departments aimed at alleviating the socio-economic condition of women and the girlchild. The wide gender gap in literacy and higher education is a wakeup call for the states to focus on result-oriented action so that the empowerment of the girl child does not remain mere catchlines of publicity campaigns. In Assam, marriage is attributed to be major reason for 11 per cent of dropout rates in case of urban females and 8.3 per cent of rural females. These data raise a question on the rationality behind the Arundhati Gold Scheme Assam government. Under the scheme, the State Government provides Rs 30,000 to newly wedded brides for purchase of gold for their marriage. The educational level of the bride to be eligible to become beneficiary of the scheme is Class X while no minimum educational level is required in case of Adivasi communities. The money earmarked for the scheme can be utilised to bring down dropout rates of females in the state and impart quality education to help them fulfil their dreams of availing higher education. The survey findings have many lessons for Assam to bridge gender gaps in education.