Women’s Education – Harbinger of changing society

Education is the key to turning a weakness into strength and the most important thing that helps to face life’s adversity. Without education, a person is like a body without a soul. It expands vision and outlook to see the world, become a better citizen, and enables us to be civilized. Most importantly, it enlightens the path of life. It also develops the capacity to fight against violence, corruption, discrimination, and many other elements as a person’s fundamental right. Everyone should be given equal education irrespective of gender and caste.
Unfortunately, even today, there are many states in rural areas where women are not educated. According to the National Sample Survey (NSS), Rajasthan is the state which has the lowest number of literate females with 57.6%. The states which have the lowest female literacy rates are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand.
In the rural areas, women cannot access education due to the deep route culture of male domination. The negative attitude and lack of awareness among parents is also the reason that they don’t send their girls to school. Some of them are either limited to primary education or some are to secondary education.
Poverty is also the root cause of many problems in India and the low female literacy rate. There is also a lack of accessibility to school, and as a result, it affects the literacy rate in rural areas. Even if there are schools, there is a lack of adequate facilities, which becomes a hurdle. Schools are really in a very pathetic condition; there is a lack of infrastructure. They don’t have enough rooms to accommodate all students, so they teach under trees or on the ground. Another barrier is that there are no qualified female teachers, so no quality of education is there. Parents don’t send their girls as schools are located so far at a distance or outside the village. There is no safety, security; simultaneously, they face harassment, threat, and molestation. Uneducated women aren’t capable of doing jobs which also gives rise to unemployment problems in India. Likewise, there are many ups and downs which women have faced initially, but they have proven themselves tremendously.
A woman is a unique God’s creation, multifaceted personality, and incredible powers of tolerance, patience, and stability. In the words of Rabindranath Tagore, “Women are the builder and molder of a nation’s destiny”. They play and perform significant roles in life incredibly. They are the epitome of love and affection. They are soft as lily and sweet as sugar. They are compassionate towards sensible things.
Education is the only tool that helps women to hinder their obstacles and helps to build strong women. Even today, there are many states which are mentioned above that consider women as a liability. It is generally believed that educating a girl is a waste of money and time. So their focus is more on sons. They are carrying such a mindset; we are drowning in a deluge of it, so we need to step out from it. This is the reason we face obstacles in the growth of our nation.
Now it’s time to realize that we have to break this old frame of mind; we need to understand that a well-educated woman is part of progressive nation. We must realize that education can only raise their status and eliminate all social evils. Also our nation will develop economically, and our country will bloom like a flower.
There is no denying the fact that India has made immense progress. If women were educated, they would come to know all their fundamental rights. Ultimately, it would help eliminate all social evils, decrease fertility rates, and lower infant mortality rates. Participation of women in politics can also be seen due to their education. The state with the highest rate of female literacy in Kerala is 91.98%, and GDP stands 11th out of all Indian states. So this clearly shows educating women means developing nations.
We need to focus on issues that are hurdles for women’s education. The government has introduced many schemes and programs to combat violence and discrimination against women. These are ‘Beti bachao beti padhao, one-stop centre scheme, Nari Shakti Puraskar, and many more others. Also, many foundations have been working delinquently, but is this really enough to empower women? The answer to this critical question is No! It is not enough until we work on an individual basis. We need more efforts to make a better nation and to provide education for women.
We have to concede that patriarchal society has been dominated from the beginning, which is a barrier to women’s education. So we must give up our conservative look as society runs into wheels, and it should be equally vital to run smoothly. So the message is loud and clear. Let’s educate women and develop the nation. Then they will bring the spring of achievements.