Why to educate women? – Advantages

In simple words – getting education is the fundamental human right of every individual irrespective of gender. But some people in our society do not understand this and make such a simple thing extremely complicated. We must be aware of the fact that if she is uneducated then close to half of the population is uneducated. Educating a woman means educating the family and the nation.

‘Education for all’ is one of the major tasks being carried out by the Indian government but still we have the lowest female literacy rate in Asia. India is working but the pace is slow as we haven’t achieved what we should have been so far. At the start of British Raj till independence just 2-6% of females were literate. The percentage went up to 15.3% in 1961 and 28.5% in 1981. Literacy rate crossed 50% in 2001. By 2011 female literacy rate in India stood at 65.46%. So there is an obvious increase in the female literacy rate but India is far behind as compared to other countries at global level. Female illiteracy rate varies with the state. In Kerala 86% of women are literate whereas literacy rate in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is just between 55-60%. Shockingly the rural areas of India have the lowest female literacy rate. Rural Rajasthan has less than 12% female literacy rate.

Sex based discrimination is prevalent in India. Thus you must have seen or heard that many parents especially in lower strata of society send their male child to school but not the girl child. This is one problem where parents do not send their daughters to school. Secondly, it is also common to see that parents especially in urban areas often send their male child to better schools. Even if girls are enrolled, their dropout rate is very high. Why girls are treated in this manner?

We must understand the consequences of not educating our girl child. When a woman is not educated then it not only affects her but the entire family as well as the nation. In many studies it has been found out that illiterate women have high fertility as well as mortality rate. It has been seen that infant mortality rate reduces to half in case women have received primary education as compared to illiterate female. Apart from this children, of illiterate woman are malnourished. Illiteracy also reduces the overall earning potential of the family.

Women must be educated for a healthy and a happy life. An educated woman can be a better human being, successful mother and a responsible citizen. Educating women will definitely increase the living standard both at and outside home. An educated woman will force her kids to study further and wish them to live a better life than hers.

Educating women results in promoting self respect and also helps in raising the status of women. An educated woman will be aware of her rights. She can fight against social evils such as domestic violence, dowry demand, low wages etc.

The author of the article is  Assistant Professor Pioneer Institute, Indore