Scheme to Resurrect Women Pride
- Part 2 -

Dr HR Keshavamurthy *

Sign posted in a New Delhi hospital stating that pre-natal sex determination is a crime :: Pix - Wikipedia/Melanurya

Girls Education

Offering girls basic education is one sure way of giving them much greater power of enabling them to make genuine choices over the kinds of lives they wish to lead. This is not a luxury. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women establish it as a basic human right. The fact that women might have the chance of a healthier and happier life should be reason enough for promoting girls' education.

Moreover, there are also important benefits for society as a whole. An educated woman has the skills, information and self-confidence that she needs to be a better parent, worker and citizen. An educated woman is, for example, likely to marry at a later age and have fewer children. Cross-country studies show that an extra year of schooling for girls reduces fertility rates by 5 to 10 per cent. And the children of an educated mother are more likely to survive.

In India, for example, the infant mortality rate of babies whose mothers have received primary education is half that of children whose mothers are illiterate. An educated woman will also be more productive at work -- and better paid. Indeed, the dividend for educational investment is often higher for women than men. Studies from a number of countries suggest that an extra year of schooling will increase a woman's future earnings by about 15 per cent, compared with 11 per cent for a man.

But how to improve girls' access to education? Experiences in a number of countries show the importance of:

o Parental and community involvement -- Families and communities must be important partners with schools in developing curriculum and managing children's education.

o Low-cost and flexible timetables -- Basic education should be free or cost very little.

o Schools close to home, with women teachers -- Many parents worry about girls travelling long distances on their own. Many parents also prefer to have daughters taught by women.

o Relevant curricula -- Learning materials should be relevant to the girl's background and be in the local language. They should also avoid reproducing gender stereotypes.

Girl Child in India

Even though discrimination towards girls is rampant across caste and class, girls belonging to socially and economically lower categories as well as girls with disabilities face multiple discrimination on terms of identity. The Right to Education Act, 2009 has improved enrolment of children aged 6-14 in elementary schools across the country.

The retention rate of girls at primary level has shown a slight improvement 75.94% in 2011-12 and the transition rate of girls at upper primary level has improved from 74.15% in 2003-04 to 87.32% in 2010-11, but there are 35 districts that continue to show a high gender gap. Thus, despite overall encouraging trends, inequities continue in educational provision of girls in the country.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme

Realizing the urgent need to put these problems on high priority and focus, the present Government has introduced the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme for survival, protection & education of the girl child. It aims to address the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) through a mass campaign across the country targeted at changing societal mindsets & creating awareness about the criticality of the issue. The scheme aims at making girls independent both socially as also financially through education.

This approach of the Government can facilitate in generating awareness and improving the efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for the women. The Scheme will have focused intervention & multi-sectored action in 100 districts with low Child Sex Ratio. Of these 87 districts in 23 States/UTs has Child Sex Ratio below the National average of 918.

The objectives of this initiative are:
o Prevention of gender biased sex selective elimination
o Ensuring survival & protection of the girl child
o Ensuring education and participation of the girl child

It is a joint initiative of Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (H& FW) and Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD). The sectoral interventions under the programme include the following:

* Ministry of WCD: Promote registration of pregnancies in first trimester in Anganwadi Centres (AWCs); Undertake Training of stakeholders; Community Mobilization& Sensitization; Involvement of Gender Champions; Reward & recognition of institutions & frontline workers.

* Ministry of H & FW: Monitor implementation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCP&DT)Act, 1994; Increased institutional deliveries; Registration of births; Strengthening PNDT Cells; Setting up Monitoring Committees.

* Ministry of HRD: Universal enrolment of girls; Decreased drop-out rate; Girl Child friendly standards in schools; Strict implementation of Right to Education (RTE); Construction of Functional Toilets for girls.

BBBP highlights the need for gender equality enshrined in the Constitution of India and brings out how neglect of girls and discrimination throughout her life cycle leads to an unequal status for the girls. It also aims to break myths about roles of men and women in society so that negative attitudes and behaviors steeped in patriarchy are changed. It can be a boon not just for the girl children but also for the whole society.

Moreover, 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padao' yojana comes at a time when the nation is confronted with problems associated with women's safety like rape and other forms of assault. The Government also proposes to spend Rs 150 crore through the Ministry of Home Affairs on a scheme to extend the security of women in large cities. The Union budget has also allocated to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Rs 50 crore for pilot schemes to safeguard the safety of women on public road transport. The Prime Minister also launched the 'Sukanya Samriddhi Account' for the benefit of the girl child.

Significance of this Government initiative is very clear when the Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi urged all countrymen in his now famous MAN KI BAAT, on the need to draw inspiration from families and persons like US President Barack Obama who have only girl children, to bring up their daughters with pride and give them due respect. "To save the girl child, to educate the girl child, this is our social duty, cultural duty, and humanitarian responsibility; we should honour it", has said the Prime Minister.

Describing the desire to indulge in female foeticide as a "mental illness" Shri Modi has also warned that if this discrimination does not end it could cause a "terrible crisis" soon because of lack of women in the country. Prime Minister also reminded the medical fraternity that medical profession is for the purpose of saving lives, and not for killing daughters.

To conclude, gender respect should be taught at the school level more so from the home level by the parents. Also we need to address the associated problems in bringing up the girl child, her marriage expenses and discrimination in the society. If these are addressed properly there is no issue which will discriminate the girl from the boy in the society. We need not campaign door to door about the girl child and her safety. After all we live in a country where a state like Kerala extends the best of status to its girls.

Education has unrivalled power to reduce extreme poverty and boost wider development goals. Investing in education, especially for girls, alleviates extreme poverty through securing substantial benefits for health and productivity, as well as democratic participation and women's empowerment. Not only is investing in girls' education a moral obligation, but it is also essential if the country wants to break free of its high child and maternal mortality rates and find true prosperity in the future."

Concluded...