Lydia Seitz
Education is one of the most important tools to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). There has been great progress in this area, but there is still a lot of improvement to be made. Especially the gap between the education of girls and boys is still a big obstacle in a lot of countries and delays the progress of SDG4 (Ensure inclusive and equitable and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all). India certainly counts to one of these countries, even though there all the required facilities are available.
Importance of education
Education is one of the most important stages in every child’s life. Through going to school it can acquire basic skills like reading or numeracy, its chance of employment gets higher and it can change its worldview. Only through adequate education people can develop their life’s as well as help developing their nation and contribute to the sustainable development goals. Education gives the children the knowledge to promote the SDGs by giving them knowledge of sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality and much more. In India these skills would be very much needed to change a system which still favours men and children born in wealthier families.
As shown above SDG 4 can help improve other SDGs, especially SDG 5(achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls). Educating women gives them the knowledge on legal and social right and therefore could encourage them to seek gender equality and challenge gender stereotypes, which would highly contribute to SDG 5. It also raises their chance on employment, thus helping to improve the income of their families and change their status in society. This would narrow social disparities and helps lead to sustainable development in general.
Education for women could also help increase the age of marriage and make them aware of the advantages of smaller families. Studies show that educated woman tend to have less, healthier children, who usually live longer, through which the stabilisation of the population could improve. In addition, educated mothers could raise their children in a way that helps them with their education and put them in the right track for a bright future with a lot of possibilities.
Currently the contribution to the GDP (gross domestic product) of women in India is only 18 percent and the lowest in the world. Another shocking fact is, that women make only 25 percent of the workforce in this country. But through educating girls and thus giving them the chance to engage in the workforce, India could gain a huge amount in the countries GDP, which would benefit to the whole nation.
Education could also give women a kind of insurance through which they are no longer as highly dependent on their husbands as they are now in some areas of India. If in some way a woman is left alone or her husband can no longer attend his work, she would have a much higher chance of getting a job and care for her family on her own and would not be left with nothing.
Even tough all these reasons favour the education of girls, the main issue is, why we need them. Why is a men’s education favoured without the need to be explained, whereas we need to find reasons to get an education for women? How can in such a far progressed world still exist countries or parts of it, which do not see women and their capabilities equal to a men’s and therefore consider their education as less important? There are still mindsets that favour gender stereotypes and thus social and, in some areas, financial barriers that keeps girls form getting the education they deserve.
Situation in India and the main barriers
Considering SDG 4 a lot of progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go. In 2017 262 million children were not visiting school. Most of them were at the age of secondary school, where attending school would be very important to improve the chance of getting employed.
In India there are two disparities that lead to inequality in the literacy rates of children and adolescents. The table below shows the percentage of literate children and adolescents in India compared by their age, gender and area.
https://academic.oup.com/oxrep/article/23/2/168/504868?searchresult=1#35889678
If we compare the numbers of literate girls in total, we can see that they are much lower than those of boys in all ages. Although the increase of literate girls is a lot higher than the increase of literate boys, there are still lower rates of girls in 1999. Regarding the different areas, we see that in rural regions, where the families tend to be poorer, the same effect appears, but in urban areas the differences between the genders are much smaller in all ages. Also, we can observe in the chart above, that in rural areas the percentages of literate children in total through all ages are a lot lower than those in urban regions, though the increase is a lot higher. This means that the gender and wealth disparities are getting smaller over time but still exist.
Comparing the different ages, we see that the percentages of all (both genders) adolescents at the age of secondary schooling are a lot lower in both areas than in other ages. The explanation for that is, that a lot of people, especially girls tend to drop out of school at this age.
Tough this table shows the difference between 1993 and 1999 we can still see the trend that appears, which has not changed as much over the last 20 years. Surely the numbers got higher, but the gender and wealth disparities are still present.
In India schools are quite far developed and the right for all children to go to school exists since 10 years now. Though all the required assets like needed infrastructure, trained teachers, electricity and so on are given, India is not able to put the right into practice, so that all children would go to school and stay there.
In India there is still a large gap between the number of girls in schools of urban and rural regions. In rural regions people tend to be in lower casts and don’t have the money to send all their children to school. Given the chance they would still rather educate their sons. A lot of people in these regions consider a girl’s education as a lost investment, as girls will be with their husband’s families once they are married and all their money will go to their new families. Boys on the other hand will care for their aging parents in later days. From this I take that a girl is still seen as a kind of property first of their families and later of her husband. A woman can never be an independent person and care for her on her own. Certainly, this applies only to some regions and still it is shocking to see the completely different view of these people on gender equality.
Another reason why girls are not going to school or dropping out after a few years is simply that they feel the responsibility or obligation to help at home. A lot of mothers in rural regions need to work with their husbands in the field to increase their family income, so it is up to the daughters to do the housework or raise younger siblings. Although school has been a right for girls in India for over 10 years now, there is still a high percentage of children who are not going or dropping out, because of the reasons mentioned above. This highly lowers their chance of employment and decreases their opportunities.
Changes needed to favour girl’s education
In the last paragraph I described the situation in India and the drivers that cause the gap in the attendance of boys and girls in school, which mainly occurs in rural regions. The main problem for this disparity is rarely the lack of motivation from the girls or even from their parents, but more often their financial situation. Families often can simply manage without the help of their daughters at home. Also, a lot of parents can’t see benefits in educating them. So, what manly needs to change is the people’s point of view of the education of women and their financial situation. It is hard to change people’s mindset that exists since hundreds of years and this cannot change overnight and cannot come from only waiting for it. The current parenting generation can’t be blamed for thinking the way they do. They grew up in this kind of society and didn’t get to know another system. Because the mothers didn’t get an education, they do not consider it necessary for their daughters.
Other than that, a lot of people, no matter what their status, nationality or age they have, like their routine and for things to stay the way they are. Change can be scary, because of the simple fact that one does not know what comes with it. So, we simply cannot expect people in the areas concerned to change their mindset on their own. The main responsibility still lies in the government. It needs to encourage these changes, not only with financial support, which a lot of families would need in the first place to be able to send all their children to school, but also in showing them what an education for their girls would mean for their daughters and themselves. The parents must see the benefits in the change and how their daughters lifes could look like if they would encourage their education.
A big obstacle to overcome is the social status women maintain in India and the gender stereotypes that still exist in some areas. To change people’s mindsets it is also required, that they see that girls are not only fit for housework but have a lot of other capabilities. It should also be encouraged and become more acceptable for men to do housework or care for the children.
Reference:
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg4
https://time.com/5614642/india-girls-education/
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/education/the-history-of-womens-education-in-india/9982
Media Attributions
- SDG