Education makes people more responsible and informed citizens, who have a voice in politics and society. It is essential for eradicating poverty and allows people to become more productive, playing greater roles in economic life and earning a better living.
Education does not only impact human development and economic growth, but is also the fundamental requirement of any democracy including India. However, unfortunately not everyone has an opportunity to receive this formal type of education. India has made considerable progress in this sector. When the British rule ended in India in the year 1947, the literacy rate was just 12%. Over the years, India has changed socially, economically, and globally. After the 2011 census, literacy rate in India in 2011 was found to be 74.04%, but still there is a considerable gap between male and female literacy rates in India. Today, the female literacy levels according to the Literacy Rate 2011 census are 65.46% where the male literacy rate is over 80%. According to the state wise statistics, as per census 2011, Rajasthan’s female literacy was 47.76%[which is lowest in India after Bihar.
Realizing the importance of female literacy, the government has taken several initiatives to improve the situation. To encourage the participation of all girls at elementary level, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) provides for the opening of schools in the neighborhood, gender-sensitive teaching learning materials including textbooks and the scheme of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas as residential upper primary schools for girls belonging to SC/ST/Minority Communities, BPL families and girls in difficult circumstances, making access to education easier for girls. Under the Rashtriya Madyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) interventions are done to promote girls participation in secondary schools. In addition, the National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education (NSIGSE), provides exemption from paying tuition fee in Kendriya Vidyalayas, and 33% reservation for girls in Navodaya Vidyalayas.
Education is one of the most critical areas of empowerment for women. 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. The fundamental requirement of Education has been mentioned in The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women which establish it as a basic human right. An educated woman has the skills, information and self-confidence that she needs to be a better parent, worker and citizen thereby providing benefits for society as a whole.