WOMEN EDUCATION IN INDIA AFTER INDEPENDENCE
INTRODUCTION
“Teach a man and you have taught only one,
but teach a woman and you have taught a family”,
goes a famous saying. There is a lot of truth in this saying. A woman influences every member of the family in her role as mother. This powerful influence on the part of the woman has existed since ancient times.
The Constitution of India firmly affirmed the equality of all citizens before the law. It said that women, as weaker sections of society, were wronged and discriminated against for generations, that they deserve special facilities and support for advance. In the five-year plans that followed, the Indian government consistently emphasised education as one of the principal instruments for the advance of people. Education Commission, this Commission was headed by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, one of India’s most distinguished scholars and philosophers and a man very sympathetic to the cause of women. He later became the President of India. The chapter on university education for women, in the Commission report, included a statement on how the British government had done nothing to advance women's university education in India. The chapter pointed out how unfair this was, considering that as early as 1869 John Stuart Mill had written about the subjugation of women and need for their equality.
“Teach a man and you have taught only one,
but teach a woman and you have taught a family”,
goes a famous saying. There is a lot of truth in this saying. A woman influences every member of the family in her role as mother. This powerful influence on the part of the woman has existed since ancient times.
The Constitution of India firmly affirmed the equality of all citizens before the law. It said that women, as weaker sections of society, were wronged and discriminated against for generations, that they deserve special facilities and support for advance. In the five-year plans that followed, the Indian government consistently emphasised education as one of the principal instruments for the advance of people. Education Commission, this Commission was headed by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, one of India’s most distinguished scholars and philosophers and a man very sympathetic to the cause of women. He later became the President of India. The chapter on university education for women, in the Commission report, included a statement on how the British government had done nothing to advance women's university education in India. The chapter pointed out how unfair this was, considering that as early as 1869 John Stuart Mill had written about the subjugation of women and need for their equality.
Independence and after (1947 and beyond)
India acquired independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The Constitution of India firmly affirmed the equality of all citizens before the law. It said that women, as weaker sections of society, were wronged and discriminated against for generations, that they deserve special facilities and support for advance. In the five-year plans that followed, the Indian government consistently emphasised education as one of the principal instruments for the advance of people.
The University Education Commission
In 1948-49, almost immediately after independence, the government of India appointed a major national Commission focusing on higher education. Known as the University Education Commission, this Commission was headed by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, one of India’s most distinguished scholars and philosophers and a man very sympathetic to the cause of women. He later became the President of India. The chapter on university education for women, in the Commission report, included a statement on how the British government had done nothing to advance women's university education in India. The chapter pointed out how unfair this was, considering that as early as 1869 John Stuart Mill had written about the subjugation of women and need for their equality. But the chapter did not articulate the concept of a career
In 1958-59, almost ten years after the appointment of the University Education Commission, the government of India appointed a National Commission for Women. This Commission was headed by a woman who had been active in the nationalist movement, was a member of the first Planning Commission appointed in Independent India, and was the first chairperson of the country's Central Social Welfare Board. She had also been active in the nationalist movement for freedom, and was one of those whom Gandhi had chosen to send for a university education. The National Commission for women recommended special hostels, special colleges and special scholarships for women. It recommended special syllabi for women and specified that these syllabi should focus on creating the right attitudes among them. The recommendations of the Commission led to the establishment of the National Council for Girls, the establishment of a Comprehensive Development Plan for Women, to the allocation of special funds for women in the central and state ministries of education and the establishment of separate units for the educational needs of women. It looked carefully into the needs for occupations in which women were preferred, and pointed out that qualified women were needed, in large numbers, to function as pre-primary school teachers, nurses, midwives, women doctors, pharmacists and social workers. On this basis it recommended the promotion of education for women in these fields. The other major contribution of the Commission was that it recommended that the number of women's colleges in the country should be increased. Over time, this recommendation has been put into effect. There were less than a hundred women's colleges in the country when the Commission submitted its report. Today there are more than twelve hundred.
National Commission on Women
In 1958-59, almost ten years after the appointment of the University Education Commission, the government of India appointed a National Commission for Women. This Commission was headed by a woman who had been active in the nationalist movement, was a member of the first Planning Commission appointed in Independent India, and was the first chairperson of the country's Central Social Welfare Board. She had also been active in the nationalist movement for freedom, and was one of those whom Gandhi had chosen to send for a university education.
The National Commission for women recommended special hostels, special colleges and special scholarships for women. It recommended special syllabi for women and specified that these syllabi should focus on creating the right attitudes among them. The recommendations of the Commission led to the establishment of the National Council for Girls, the establishment of a Comprehensive Development Plan for Women, to the allocation of special funds for women in the central and state ministries of education and the establishment of separate units for the educational needs of women. It looked carefully into the needs for occupations in which women were preferred, and pointed out that qualified women were needed, in large numbers, to function as pre-primary school teachers, nurses, midwives, women doctors, pharmacists and social workers. On this basis it recommended the promotion of education for women in these fields.
In 1964, the National Commission on Education, also known as the Kothari Commission, was appointed. In its report, the Commission lamented that the education of women in India was not moving fast enough. But it failed to make any firm recommendations on how the pace of the growth of higher education among women should be advanced. And yet, in terms of the impact that the various Commissions have had on government programmes, on voluntary action and on the attitudes of people towards education in independent India, the Kothari Commission is considered to be the most powerful. \However, from the decade of the seventies onwards, there is a visible change. The National Policy on Education, 1986, talks of education for the "empowerment of women." The Eighth Five Year Plan of the country launched in 1991 categorically states that education of women is imperative in order to improve health and nutrition levels in the country and to succeed with the country's efforts to control its population explosion. It speaks of women as "partners in development." In the Ninth Five Year Plan, which became operative in 1997, the title of the chapter on women's education is Education for Women's Equality. the beginning of the seventies, there was growing anxiety that development was not proceeding as planned. Prominent among the several reasons identified as the cause for the slow pace of development, was the fact that women had not been participating actively in the process. It was pointed out that economic growth had suffered because women's role in the economy had been neglected and because their capabilities were neither fully developed nor utilised. In this connection, the failure to provide them with career and employment-oriented education was particularly blamed. With illustrations of successes and failures in the development effort, it was convincingly shown that the involvement of women, both as paid functionaries and as volunteers, at different levels, is critical to the success of the country's population control, health care and community development programmes. It was underlined that women must be urgently equipped with the capabilities required for them to take up these new responsibilities. These revelations and recommendations gave birth to the concept of women as "partners" in development and took the issue of the importance of their education to a new threshold. National Commission on Education
In 1964, the National Commission on Education, also known as the Kothari Commission, was appointed. In its report, the Commission lamented that the education of women in India was not moving fast enough. But it failed to make any firm recommendations on how the pace of the growth of higher education among women should be advanced. And yet, in terms of the impact that the various Commissions have had on government programmes, on voluntary action and on the attitudes of people towards education in independent India, the Kothari Commission is considered to be the most powerful.
A New Purposefulness
However, from the decade of the seventies onwards, there is a visible change. The National Policy on Education, 1986, talks of education for the "empowerment of women." The Eighth Five Year Plan of the country launched in 1991 categorically states that education of women is imperative in order to improve health and nutrition levels in the country and to succeed with the country's efforts to control its population explosion. It speaks of women as "partners in development." In the Ninth Five Year Plan, which became operative in 1997, the title of the chapter on women's education is Education for Women's Equality.
Women as Partners in Development
By the beginning of the seventies, there was growing anxiety that development was not proceeding as planned. Prominent among the several reasons identified as the cause for the slow pace of development, was the fact that women had not been participating actively in the process. It was pointed out that economic growth had suffered because women's role in the economy had been neglected and because their capabilities were neither fully developed nor utilised. In this connection, the failure to provide them with career and employment-oriented education was particularly blamed. With illustrations of successes and failures in the development effort, it was convincingly shown that the involvement of women, both as paid functionaries and as volunteers, at different levels, is critical to the success of the country's population control, health care and community development programmes. It was underlined that women must be urgently equipped with the capabilities required for them to take up these new responsibilities. These revelations and recommendations gave birth to the concept of women as "partners" in development and took the issue of the importance of their education to a new threshold.
More than two million women are enrolled for higher education in India today. The figure may sound impressive to those who are not fully aware of the size of the population of the country. However, these 2 million women constitute just 34% of the total enrollment of 6.5 million students in higher education. It is interesting that the percentage of women is slightly higher at the post-graduate level (39%) than at the under-graduate level (34%), and that this is higher at this level than the enrollment in the diploma level (26%). Data, on the faculty-wide distribution of women, shows that of all the women enrolled in higher education, 54% are enrolled in Arts and Humanities, 20% are enrolled in Science, 14% in Commerce, 4% in Medicine, Agriculture and Management, 2% in law and 1% in Statistics
More than two million women are enrolled for higher education in India today. The figure may sound impressive to those who are not fully aware of the size of the population of the country. However, these 2 million women constitute just 34% of the total enrollment of 6.5 million students in higher education. It is interesting that the percentage of women is slightly higher at the post-graduate level (39%) than at the under-graduate level (34%), and that this is higher at this level than the enrollment in the diploma level (26%). Data, on the faculty-wide distribution of women, shows that of all the women enrolled in higher education, 54% are enrolled in Arts and Humanities, 20% are enrolled in Science, 14% in Commerce, 4% in Medicine, Agriculture and Management, 2% in law and 1% in Engineering.
Reference:
Women’s education in India - Mathur,
Women’s education in India - B.D. Bhatt and S. R Sharma.
India acquired independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The Constitution of India firmly affirmed the equality of all citizens before the law. It said that women, as weaker sections of society, were wronged and discriminated against for generations, that they deserve special facilities and support for advance. In the five-year plans that followed, the Indian government consistently emphasised education as one of the principal instruments for the advance of people.
The University Education Commission
In 1948-49, almost immediately after independence, the government of India appointed a major national Commission focusing on higher education. Known as the University Education Commission, this Commission was headed by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, one of India’s most distinguished scholars and philosophers and a man very sympathetic to the cause of women. He later became the President of India. The chapter on university education for women, in the Commission report, included a statement on how the British government had done nothing to advance women's university education in India. The chapter pointed out how unfair this was, considering that as early as 1869 John Stuart Mill had written about the subjugation of women and need for their equality. But the chapter did not articulate the concept of a career
In 1958-59, almost ten years after the appointment of the University Education Commission, the government of India appointed a National Commission for Women. This Commission was headed by a woman who had been active in the nationalist movement, was a member of the first Planning Commission appointed in Independent India, and was the first chairperson of the country's Central Social Welfare Board. She had also been active in the nationalist movement for freedom, and was one of those whom Gandhi had chosen to send for a university education. The National Commission for women recommended special hostels, special colleges and special scholarships for women. It recommended special syllabi for women and specified that these syllabi should focus on creating the right attitudes among them. The recommendations of the Commission led to the establishment of the National Council for Girls, the establishment of a Comprehensive Development Plan for Women, to the allocation of special funds for women in the central and state ministries of education and the establishment of separate units for the educational needs of women. It looked carefully into the needs for occupations in which women were preferred, and pointed out that qualified women were needed, in large numbers, to function as pre-primary school teachers, nurses, midwives, women doctors, pharmacists and social workers. On this basis it recommended the promotion of education for women in these fields. The other major contribution of the Commission was that it recommended that the number of women's colleges in the country should be increased. Over time, this recommendation has been put into effect. There were less than a hundred women's colleges in the country when the Commission submitted its report. Today there are more than twelve hundred.
National Commission on Women
In 1958-59, almost ten years after the appointment of the University Education Commission, the government of India appointed a National Commission for Women. This Commission was headed by a woman who had been active in the nationalist movement, was a member of the first Planning Commission appointed in Independent India, and was the first chairperson of the country's Central Social Welfare Board. She had also been active in the nationalist movement for freedom, and was one of those whom Gandhi had chosen to send for a university education.
The National Commission for women recommended special hostels, special colleges and special scholarships for women. It recommended special syllabi for women and specified that these syllabi should focus on creating the right attitudes among them. The recommendations of the Commission led to the establishment of the National Council for Girls, the establishment of a Comprehensive Development Plan for Women, to the allocation of special funds for women in the central and state ministries of education and the establishment of separate units for the educational needs of women. It looked carefully into the needs for occupations in which women were preferred, and pointed out that qualified women were needed, in large numbers, to function as pre-primary school teachers, nurses, midwives, women doctors, pharmacists and social workers. On this basis it recommended the promotion of education for women in these fields.
In 1964, the National Commission on Education, also known as the Kothari Commission, was appointed. In its report, the Commission lamented that the education of women in India was not moving fast enough. But it failed to make any firm recommendations on how the pace of the growth of higher education among women should be advanced. And yet, in terms of the impact that the various Commissions have had on government programmes, on voluntary action and on the attitudes of people towards education in independent India, the Kothari Commission is considered to be the most powerful. \However, from the decade of the seventies onwards, there is a visible change. The National Policy on Education, 1986, talks of education for the "empowerment of women." The Eighth Five Year Plan of the country launched in 1991 categorically states that education of women is imperative in order to improve health and nutrition levels in the country and to succeed with the country's efforts to control its population explosion. It speaks of women as "partners in development." In the Ninth Five Year Plan, which became operative in 1997, the title of the chapter on women's education is Education for Women's Equality. the beginning of the seventies, there was growing anxiety that development was not proceeding as planned. Prominent among the several reasons identified as the cause for the slow pace of development, was the fact that women had not been participating actively in the process. It was pointed out that economic growth had suffered because women's role in the economy had been neglected and because their capabilities were neither fully developed nor utilised. In this connection, the failure to provide them with career and employment-oriented education was particularly blamed. With illustrations of successes and failures in the development effort, it was convincingly shown that the involvement of women, both as paid functionaries and as volunteers, at different levels, is critical to the success of the country's population control, health care and community development programmes. It was underlined that women must be urgently equipped with the capabilities required for them to take up these new responsibilities. These revelations and recommendations gave birth to the concept of women as "partners" in development and took the issue of the importance of their education to a new threshold. National Commission on Education
In 1964, the National Commission on Education, also known as the Kothari Commission, was appointed. In its report, the Commission lamented that the education of women in India was not moving fast enough. But it failed to make any firm recommendations on how the pace of the growth of higher education among women should be advanced. And yet, in terms of the impact that the various Commissions have had on government programmes, on voluntary action and on the attitudes of people towards education in independent India, the Kothari Commission is considered to be the most powerful.
A New Purposefulness
However, from the decade of the seventies onwards, there is a visible change. The National Policy on Education, 1986, talks of education for the "empowerment of women." The Eighth Five Year Plan of the country launched in 1991 categorically states that education of women is imperative in order to improve health and nutrition levels in the country and to succeed with the country's efforts to control its population explosion. It speaks of women as "partners in development." In the Ninth Five Year Plan, which became operative in 1997, the title of the chapter on women's education is Education for Women's Equality.
Women as Partners in Development
By the beginning of the seventies, there was growing anxiety that development was not proceeding as planned. Prominent among the several reasons identified as the cause for the slow pace of development, was the fact that women had not been participating actively in the process. It was pointed out that economic growth had suffered because women's role in the economy had been neglected and because their capabilities were neither fully developed nor utilised. In this connection, the failure to provide them with career and employment-oriented education was particularly blamed. With illustrations of successes and failures in the development effort, it was convincingly shown that the involvement of women, both as paid functionaries and as volunteers, at different levels, is critical to the success of the country's population control, health care and community development programmes. It was underlined that women must be urgently equipped with the capabilities required for them to take up these new responsibilities. These revelations and recommendations gave birth to the concept of women as "partners" in development and took the issue of the importance of their education to a new threshold.
More than two million women are enrolled for higher education in India today. The figure may sound impressive to those who are not fully aware of the size of the population of the country. However, these 2 million women constitute just 34% of the total enrollment of 6.5 million students in higher education. It is interesting that the percentage of women is slightly higher at the post-graduate level (39%) than at the under-graduate level (34%), and that this is higher at this level than the enrollment in the diploma level (26%). Data, on the faculty-wide distribution of women, shows that of all the women enrolled in higher education, 54% are enrolled in Arts and Humanities, 20% are enrolled in Science, 14% in Commerce, 4% in Medicine, Agriculture and Management, 2% in law and 1% in Statistics
More than two million women are enrolled for higher education in India today. The figure may sound impressive to those who are not fully aware of the size of the population of the country. However, these 2 million women constitute just 34% of the total enrollment of 6.5 million students in higher education. It is interesting that the percentage of women is slightly higher at the post-graduate level (39%) than at the under-graduate level (34%), and that this is higher at this level than the enrollment in the diploma level (26%). Data, on the faculty-wide distribution of women, shows that of all the women enrolled in higher education, 54% are enrolled in Arts and Humanities, 20% are enrolled in Science, 14% in Commerce, 4% in Medicine, Agriculture and Management, 2% in law and 1% in Engineering.
Reference:
Women’s education in India - Mathur,
Women’s education in India - B.D. Bhatt and S. R Sharma.
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