Gender disparity in primary education: the experience in India.

• Author: Desai, Sushrut

The primary education system in India suffers from numerous shortcomings, not the least being a dire lack of the financial resources required to set up a nationwide network of schools. Traditionally, the sector has been characterized by poor infrastructure, underpaid teaching staff, disillusioned parents and an unmotivated student population. In light of India's commitment to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of universal primary education, its major challenge is gender disparity--and the resulting financial and societal blocks that prevent access of girls to primary education.

In a society as deeply stratified as India, disparities in education can be observed through various distributions, such as caste, religion and gender, among others. It is interesting, however, that even within such disadvantaged communities, a consistent feature is widespread gender disparity in educational attainment. For scheduled caste and scheduled tribe girls, the gender gap in education is almost 30 per cent at the primary level and 26 per cent at the upper primary stage. In India's most depressed regions, the probability of girls getting primary education is about 42 per cent lower than boys, and it remains so even when other variables, such as religion and caste, are controlled.

It will take a bold and creative policy to bridge this gap. Acknowledging this, the Indian Government has made female education a priority. Its flagship programme for the achievement of universal primary education--Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) or "Education for All"--places special emphasis on female education and the achievement of gender parity. The question remains, of course, whether this can be attained before the MDGs deadline in 2015.

Addressing social problems in a financial context. Societal blocks to female education must be understood as part of a much larger social fabric, which has spawned numerous institutions of gender inequality. Traditionally, a boy's education has been seen as an investment, increasing the earnings and social status of the family; however, different standards apply for girls. The benefits of a girl's education are generally seen as going to the family she marries into, thus providing little incentive to invest scarce resources, both human and monetary, into such activity. Also, given the relatively low educational attainment, especially in rural areas, the marriageability of an educated girl presents its own problems. These factors combine to...