HISTORY OF WOMEN EDUCATION IN INDIA
Dr. Saswati Roy Chowdhury, Asst. Professor, Padmaja Naidu College of Music-Burdwan University.:Burdwan.
ABSTRACT
Women in ancient India were entitled to the very important rite of Upanayana, which would give them the right to study the Vedas just like men. In later ages, they were unfortunately barred from it and thereby from Vedic education. Later, the access of women to Buddhist and Jain orders gave an impetus to their education. During the Muslim period, female education still deteriorated due to the evil practice of purdah. However, during the Buddhism and Jainism movement, certain lady saint-scholars flourished.
During the British period female education got only lip service from the Government. It was private bodies and missionaries who took more initiative for the qualitative and quantitative development of female education. During this period, female education was concentrated in urban areas and there was hardly any schools for women in rural areas. Consequently, in pre-independent India the level of education in general and of female education in particular was very low.
After independence, there has been spectacular progress of education due to universalisation of primary education. Various five-year plans implemented after Independence gave priority to female education. In fact, a number of committees and commissions recommended measures such as midday meals, free supply of text-books and uniforms etc., to encourage female education. As a result of these measures, female education rose to 39percent in 1991. However,-compared to male literacy, female literacy lags behind, in 1991 male literacy was 64 per cent.As per the last census the literacy rate of women rose to 65percent as compared to male literacy of 82 percent.
Introduction:
Quality education for all girls is a basic right. From the beginning the girl child has faced a lot of disadvantages. As the girl becomes a woman these disadvantages become magnified. But the status of women has direct relationship with the level of development of a society. In this context it is emphasized on the need for women to develop self reliance . The roots of education in INDIA have been laid in its past history, and the future is related to their aspirations and goals of development. The history of female education in India is essentially related to the background of the past history of the country . The study of female education can be undertaken with the help of the position given to women in different time periods in history.
India still has one of the lowest female literacy rates. This low level of literacy not only has a negative impact on women’s lives but also on their families’ lives and on their country’s economic development. Numerous studies have shown that illiterate women have generally high levels of maternal mortality, poor nutritional status, low earning potential.
Education in Vedic times :
In vedic times women enjoyed a high social status. Women enjoyed equality in all walks of life. Though society was patriarchal and the son was given prime position in the family, the daughter was equally entitled to all the privileges given to a son and women were generally married at a later age and were allowed to choose their partners freely.
During the Vedic period female education was very much prized. The initiation was essential for girls to secure a suitable life partner . The Atharva veda says that a woman can become successful in married life when she is properly trained during learning period . They studied the sacred texts, had full access to different branches of knowledge.
Education in Post-Vedic times :
During post Vedic times , education of women declined. Women were merely treated as the property of men. The social situation for women became more circumscribed as religion became increasingly institutionalised. The first law-giver of the Hindus, assigned dependent status to women and denied freedom and knowledge of the Vedic texts.
Education during times of Buddhism:
The raise of Buddhism was a raising against the rigid Hindu culture . Once again, women were assigned equal position. During this period, the women of India attained remarkable success and achieved glory in the sphere of education, culture and spiritual potentialities.
The admission of women to the Buddhist way of life led to the cause of female education in the aristocratic families. Sanghmitra, the duaghter of Emporer Ashoka, went to Sri lanka to preach the Holy scriptures.
Education during times of Jainism:
Times of Jainism was of immense inspiration for women, heralding the advent of another golden age and showing magnificently what heights women could reach.. Women were given full facilities for the highest kind of education which was spiritually oriented.
Many Jain nuns in those times composed or helped the composition of Jain works. According to Jain tradition, Jayanti, a daughter of king Sahasranika of Kausambi, observed celibacy and dedicated her life to studies. A Jataka noted the story of a Jain father having four clever daughters touring around the country and challenging all for a debate on philosophical matters.
During the puranic period, inequality of opportunities in religious rites and in education prevailed. The pre-puberty marriage became popular and widow-remarriage was prohibited. During post-puranic period, the status of women deteriorated much more. However, a few famous lady scholars, poetesses flourished during the first millenium of the Christian era. Devi was a well known poetess of Gujarat. Rajasekhara, a distinguished poet and critic, compared her to goddess Saraswati.
The marriageable age further decreased to 9 or 10 by the 8th and 9th centuries. This was a low period for female education. Hence both girls and their parents concentrated more on the marriage than education. The practice of sati also affected female education. In the 9th century, education of women was restricted to royal families. Thus education had become rare among women in general in the 8th century.
Education in Mughal times (1200-1800 A.D)
During the Muslim rule, the percentage of female literacy went down further due to the prevalence of the pardah system. After the Muslim conquest, pardah become quite common among higher and richer classes in Northern India to provide protection to women against abduction and kidnapping by Muslim rulers, nobles and officials. Due to the strict observance of the purdah system, women enjoyed very little opportunity to acquire higher education by attending educational institutions. However, in South India where the impact of Muslim conquest was not felt much as compared to Northern India, the purdah did not have much acceptance.
Mughal emperors provided liberal education to the princesses. Nur Jahan, the celebrated wife of Jahangir, Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan, Jahanara Begum, the eldest daughter of Shah Jahan, Zibunnisa Begum, the eldest daughter of Aurangzeb were learned ladies of the royal household. Akbar set apart certain chambers in Fathepur Sikri for a girl’s school and appointed some mistresses to work in it. Emperor Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal ruler, displayed keen interest and enthusiasm in promoting education among the royal ladies.
Daughters of Rajput chiefs and some Bengali zamindars were able to read and write during this period. Some widows devoted themselves to learning and became teachers. Jain widows, too, were some times taught reading and writing by the monks with a view to enable them to read their scriptures. These were, however, exceptional cases. The decline of female literacy was so remarkable that there was hardly one woman literate in a hundred women by the beginning of the 19th century.
In some cases rich Hindu and Muslim women received religious education at home, A number of ‘Pathashalas’ for Hindus and ‘Mukhtabs’ for Muslims also imparted some instruction mainly to boys but also to some girls.
Education after advent of the British (1800-1947 A.D) :
Education in British era opens a new chapter in Indian wemen’s educational history. At the begining of the British rule, female education had practically disappeared. The official surveys of indigeneous education conducted in different parts of the country at the beginning of the 19th century gives an account of woman’s education at that time.
Britishers made a serious attempt in women’s education during their tenure . Their interest was political and economic. It was the missionaries and the private voluntary bodies, both Christian and Indian, who became votaries of education. They took increasing interest in the promotion of women’s education in the country. They made great efforts to set up schools and colleges in various parts of the country and bore the financial burden of women’s education.
In 1819, Female Juvenile Society, a non-religious organization started schools for girls. The Ladies Society for Native Female Education was formed in 1824 under the patronage of Lady Amherst. A splendid lead was given by liberal Englishmen to female education. In 1820 David Hare established a school for girls in Calcutta and conducted it at his own expense. During this period secondary education for women made an humble beginning in different parts of the country. Many secondary schools for women were opened .However most of these women’s schools were concentrated in the urban areas only. Thus the women folk of rural areas were deprived of their right to education. Moreover, these schools were drawing women students mainly from Anglo-Indian, European, Indian Christian, Parsee and a few well-to-do Hindu and Muslim families. All this hindered the growth of secondary education of women.
Bethune school of Calcutta developed into a college, which was the first institution of higher education for women with only six women students. Women still suffered formidable handicaps in higher education. Though Calcutta, Bombay and Madras Universities were established in 1857, women were not allowed to take admission. Only in 1877 Calcutta University allowed women students to take the examination.
Of course, the Christian missionaries and private individuals made notable attempt in this regard. One significant event that occurred during this period was the visit of MissMary Carpenter, the great English social reformer to India. She felt that the establishment of training colleges for women teachers was a must. Her direct access to the highest officers in the country made it possible to give immediate effect to her proposal, and the first women’s training college for primary teachers was established by 1870. By 1882, there were 15 training institutions for women teachers.
Education Developed further in 20th century (1901-21):
Women’s education experienced better progress during these twenty years mainly due to great public awakening and the first World War. In 1913, the British government of India was forced to prepare a new educational policy for women, which recommended special curriculum of practical utility for women, like needle-work, music etc.
However Indian Nationalists were dissatisfied with the type of higher education that existed then.
They wanted to form a new system of collegiate education which would be typically Indian.
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, a reputed scholar and educationalist founded the Banaras Hindu University in 1916. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan founded the Aligarh Muslim University.
Contributions of great Social Reformers :
Many great social reformers , touched by the pioneering work done by missionaries and philanthropic Englishmen, began to lend their support to the education of women. They were greatly influenced by the western liberal and democratic ideas. Raja Rammohan Roy played an important role in the abolition of sati, in advocating women’s right to property and in emphasizing the need for their education. Pandit Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar was another social reformer who was responsible for the establishment of a number of girl’s schools in Bengal. He set up more than 40 schools for women between 1855-58. Keshab Chandra Sen, the most dynamic leader of Brahma Samaj, was greatly interested in elevating the status of women. The passing of the Brahma Marriage Bill was his greatest triumph which abolished early marriage, made polygamy a penal affence and sanctioned widow marriage. He had opened the Victoria Institution for girls in 1871, which expanded gradually into a women’s college. Swamy Dayanand Saraswati opposed early marriage and supported female education and widow re-marriage.
Swami Vivekananda, a staunch disciple of Sri Ramakrishna laid great stress on the education of women. ‘Religion, arts, science, housekeeping, cooking, sewing, hygiene, the simple essential points in these subjects ought to be taught to our women, observed Swamiji. He held the strong conviction that women should be taught the value of liberty, self-initiative and heroism. He was the early founder of the institutions devoted to the welfare of the mass of Indian people and of women in particular. His deciple Sister Nevedita an English woman carried forward his legacy of wemen’s education in India .
Gandhiji by giving a proud position to women in the national liberation movement, kindled in them a new light and a new urge for serving the nation and its teeming millions. His constructive work programme, which to him was the main forte of struggle for independence, provided ample opportunities to women to liberate themselves and to become an equal partner with men in the struggle for freedom. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose inspired many Indian wemen to join the freedom struggle and formed the Jhansi battalion for his Azad Hind Fauj .
All these steps in women’s liberation movement made their own contribution to the promotion of education among women. They add substance and depth to the programme of women’s education in the country.
Education of women post Independence :
The attainment of Independence marked a watershed in the history of women’s education in India. The idea of treating women as equal and providing social justice was reflected in the Constitution which guaranteed equality to every one irrespective of caste, sex or religion. Article 45 of the Constitution made provision to provide free and compulsory education for all children until the age of fourteen within a period of ten years from the passing of the Constitution. However, the period was extended. As a result of this, India has been experiencing phenomenal
progress of women’s education since Independence. For the first time in 1991, literacy rates have been measured for the population aged seven and above. Female literacy went up from about 8 per cent in 1951 to 39 per cent in 1991 and subsequently to 65 percent in 2011. .
However, there is a wide gap between male and female literacy. This is obvious from the fact that Male literacy increased from 25 per cent in 1951 to 64 per cent in 1991 and 82 percent in 2011. .
CONCLUSION :
Even though we have made considerable progress in providing facilities for female education since Independence, the rate of progress is not satisfactory as compared to that of male education. Yet two-thirds of women have yet to be educated. Problems like regional imbalance and rural urban disparity assume prominence from the taluk to the national level. There is a big gap in rural and urban female literacy. In 1991 rural female literacy was 30.62 per cent as compared 64.05 per cent urban female literacy. Hence every effort is required to provide facilities of education for girls in villages, where the enrolment is very low.
The Central and State Governments are required to join hands with one another and seek the co-operation of all voluntary organisations to spread education for girls in every nook and corner of the country. A social movement is required to create the necessary atmosphere for the spread of girl’s education, specially in rural areas.
Women’s education in India plays a very important role in the overall development of the country. It not only helps in the development of half of the human resources, but in improving the quality of life at home and outside.
Educated women not only tend to promote education of their girl children, but also can provide better guidance to all their children. Moreover educated women can also help in the reduction of infant mortality rate and growth of the population.
- Educating the women will empower them to seek gender equality in the society.
- Women will be able to earn that would raise their economic condition and their status in the society.
- They will be aware about the advantages of small and planned family and this will be a big step towards achieving stabilized population goals.
- Women on being educated would be able to rear their children in a better way, leading to their good health and provide them with better facilities.
- Education of women would mean narrowing down of social disparities and inequities. This would automatically lead to sustainable development of women in India .
******************************************************************************
Reference Books :
- Anil Bhuimali, Education , Emoployment and empowerment of rural women in india , Serials publication, New Delhi.
- Govt. of india , National policy on education and programme of action , Deptt of MHRD, New Delhi .
- Govt of india , Education for womens equality , Deptt of MHRD, New Delhi
- J.C.Agarwal , Indian women education status , Ary book depot –New Delhi
- Leslie Calman, toward empowerment :women and movement politics in India, Westview Press.
- M.Gupta , Women and educational development , Sarui and sons publications , New Delhi.
- N.l.Gupta , Women’s education through the age , Concept publishers, New Delhi.
- Rosemary Bellew ,Womens education in developing countries , Baltimore .
- Susie Tharu , Women writing in India 600BC to present , Feminist press , New York .
- T.Sudha , Education , Employment and empowerment of rural women in India , Global research publication ,New Delhi.
- Thomas P , Indian women through the ages :A historical survey of position of women , Asia publishing house , Bombay.
- U Nayar , Education of girls in India an assessment , MHRD, New Delhi.
Key words : Education , Women, Historical, Literacy, Empowerment.