Education is one of the most critical areas of empowerment for girls. 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. But, the girls of the weaker sections bear the larger challenge in obtaining education. Endemic poverty and remote geographic locations are the biggest hurdles. As girls have to have to travel great distances to reach school, it multiplies the risks of their personal security. When occurring together, these barriers can be almost insurmountable. The ramifications of being denied the right to a quality education are vast. Without strides in girls’ education, a nation bound to face societal menace.
Putting an end to the Stigma – Chief minister Harish Rawaton March 6, Dehradun announced that the state school education department would soon launch a unique scheme to reduce school drop-out rate among girls belonging to minority communities and other backward classes (OBCs). He made the announcement while addressing a gathering at the 3rd Educational Award function organised by the All-India ONGC Minority Employees General Welfare Association, where he presented certificates to over a hundred schoolgirls from minority communities and OBCs for academic excellence. Boosting the moral of the student, he said hard work should be the mantra of the students and that emphasis should be laid on overall growth and personality development.
Giving importance to girl education, he assured that the state government will work on getting to provide more funds under the Maulana Azad Foundation and Hunar Scheme.”Senior officials and experts in the state education department have been asked to consult schools where maximum cases of girls from these communities dropping out have been reported in the last two to three years,” said Rawat. He said officials were directed to propose a scheme that will ensure that girls belonging to minority community continue with their education and girl education will get the much required impetus.
The chief minister said the problems of shortage of teachers in government schools will be looked after. The government will make sure that quality education is provided to the students enrolled in government schools. According to him, the focus should not only be on academics and religious studies but also on skill building. He said skill development education with spiritual and academic education should be imparted in minority educational institutes of the state.
The chief minister emphasized that it is the duty of every citizen to contribute towards nation building. He appealed to the gathering to hold more number of programmes to felicitate students. According to him the idea of progress of nation is inconceivable without taking along women.
Brighter future – The schemes and programmes like ‘Betibachaobetipadhao’ and SukanyaSamridhiYojna’ along with the great emphasis on imparting free education using the technology to provide free online education like Free NCERT textbook solutions or Free CBSE study material are paving way for brighter future for girls.
A long way to go– Even after so many programs and policies launched by the government, we are still lagging behind in providing education to the girl child. The thought of educating every girl seems to be a distant dream. The problem lies at the level of commitment of people in general too. People need to understand that men and women are two sides of the same coin—a girl is as much a part of the society as is a boy. They are both the futures of tomorrow.They both need to be given equal opportunities for the wholesome growth of the nation.
