Gender equity in education: a review of trends and factors

India accounts for 30 per cent of the world’s total illiterate population and around 70 per cent of these illiterates are women. This review paper draws on recent data to map the access and participation rates of girls relative to boys. The authors offer a critical assessment of findings of different recent research on school education in India identifying the areas that need further research. The paper reveals that while enrolment of girls has increased rapidly since the 1990s, there is still a substantial gap in upper primary and secondary schooling and gender inequalities interlock with other forms of social inequality, notably caste, ethnicity and religion.

Both data and research literature are analysed to highlight the interlocking nature of educational inclusions and exclusions, viewing gendered access alongside issues such as education of children belonging to scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and Muslims, disability, poverty and child labour. Supply-side issues are also discussed in terms of educational provision and gendered schooling practices. Initiatives designed to address gendered inequalities are then highlighted and critiqued. The paper concludes with recommendations for implementation of enabling policy to meet the challenges for improving the quality of schools ensuring better opportunities for girls at higher levels of education, notably upper primary and secondary schools.

Key points include:

• while female enrolment has increased rapidly since the 1990s, there is still a substantial gap in upper primary and secondary schooling
• gender inequalities interlock with other forms of social inequality, notably caste, ethnicity and religion, with girls from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Muslim minorities particularly, constituting the population of out-of-school and drop-out children
• the rapid increase in girls’ schooling can, arguably, be attributed to the policy focus on alternative schools and transitional schooling forms such as bridge schools and residential camps
• improvements required in the quality of schooling, notably the content and transaction of learning materials, implies a stronger focus on mainstreaming gender in curriculum development and teacher-training aspects of policy making in India that remain fairly opaque and ineffective.