Opinion: Education empowers women

Improving school attendance is a step toward helping them achieve economic and political freedom

Dr. Kandagatla Sravan Kumar

Hyderabad: A meaningful discussion is taking place across the country regarding awareness of the status of women, their way of life and their rights. Women’s empowerment means placing women in decision-making positions and ensuring their access to economic freedom and political opportunity.

But all of this is only possible through education. Female enrollment in higher education in the country has been higher than that of males in recent years. Telangana leads the country in women’s access to higher education.

According to the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-21, the total enrollment in Indian higher education increased from 3.85 million students in 2019-20 to about 4.14 million students in 2020-21. During the same period, female enrollment increased from 1.88 million to 2.01 million. The proportion of women in total enrollment has increased from 45 in 2014-15 to almost 49 in 2020-21. In 2018-19, for the first time, female enrollments were higher than those of males, and the trend continues.

top hand

Women seem to have gained the upper hand in higher education admissions in Telangana for the last three to four years. Women’s participation in professional courses has steadily increased. According to statistics, female enrollment in professional courses in the 2020-21 academic year has increased by 4.5% compared with the 2019-20 academic year. Total enrollment increased by 4.8% over the same period. National tertiary enrollments crossed the 4 million mark for the first time, with 4.14 million students enrolled in the 2020-21 academic year. This is 7.5% higher than in 2019-20 and 21% higher than in 2014-15.

Regarding women, it surpassed 20 million, 1.3 million more than in 2019-20. SC student enrollment has increased by 28% compared to 2014-15. For SC women, it increased by 38%. ST enrollment increased by 47%, and ST female enrollment increased by 63.4%. For OBCs it increased by 32%, and for women with OBC it increased by 39%. Distance education enrollment increased 7 percent compared to 2019-20.

National policy

After Telangana emerged as an independent state, the government has formulated various policies and programs for women’s empowerment, their welfare and development. The state government has placed high priority on girls’ education from the outset; it provides free boarding education from primary to higher education.

As part of this, Telangana has first established over 1000 girls’ residential (gurukul) institutions of the highest educational standards for a large number of SC, ST, BC and minority girls. It has especially established about 60 guru kura degree colleges for women. In addition to degree and PG courses, specialized colleges focusing on law, agriculture and fashion design were established to provide higher education, thereby significantly increasing female education enrollment in the state.

superior to the country

Telangana’s female gross enrollment ratio in higher education is about 40 percent, compared to the national average of 28 percent. While the national average enrollment rate is 27%, the enrollment rate in Telangana is 40%. Recognizing the need for higher education for women, the state government transformed the Coty Women’s College in Hyderabad into the ‘Telangana Women’s University’ exclusively for women. According to the state-level Common Graduate Entrance Test (CPGET)-2022, in Telangana, 72% of girls are enrolled in postgraduate courses (70% in 2021-22), 52% in degree courses and 81% in Telangana for academic year 2022-23 on the bed. Increasing female enrollment is a huge step forward.

Likewise, more women are admitted to colleges and universities in the state and attend school almost as much as male students. Girls outnumber boys in gurukuls, model schools and Kasturba schools. Women have access to state government scholarships and reimbursement of expenses for higher education. Welfare schemes of the Telangana government like ‘Shaadi Mubarak’ and ‘Kalyana Lakshmi’ have indirectly contributed to women’s education even after marriage.

Desire to pursue higher education and start a business, flexibility of working from home, availability of boarding schools and colleges, and awareness are all favorable factors leading to higher female education enrollment in Telangana.

roadblock

At the college level, poor economic conditions, inconvenient transportation, mixed school issues, dormitory facilities, gender discrimination, physical and psychological harassment, etc. are reported as factors affecting women’s higher education, so efforts should be made to address these issues. Likewise, information on women’s access to higher education should be collected and this should be a coordinated effort between universities and the government.

Further implement new policies and programs in the field of education to increase women’s enthusiasm for higher education. Women’s participation should be enhanced to educate students about their future fields of study and careers without gender bias. Students and teachers should be made more aware of gender-sensitivity issues.

In Telangana, increasing the number of women in higher education will lead to women’s empowerment and the social and economic progress of the state. Not only should there be more women in higher education, but there should be more government policies and new programs to provide them with employment, skills development and employment opportunities. Central and state governments have a responsibility to provide women with better facilities and support to enable them to grow independently.