India, a mosaic of many cultures and traditions, grapples with the challenge of ensuring universal education, especially for girls from marginalised communities. Despite significant progress made in enrolling girls at the primary level, the journey becomes increasingly arduous as they progress through the educational ladder. These older girls face uncertain futures as their educational journeys are cut short by a web of economic, social, and cultural barriers.
According to the latest data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+ 2021-22), the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for girls at the elementary level of education stands at 101.1%. However, this slips to 79.4% and 58.2% at the secondary and higher secondary levels of education respectively. On the same lines, the dropout rates for girls at primary and upper primary levels were 1.4% and 3.3% respectively. But the same increased to 12.3% at the secondary level.
Double marginalisation
Girls from marginalised and backward communities (SCs, STs, and OBCs) as well as the resource-poor sections contribute significantly to the dropout rates, highlighting the double marginalisation of girls from these communities. This presents a significantly higher risk of girls being forced into child marriage and early motherhood and being subjected to other exploitative conditions such as child labour and trafficking.
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) echoes these disparities, revealing that while 83% of girls aged 6-10 attend primary school, this figure declines to 70% among girls aged 11-17 attending secondary school. This decline reflects various socio-economic factors, including poverty, caste-based discrimination, and regional disparities that disproportionately affect girls’ access to education.
Ambitious targets
In response to these challenges, global initiatives like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 4, aim to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030. Similarly, India’s National Education Policy (NEP) announced in 2020 aimed to universalise access to education for all children aged 3 to 18. It represented a significant paradigm shift, emphasising universal access to education from early childhood to the higher secondary levels. The NEP set ambitious targets, including achieving a 100% GER in pre-school to secondary education by 2030, and enhancing infrastructure to accommodate the growing demand for education.
Underpinning these policies are targeted interventions such as the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), now integrated into the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. These initiatives focus on expanding secondary education infrastructure, recruiting qualified teachers, and improving retention rates among marginalised communities, particularly girls. Despite these efforts, challenges persist in bridging the gap between policy formulation and effective implementation on the ground.
Barriers and challenges
At the heart of the issue lie socio-economic barriers that hinder girls’ education. A comprehensive study titled ‘Demand side aspects of secondary education – barriers and challenges’ conducted by Child Rights and You (CRY), a leading Indian non-profit organisation, in selected districts across Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Punjab in 2021 sheds light on these challenges.
Socio-economic conditions
For many impoverished families, investing in a daughter’s education is seen as a financial burden rather than a pathway to empowerment. The study reveals that 76% of school dropouts come from vulnerable households holding BPL, Antyodaya, or Annapurna cards. Moreover, 42% of children who drop out hail from families with a monthly income of less than Rs 5,000, highlighting the stark economic disparities that dictate access to education.
The same study underscores that, in terms of social classes, while only 20% of the dropouts belonged to General category households, most of them belonged to either SC (29%), ST (18%), and OBC (31%) households. These families often struggle to afford the costs associated with schooling. These costs include not only tuition fees but also expenses for uniforms, textbooks, transportation, and supplementary coaching.
According to the study, while 29% of respondent parents expressed inability to pay school fees for their daughters as the reason why they dropped out of school, 16% of parents wanted their daughters to rather earn to supplement family income. Girls who dropped out before completing school education also listed the inability of parents to pay school fees (27%) and working to earn a living (19%) as one of the major reasons to discontinue education.
Lack of awareness about scholarships, schemes, and provisions were also reported to have an adverse impact on the educational access of girls.
Infrastructure and safety concerns
Infrastructure deficiencies also impede girls’ access to education. The study found that in cases where secondary or higher secondary classes were not available, children, especially girls, usually dropped out of school.
Across the study states, of the girls who dropped out of school after completing class 8, 31% reported that Class 8 was the highest grade level taught at their school. Likewise, 73% of girls who dropped out of school after completing class 10 stated that class 10 was the highest grade level taught at their school.
The study found that the lack of an all-girls school discouraged parents from sending their daughters to school due to safety concerns; there was also the fear of elopement/love affairs and preconceived community norms about co-ed schools. Only 25% of parents reported having an all-girls school near their homes. While 43% of parents reported that such schools were more than 5 km away, 13% were unaware of any such school.
Compared to school-going girls in class 10 (15%) and 11 (27%), a higher proportion of dropouts after class 10 (33%) and 11 (50%) reported their schools to be more than 5 km away. Thus, greater distance to school made it inaccessible, particularly for girls, since travelling long distances was perceived as an unsafe option (due to reported fear and instances of sexual harassment and abuse enroute) and also came at a cost that financially weaker households could not afford.
Many schools lack adequate facilities such as separate toilets for girls, clean drinking water, and safe transportation options. The absence of these basic amenities not only compromises the health and safety of girl students but also deters parents from sending their daughters to school, particularly in rural areas where concerns about safety and accessibility loom large.
Cultural and gender norms
Deeply entrenched cultural and gender norms also pose formidable barriers to girls’ education. Deep-rooted societal expectations often confine girls to domestic roles, where their primary duties involve performing household chores, caregiving, and sibling care. These expectations perpetuate a cycle of gender inequality, reinforcing the belief that investing in a daughter’s education offers fewer returns compared to investing in a son.
In the study, parents of dropout girls cited household chores (22%) and sibling care (14%) as important reasons for their daughters’ discontinuation of education. Likewise, girls also cited household chores (26%) and sibling care (14%) as significant factors that contributed to their dropping out. Additionally, around one-third of the parents and children who dropped out mentioned family/community values (36% of parents and 35% of children) as a factor that constrained their schooling.
The prevalence of child marriage further exacerbates these challenges. Despite legal prohibitions, 8% of dropout girls cited early marriage as a reason for discontinuing their education. Parents, driven by economic hardship or cultural norms, often opted to marry off their daughters at a young age, viewing marriage as a safeguard against poverty or as a means to uphold community traditions.
Breaking the barriers
The above findings of the study reinforce the need to integrate a gender lens in all efforts to improve the accessibility and retention of secondary education. To address these challenges, systemic reforms are imperative. This includes expanding secondary and higher secondary school infrastructure, ensuring safety during commutes, reducing financial burdens through scholarships, and enhancing community awareness about educational opportunities and support mechanisms.
Easing financial liability
Since financial constraints significantly impact girls’ schooling, it is essential to streamline the scholarship provisions and entitlements, ensuring their proper utilisation. Although the Right to Education Act, 2009 provides free elementary education, secondary education incurs significant costs, disproportionately affecting marginalised households.
To ensure universal education until 18 years of age, as committed in NEP 2020, costs related to enrolment, annual school tuition fees, examination fees, uniforms, textbooks, and stationery must be reduced for marginalised children. Enhancing funds through scholarships and other incentive schemes can help reduce financial burdens and support girls’ completion of secondary education. Implementing policies and schemes that provide safer and affordable transportation, like free bicycles or public transport for students, is essential.
Increasing infrastructure
There is an urgent need for more secondary schools, particularly all-girls schools, to ensure education is accessible to all. This requires upgrading existing government schools, establishing new schools per distance norms, and recruiting human resources. Improved infrastructure, especially the availability of separate, functional, and clean toilets for girls, can significantly reduce their dropout rates.
Ensuring safe commutes through increased community engagement, local police involvement, and regular sensitisation workshops can also help. Strengthening community-based child protection institutions, such as Village Child Protection Committees (VCPCs), and providing them with adequate resources should be prioritised.
Awareness of government schemes
Effective communication and community engagement campaigns at both school and community levels are needed to raise awareness on government initiatives to promote girl child education. Printed information about schemes provided on the back covers of textbooks and conducting mandatory awareness sessions/workshops in schools can help.
Changing perceptions
There is an immediate need to scale up interventions, considering the impact of household and socio-cultural dynamics on girls’ schooling. The traditional view of girls as caregivers remains a significant barrier.
Effective dialogue with parents, community leaders, and members is necessary to raise awareness about the importance of girls completing their education. Such dialogues and sessions should be mandatory in schools. Campaigns like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, which focus on changing attitudes regarding the value of girls, must continue and expand.
CRY’s campaign: Poori Padhai Desh Ki Bhalai
Addressing and mitigating the barriers preventing girls from accessing education in India requires a multifaceted approach. To realise the promise of inclusive and quality education for all children, especially girls, a concerted effort involving government policies, community engagement, and targeted interventions is essential.
CRY has been at the forefront of this mission with its ongoing pan-India campaign, ‘Poori Padhai Desh Ki Bhalai’. This campaign underscores the importance of collective action in transforming societal attitudes and ensuring that every girl completes her secondary education.
In collaboration with 145 partner organisations, CRY launched a nationwide awareness campaign targeting 126 districts across 20 states. This initiative was strategically timed to coincide with the start of the new academic year, aiming to create a significant impact when educational decisions are being made.
As part of the campaign, CRY engaged all stakeholders—parents, teachers, community leaders, and local authorities—to address gender disparities in education and shift perceptions surrounding the value of educating girls. This collective effort has yielded remarkable results. In just three months, CRY successfully brought 1,76,060 girl children back to schools across more than 5,000 villages and slums situated in its project areas.
This achievement illustrates that with concerted efforts and timely interventions, real change is possible. By ensuring that our girls have access to higher secondary education, we are not only securing their future but also contributing to the progress and prosperity of the nation.
John Roberts is Regional Director, CRY – Child Rights and You – South.
Views expressed are the author’s own.