- Sat, 31 Jul, 2010, 2:35 am -

|| Jyoti Sonia Dhan ||
The recent Free Compulsory Education and Right to Education Bill passed by Parliament are on the implementation. This Bill allows the children from 6-14 years of age to go school which is the fundamental right of a child. There are many programme run by Government of India to ensure the girl child to school like (SSA) Sarva Shikhsa Abhiyan, Early childhood education and care, NPEGEL National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya. These programme attracted girl children to school, and were accompanied by incentives.

There are some of the current Human Development Index during the mid term evaluation of the Tenth five year plan in relation to girl child as captured by Ministry of Women and the Child Development shows that the literacy rate is 53.67% of girls as compare to boys which is 72.26%. The gross drop out rates among the girls says that 34% are drop by the time when they reach class V. The major reason behind is the workload within and outside the house hold. The daughters are kept at home as because the social and economic value of the girl is not recognized.

In spite of all these programme there is less retention of girls after 11 years. As the girls reaches class V, they are drop out. There are innumerable reason behind it the common among is the distant of the school from the villages. The parents do not want to send their daughter to distant school. Besides, the adolescent girls are the helper at the household chores which prevent them from school going. The parent’s sensitivity towards the girl child education is less. It is more so a gender biasness were son is preferred more in going school as compared to girls leaving behind in home to do the house chores and looking after the siblings.

The voluntary organization and the non governmental organization has tried their level best to institutionalized the free education for girls in school, which had focused on the development programme by the government to increase the retention in school.

The alarming concern which had emerged in spite of all these programmes and initiatives is drop out. This drop out is due to early marriage. The parents prefer to marry of their daughter early so that they do not have to pay huge dowry even she is at 18 years of age. This had surely promoted child marriages but the reason behind is dowry. One of the voluntary organizations Jago Foundation at Giridih, Jharkhand is working on to stop the child marriages shows the different trends in drop out of girls. Mrs Kiran a women activist says that there is demand of more dowry when the girl is older so the parents prefer to marry off their daughter at low dowry in tender age of 12 years. She even narrated that qualified bride is low demand in the rural areas.

The second alarming reason of drop out is the girls eloping with their male friends. The society in which girls are kept in a close custody and small wrong doing by girl is considered as a big crime, elopements create tension among the parents. They think of the repute and honour in the village. This created the parents to stop sending their daughters to school after 11years. The parents raises question to Mrs Kiran that “on one hand you are asking girls to go school and then these girls run away why we will send them to school.” These are some of the queries which arise in the intervention area.
These are the new issues which were emerging in the area and of course Jago Foundation is deriving some strategy towards it. There is need to work in all level, the sensitization does not only include a particular group the parents for sending their daughter it also includes the adolescent groups who should put prior importance to education than falling into trap by elopement.
Above all the social issues still lies like poverty and dowry which are key instrumental in drop out from school. They threw girls into girl trafficking and maternal mortality death. How a society can create conducive environment to these girls. It should be the collective efforts from the entire stakeholder in the society who can provide secure environment for girl.

- Writer is a social worker.