Role of Higher Education in women empowerment
Introduction
Higher Education enables Women to fix themselves up in the society
into which they have found themselves. It equips individuals with the ability
that will enable them to explore the world, manipulate it for their survival and
establish themselves. Potentials deposited in individuals are exposed through
Higher education so that individuals can acquire training and knowledge in a
profession and higher education enables women to cultivate confidence, good
habits and develop the right attitude to work and life as good citizens.
Higher Education is one of the most important means of empowering
women with the knowledge, skills, and self-confidence necessary to participate
fully in the development process. Higher educational provide opportunities to
women to fulfill their needs. These needs comprise both essential learnings
tools (such as literacy, oral expression, numeracy, and problem-solving) and the
basic learning content such as knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes required
by human beings to be able to survive, to develop their full capacities, to
live and work in dignity, to participate fully in the development, to improve the
quality of their lives, to make informed decision making and to continue
learning.
During the last seven decades since independence, there has been
phenomenal development of the education system in India resulting in the creation
of one of the largest education systems of the world. After independence,
higher education sector attracted greater attention of the native government
then elementary and secondary education sector. university education commission
(1948), the first commission in education set up by the government of free India,
laid special emphasis on the education of women and recommendations that in
view of the similar field of activity for men and women and some specific
requirement of women maximum facilities should be given for education in home
economics and home management. Higher education was recognized as a powerful
instrument of socioeconomic advancement of the society in general and a vehicle
for upward social mobility for deprived and marginalized sections in particular.
India has the third-largest higher education system in the world. The
deprived sections of the society, especially women, have had limited access to
higher education. In India, there are gender-based educational disparities among
various social sections with special reference to caste and religious
affiliations. The government of India has been making concerted efforts since
independence for bridging the socioeconomic gap between the male and female
populations in society though there has been a considerable relative improvement.
Education, especially higher education, has been recognized as a great
equalizer and a powerful tool of upward social mobility capable of being used
for reducing socioeconomic disparities and building an inclusive society.
Women education:
“If you educate a man you educate an individual, however, if you
educate a woman you educate a whole family. Women empowered means mother India
empowered”. P.T. JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
India is poised to emerge as one of the most developed nations by
2020, more literate, knowledgeable and economically at the forefront. No doubt,
women will play a vital role in contributing to the country's development.
Women's power is crucial to the economic growth of any country. In India, this is
yet to meet the requirements despite
Reforms, little has been achieved in the area of women
empowerment, but for this to happen, this sector must experience a chain of
reform. Though India could well become one of the largest economics in the
world, it is being hindered due to a lack of women’s participation.
History of women education in India
Although in the Vedic period women had access to
education in India, they had gradually lost this right. However, in the British
period, there was a revival of interest in women's education in India. During this
period, various socio-religious movements led by eminent persons like Raja Ram
Mohan Roy, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar emphasized women's education in India.
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Periyar, and Baba Saheb Ambedkar were leaders of the
lower castes in India who took various initiatives to make education available
to the women of India. However, women's education got a fillip after the
country got independence in 1947 and the government has taken various measures
to provide education to all Indian women. As a result, women's literacy rate
has grown over the six decades and the growth of female literacy has in fact
been higher than that of the male literacy rate.
Higher education in India:
The government initiative for the planned
development of higher education in the country and Establishment of University
Grants Commission has transformed the elitist system of education. Favoring the
rich and higher class to a more democratic and mass-based system. Around 40
percent of enrolment now comers from lower socio-economic strata, and women
comprising of approximately 35 percent of the total enrolments.
Higher education is therefore very important to
national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right and as a
source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy. Higher
education improves an individual's quality of life. Studies show that, compared
to high school graduates, college graduates have longer life spans, better
access to health care, better dietary and health practices, greater economic
stability and security, more prestigious employment and greater job satisfaction,
less dependency on government assistance, greater knowledge of government,
greater community service and leadership, more volunteer work, more
self-confidence, and less criminal activity and incarceration. In addition,
college graduates supposedly have greater use of seatbelts, more continuing
education, greater Internet access, greater attendance at live performances,
greater participation in leisure and artistic activities, more book purchases,
and higher voting rates. As an aside, I have to admit that I was amazed at some
of these items--not that I found them, but that someone actually researched
this stuff and thought some of the items were enviable. Higher education,
theoretically, will also enable individuals to expand their knowledge and
skills, express their thoughts clearly in speech and in writing, grasp abstract
concepts and theories, and increase their understanding of the world and their
community.
The Role of Higher Education in the Empowerment
of Women:
To be involved in the dialogue about education
systems around the world today is to understand and articulate the key role
played by higher education. Through higher education flow of the ideology,
values, and culture of a nation, state, and its people. Misinformation and
constricted learning behaviors that women internalize can also be filtered
through higher education.
Women education in India plays a very important
role in the overall development of the country. It not only helps in the
development of half of the human resources but in improving the quality of
life at home and outside. Educated women not only tend to promote the education of their girl children but also can provide
better guidance to all their children. Moreover, educated women can also help
in the reduction of infant mortality rate and the growth of the population.
Importance of women higher education in India
"Higher Education is one of the most
important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills, and
self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development
process."
·
Higher
Education is important for everyone, but it is especially significant for girls
and women. This is true not only because Higher education is an entry point to
other opportunities, but also because the Higher educational achievements of
women can have ripple effects within the family and across generations.
Investing in girls' education is one of the most effective ways to reduce
poverty.
·
Girls
who have been Higher education are likely to marry later and to have smaller
and healthier families. Educated women can recognize the importance of health
care and know-how to seek it for themselves and their children.
·
Women’s
literacy rates are significantly lower than men’s in most developing countries.
Higher Education helps girls and women to know their rights and to gain the confidence to claim them and achieve a better position in society.
·
The
Higher education of parents is linked to their children's educational
attainment, and the mother's education is usually more influential than the
father's. An educated mother's greater influence in household negotiations may
allow her to secure more resources for her children.
·
India
is a developing country and facing a problem of high population, family
planning is a very important concept, educated mothers, averaging fewer children,
can concentrate more attention on each child.
Conclusion: higher education is one of the most important means of empowering
women with the knowledge, skills, and self-confidence necessary. Participate
fully in the development process. “Empowerment means moving from a weak
position to execute a power.” Higher Education of women is the most powerful
tool to change the women's position in society and very much helpful for making the right decision and becoming a stronger part of the economy. Higher Education also
brings a reduction in inequalities and functions as a means of improving their
status within the family. For reducing gender biases, encouraging women to
make society and to become the strongest part of the economy.