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Journalism of Courage
— Rituparna Patgiri
Malala Day, celebrated on July 12, honours the bravery of Malala Yousafzai who has become a symbol of the fight for girls’ education. Her fight began when she stood up against the Taliban in Pakistan and advocated for girls’ right to education. A Taliban gunman shot her on October 9, 2012, for not following restrictions on girls’ education.
However, following her recovery, she continued her fight for girls’ education. Her story continues to inspire global efforts to ensure equitable and inclusive education. Malala Day serves as a timely occasion to revisit girls’ education in India, specifically in light of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which is largely seen as a transformative step in the country’s education system
The NEP, which replaced the National Education Policy of 1986, gives a comprehensive framework for both school and higher education. The objective is to make India’s education more inclusive, equitable, holistic, multidisciplinary and flexible.
It reflects India’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. It also aims to address existing gender inequalities through its provisions. This is in alignment with SDG 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The primary focus areas of NEP 2020 with respect to gender are access and equity, curriculum and infrastructure building and gender sensitisation.
When it comes to school education, India has made significant strides in girls’ enrollment after the enactment of the Right to Education Act of 2009. According to the report titled The Indian Economy: A Review released by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in January 2024, the female gross enrollment ratio (GER) in higher education increased from 6.7 per cent in 2000-01 to 27.9 per cent in 2020-21. The same report also suggests that more girls are in higher education than boys now.
But school dropout rates remain a concern. According to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE), in 2021–22, 12.6 per cent of students dropped out of secondary education (9–10 class), 3 per cent from upper primary (6–8 class), and 1.5 per cent from primary education (1–5 class). Notably, the average dropout rate for girls in primary school is 1.4 per cent, while in upper primary, it is 3.3 per cent, and in secondary school, it is 12.3 per cent.
The NEP 2020 aims to address dropout rates by targeting a 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030. As part of this effort, the government plans to create a Gender Inclusion Fund (GIF), which will be available to states for building inclusive, safe, and hygienic infrastructures, such as hostels and toilets, in schools. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs), residential schools for girls from classes 6 to 12, will be expanded to increase participation in schools for girls from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Moreover, girls have been identified as one of the four Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) who require special protection. Women make up about half of all the SEDGs, cutting across caste, class and religion. To incentivise their school education, measures such as Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and transportation support like bicycles have been proposed to reduce dropout rates and retain girls in schools.
Notably, the NEP also includes transgenders within this category. However, additional concrete measures for girls from marginalised communities, as well as transgender students, are needed in view of their higher dropout rates.
The NEP also talks about sensitisation of faculty, counsellors and students on issues of gender. But it needs to be extended to families to bridge the gap between parents and girls. In many cases, families do not realise the importance of education for girls and unknowingly engage them in carework and other household chores. As such, families need to be better sensitised about the significance of education for girls, as well as promoting ideas of gender equity.
The NEP recognises gender sensitivity as an essential skill for all students and promotes gender equality as an integral part of the curriculum. However, measures such as placing greater emphasis on building a gender-sensitive curriculum, incorporating sex education and menstrual health in school education, and spreading awareness among girls, particularly in rural areas, about their legal, financial and digital rights are crucial for enabling them to become self-reliant.
While NEP 2020 encourages online education, it falls short in addressing the gendered digital divide. As per the 2019-20 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), only one in three women (33 per cent) have ever used the internet, compared to 57 per cent of men. The gap becomes wider in rural areas, where 49 per cent of men have used the internet compared to 25 per cent of women.
This digital divide is an obstacle to ensuring equitable access to online learning for girls and women. To address this disparity, the availability of computers, mobile phones and internet facilities at both institutional and individual levels needs to be ensured by the government so that women and girls have an equal chance to access and benefit from online education.
The NEP also asks governments to take steps to enhance gender balance in admissions to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). To support this, trained social workers, counsellors and teachers will have to mediate between parents and HEIs, facilitating women’s education at the higher levels. It is also necessary to focus on building government-run HEIs in small towns and cities, as families are often apprehensive about sending women to far-off places for education.
Moreover, some other measures are significant to facilitate the entry of women into higher education and improve the gender balance, including:
— Ensuring safe infrastructural facilities in HEIs like toilets and child care
— Institutional and legal mechanisms to address grievances of sexual harassment
— Provision of medical care and counselling
— Strict implementation of anti-ragging and anti-sexual exploitation measures through dedicated units.
In addition, more representation of women in educational leadership and policy-making is also required. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024-25 highlights that women constitute 62.4 per cent of primary school teachers in India. But only 42.1 per cent of secondary school principals and 28.6 per cent of higher secondary school principals are women.
At the higher education level, the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE 2022-23) reports that women make up 45.8 per cent of faculty. But only 31.2 per cent of them are in leadership roles, such as deans or vice-chancellors. These figures show that women continue to face structural and institutional barriers to breaking the glass ceiling.
While the NEP 2020 emphasises children’s health, it is equally important to ensure special care for girls. According to the NFHS-5, the prevalence of anaemia is 67.1 per cent for young girls (6–59 months). The anaemia rate among adolescent girls (15–19 years) is 59.1 per cent. This means that girls need better nutritional care in schools, especially in the midday meal. Girls often experience disproportionate nutritional stress because of gendered food habits, early marriage, pregnancy and the impact of menstrual health.
Gender equality is seen as a cross-cutting priority to be achieved within the NEP 2020. However, structural resistance to gender equity is rooted in families and societies. Therefore, effective implementation of the NEP on the ground would require sustained engagement with non-governmental agencies and communities.
To institutionalise gender sensitivity, modules on gender need to be included in the curriculum of teacher education programmes. Within the school curriculum, emphasis on stories of women from diverse fields, such as science, mathematics, arts, literature, sports, would be yet another step in the right direction.
Normalising women as role models from across communities is also essential. For these to happen, women should also be a part of the syllabus revision committees. While the NEP 2020 advocates for gender equity, only proper execution will make it a reality.
Why is the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 seen as a transformative step in India’s education system? Analyse its key objectives.
Why does school drop out rate, particularly among girls, remain a persisting concern? How does NEP 2020 seek to address this?
How does gendered digital divide hinder equitable access to education? How does the implementation of online education initiatives under NEP 2020 address it?
Is it important to include families in gender sensitisation efforts under NEP 2020?
What are the effective ways to overcome structural and societal barriers that continue to prevent women from entering leadership positions in education?
(Rituparna Patgiri is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati.)
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