Knowledge Practice and Aptitude (KAP) survey Gender disparity in education

Gender equality is still a far cry in India, be it in representation in the country’s Parliament or in case of the gender ratio. This is also evident in the access of the girl child to education, as pointed out by a Knowledge Practice and Aptitude (KAP) survey recently conducted on the urban poor in the country’s five major cities.

While the dismal state of infrastructure in schools, especially separate usable toilets for girls, stands out as one of the major concerns voiced by the 450 randomly sampled households of the lower income group in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore, safety issues, both within schools and outside and attitudinal barriers emerged as other contributors towards the grossly inadequate implementation of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education for children aged between 6 and 14 years - RTE Act, 2009, even after two years of its enforcement.

Only 44 per cent schools covered under the Right To Education Act have separate functioning girls’ toilets, reveals the survey conducted by Child Rights and You (CRY) in slums across the cities.

Further, Chhattisgarh has only 20 per cent schools with usable girls’ toilets while Jammu and Kashmir (22 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (23 per cent) are placed at a marginally better position.

Even in the north-eastern states, the scenario is pathetic, with very few schools having usable toilets for girls.

Among the respondents, in Delhi and Bangalore put together, more than 40 per cent said girls face abuse on their way to school, while in the national capital alone, 48 per cent of households agreed, attributing it to unsafe transportation system, and another 33 per cent in the city saying girls face abuse in schools.

The countrywide figures for children being abused are 23.7 per cent on their way to school and 20.4 per cent abused inside schools, noted the survey, which also found that 57 per cent of the households were ignorant about the RTE Act.

While 20 per cent were unaware about child education that too free being a right, a significant 72 per cent respondents across five cities were ignorant about any scheme for girls. In Delhi, more than half of those surveyed were in this bracket.

The findings which will be submitted to the HRD Ministry, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Women and Child Development Ministry, also draws attention towards a startling shift in children’s definition, with 44 per cent of those surveyed of the opinion that one should not be considered a child if he or she can do daily chores and work to earn, with Mumbai leading at 70 per cent.

Startling facts

• Only 44% schools covered under the RTE Act that were part of the CRY survey have separate functioning girls’ toilets
• 37% urban poor believe girls should be married between 16 and 18 years
• As per a recent CAG report, while 40% children (6-14 years) are still out of school, in urban India, 66.7% girls complete schooling as opposed to 80.3% boys
• Literacy among females is just 53.87%. About one-third of girls drop out of school due to early marriage, distance to schools, lack of separate toilets, lack of female teachers, for safety reasons and in order to take care of siblings