Skip to main content

Gujarat's 22% rural girls fail to attend school, worse than all states, including UP, Bihar: Govt of India report

By Rajiv Shah
A Government of India (GoI) report, released recently, has found that, despite much hype around girl child education through Kanya Kalavani Mahotsav – the annual school enrolment event launched by Narendra Modi as chief minister in Gujarat way back 2004 – the “model” state’s rural girls fare worse among all 21 major Indian states in schooling.
Based on a survey of all Indian districts (640 as per 2011 Census), the data in the report reveal that Gujarat’s 77.9% rural girls in the age group 6-17 attended school in 2014-15 and 2015-16, the years of the survey. This is worse than any other state, with Uttar Pradesh faring the next better. While the best performer is Kerala (97.7%), all so-called Bimaru states perform better than Gujarat.
The percentage of rural girls attending schools, for instance, is 82.9% in Jharkhand, 82.3% in Bihar, 81.1% in Odisha, 80.2% in Odisha, 79.9% in Madhya Pradesh, 79% in Rajasthan, and 78.5% in Uttar Pradesh – the states known for their allegedly poor economic performance.
The data form part of the final report of the National Family Health Survey, 2015-16 (NFHS-4), released last month by the Government of India. The aim of collecting education-related data, it says, is to provide “a context for interpreting demographic and health indicators” across India.
Apart from school attendance, the report also provides information on drinking water, sanitation, exposure to smoke inside the home, wealth, hand washing, composition of the household population, educational attainment, birth registration, children’s living arrangements, and parental survivorship.
Gujarat’s ranking is not just poorest for school attendance of rural girls; it is equally bad for urban girls in the age group 6-17. Thus, the report reveals that 82.2% of urban girls attended school during the two survey periods, 2014-15 and 2015-16, which is worse among all 21 major Indian states, with the sole exception of Assam (77.3%).
The best performer here again in Kerala, with 97% urban girls attending school, with all other so-called Bimaru states, with the exception of Odisha, performing better than Gujarat, including Rajasthan 87.7%, Chhattisgarh 85.4%, Bihar 85.2%, Jharkhand 83.8%, Uttar Pradesh 83.2%, and Madhya Pradesh 82.3%.
The figures have been arrived at, says the report, by ascertaining the total number of children attending primary and secondary school, divided by the official school age population at both the levels. The survey finds that, across India, 85% of children in the age group 6-17 attended school, including pre-primary.
Interestingly, Gujarat’s average, rural plus urban, of those attending school comes to 81.2% (85.3% boys and 78.4% girls).
All India average
The report further says, “Almost all (95%) males and females age 6-10 attend school, including pre-primary school. This percentage decreases to 88 percent for children age 11-14 and then drops further to 63 percent for children age 15-17.”
It adds, “There is almost no difference in school attendance by males and females at age 6-14, but males are more likely than females to attend school at age 15-17 (67% versus 60%). Urban-rural differentials in school attendance are minimal at age 6-10, but widen at older ages.”
While there is no state-wise breakup, the report finds that “attendance in the lowest wealth quintile is 52 percent for girls and 55 percent for boys, compared with 80 percent for girls and 81 percent for boys in the highest wealth quintile.”

Comments

Uma said…
Pramod Mahajan said India is shining but it did not. Modi said Gujarat is shining but it appears that it is not. What is going to happen now?
Anonymous said…
Greetings! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers
and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us useful information to work on.
You have done a outstanding job!

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

'Very low rung in quality ladder': Critique of ICMR study on 'sudden deaths' post-2021

By Bhaskaran Raman*  Since about mid-2021, a new phenomenon of extreme concern has been observed throughout the world, including India : unexplained sudden deaths of seemingly healthy and active people, especially youngsters. In the recently concluded Navratri garba celebrations, an unprecedented number of young persons succumbed to heart attack deaths. After a long delay, ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) has finally has published a case-control study on sudden deaths among Indians of age 18-45.

'Pro-corporate agenda': Odisha crackdown on tribal slum dwellers fighting for land rights

By Our Representative  The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as condemning what it calls “brutal repression” on the Adivasi slum dwellers of Salia Sahi in Bhubaneshwar by the Odisha police, has said that the crackdown was against the tribals struggling for land rights in order to “stop the attempts at land-grab by the government.”

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.