The Hindu : A bitter sweet scenario for girls

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 31, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

A bitter sweet scenario for girls

By Nagesh Prabhu

BANGALORE MAY 30. It may come as a surprise but the fact is that despite the good performance of girls in SSLC, CBSE, and PU examinations, the female literacy in some of the districts of the State is below the national average of 50 per cent.

This could be because women, particularly girls, face a lot of difficulties as they grow up, and most of the adversities girls face are socially constructed and have nothing to do with inborn traits.

In this year's SSLC examination, girls (59.08 per cent) fared better than boys (53.28 per cent). Last year also, girls performed better than boys in SSLC and PU examinations.

Girls are doing better than boys in other States as well. In Andhra Pradesh (50.15 per cent girls and 44.17 per cent boys) and Tamil Nadu (79.80 per cent girls and 70.60 per cent boys) the pass percentage of girls is higher than boys in Plus Two examination. In the secondary examination in Kerala this year, of the 14 top five rankers, there is only is only one boy.

According to the 2001 Census, the female literacy in Gulbarga (38.40 per cent), Raichur (36.84 per cent), Koppal (40.76 per cent), Chamararajanagar (43.02 per cent), Bagalkot (44.10 per cent), Bijapur (46.19 per cent) and Bellary (46.16 per cent) districts is below the national average. In this year's SSLC results, most of the North Karnataka districts fared badly. The pass percentage was below the State average (55.97 per cent) in Gulbarga (43.33 per cent), Koppal (47.14 per cent), Gadag (47.16 per cent), and Raichur (49.08 per cent) districts, and Yadgir (43.53 per cent).

The districts with the highest female literacy performed better in SSLC examination. Female literacy in Dakshina Kannada is 77.39 per cent and in Udupi it is 74.02 per cent, and they secured first and second positions in SSLC results.

A majority of north Karnataka districts also suffer from a high growth rate of population. The mean age of marriage is between 16 and 18 years, which contributed to high fertility and low literacy among women.

Education experts point out that the biggest challenge for improving female literacy is not just ensuring that girls enrol in primary schools but making efforts to guarantee that they complete their school education.

Recently, under the "Baa Marali Shalege" programme, the Education Department brought back to school 2,23,812 dropouts and children who had never been to school. A large number of dropouts has been reported from districts such as Raichur, Gulbarga, and Koppal.

According to the National Human Development Report (2001) brought out by the Planning Commission, 8.8 per cent of children in the 5 to 11 age group are out of school and employed in different sectors. To reduce the dropout rate, the Government has decided to extend the midday meal scheme to schools in all districts.

M.D. Usha of the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, argues that headlines in newspapers such as "Girls outshine boys" referred to girls in cities and towns and who generally come from the upper strata of society. Girls are housebound whereas boys are involved in too many activities which tend to disturb their studies. "Girls are sincere, hardworking, and committed," she added.

The boys are always lost in the crowd as they come from different strata of society. But the "in-built social system" provides fewer opportunities for girls to pursue higher studies and professional courses, Dr. Usha says.

Many social factors are also at work. Girls generally work harder, particularly in school, because they have to prove that they can do as well if not better than boys. Girls are more focused about their studies whereas boys try too many things such as appearing for competitive examinations, experts point out.

Answer scripts of girls also look more impressive because of good handwriting and subheads whereas it is shabby in the case of boys, they say.

Dr. Usha says that a majority of girls lose interest in the later stages when they realise that despite high marks and good education, their parents are more keen on their marriage.

For boys, such a situation does not arise. In families that are well off, boys tend to be complacent as they are sure that irrespective of their performance in the examinations they will inherit the family business or property. However, the determination to score high marks in SSLC or PU examinations is present only among those boys whose parents are professionals and who believe that they have to count on their own skills to get ahead.

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A bitter sweet scenario for girls