A Comparative Studyof the Exclusionofgirl Child In School Education in India and Punjab

Abstract

Exclusion in education takes into account “out-of-school children” or “dropouts” as well as all those who have never been to school and also those who are not in a position to attend school regularly. This study was conducted to assess the growth of literacy and enrolment trends of children in school education in terms of gender and caste in India and Punjab with special reference to rural areas. The dropout situation was also studied among children especially girls in school education and reasons for exclusion of children were also explored. Trends in educational indicators were analysed using qualitative as well as quantitative methods. Comparative analysis of literacy rates of India and Punjab revealed that Punjab has a higher literacy rate than India though India and Punjab both show increasing trends in the literacy rate. The number of females was found to be more illiterate than the males in both rural and urban areas of India. One out of every five males and one out of every three females in the country were found to be illiterate. These differentials in literacy rates are comparatively more pronounced in the districts falling in the Malwa belt of Punjab. In terms of enrolment, it was observed that the total enrolment was found to be higher at the primary stage. Enrolment was found to be comparatively lesser at upper primary stage. The secondary level had least enrolment. The percentage of never enrolled children was found to be higher than out of school and dropped-out children. The comparison of figures of Punjab with national figures indicated that the percentage of never enrolled children was higher in Punjab than national figures. Larger number of children from urban areas (4.77%) were found to be out of school than children from rural areas in Punjab. Out of school females (3.25%) were more than males (1.58%) and the percentage was much higher for rural areas than urban areas in Punjab. These values were even more than national figures. Therefore, the study concluded that a large number of girls especially from rural areas are still excluded from school education in Punjab.