EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN WEST BENGAL
Year: 2017

Literacy is considered as one of the indicators of educational development of a nation and an essential but necessary step towards education. Literacy can also help in the development of human civilization through reducing poverty, ignorance, exclusion, etc..The present study has examine the educational status of women in west Bengal with respect in India of various governmental CencusReport(1951 2011).According to 2011 cencus reports the women literacy rate in india 65.46% 71.16% in west Bengal, So the women literacy rate in west Bengal is satisfactory position with respect in India, also the male female gender gap has been decrease. As per census 2011,the total literacy rate in West Bengal has grown from 68.64% in 2001 to 77.08% in 2011. PurbaMedinipur has the highest literacy rate of 87.66% in West Bengal.The position of West Bengal has always been higher than the all India average; and West Bengal ranks the sixth among major states in this regard. But until the last decade, the improvement in literacy has been relatively slow in the state, especially for women. As a result, according to the Census, the Literacy rate of female in West Bengal has increased from 36.56 in 1981 to 46.56 in 1991 and to 60.22 in 2001 and to 71.16 in 2011 regarding female literacy in India. The trend of female literacy rate in West Bengal has been increased, this is the highest improvement for women literacy rate in West Bengal. Women, Literacy Rate,Cencus report, West Bengal.  "If you educate a man you educate an individual, however, if you educate a woman you educate a whole family. Women empowered means mother Indian Empowered" JAWAHARLAL NEHRU Women in any nation are the mirror of its civilization. They are the most precious part of the society The position of Women in society is the index of the standard of social organization. There is no chance for the welfare of the World, unless the condition of Women is improved. In fact, the status offamily or country has not risen where there is no esteem for women, where they live in sadness. But actually, their social, economic and political status is lower than that of men in almost all countries of the world, of course women enjoyeda better position in some societies than in another, but their overall position everywhere is lower than their male counterparts in regards to education, employment, political participation, health status etc. The constitution of India not only provides for equal rights and privileges for women and men but also for making special provision for women. A series of social legislations have been enacted from time to time for raising the status of women in the country.After independence differentfive year plans have consistently placed special emphasis on providing minimum health facilities integrated with family welfare and nutrition for women and children, acceleration of women's education, their increase in the labour force and welfare service for women in need. Various welfare and development schemes have been introduced to improve the living condition of women and to increase their access to and control over material and social resources. Special step has been taken to remove legal, social and other constraints to enable them to make use of the rights and new opportunities becoming available for them. Women in India now participate in all activities such as education, politics, media, art and culture, service sector, science and technology, etc. Inspiteof all these development measures and the constitutional legal guarantees; women have (c) 2017 JETIR November 2017, Volume 4, Issue 11 www.jetir.org (ISSN 2349 5162)  www.jetir.org 929 lagged behind men in almost all sectors.In this context, researchers have been selected to study the literacy status of women in West Bengal.  The present study was undertaken to achieve the following objectives To study the position of West Bengal regarding female literacy in India. To study the trend of female literacy rate in West Bengal. To compare the growth of female literacy between West Bengal and India. To study the trend of the Gender Gap of female literacy in West Bengal. To compare the growth of female literacy between rural and urban area in West Bengal. To study the literacy status of scheduled Castes scheduled Tribe in West Bengal. To make a comparison between district wise literacy rate of women in 2001 and 2011  What is the position of West Bengal regarding female literacy in India? What is the trend offemale literacy in West Bengal? Is there any disparity in growth of female literacy in West Bengal and in India? What is a gender gap of women's literacy in Best Bengal? Is there any disparity in the growth of female literacy between rural and urban area in West Bengal? What is the growth rate of Schedule Caste Women Literacy rate in West Bengal? What is the growth rate of Schedule Tribe Women Literacy rate in West Bengal? What is the present status of various districts in W.B regarding female literacy rate?  Documentary studies constitute an important approach in social science research. In this study, documentary analysis has been followed. So the study is documentary nature. It is based on official documents and secondary data. The conclusion made in the study was based on Secondary sources like books,the Journal reports, Census reports etc. Concept of Literacy: Literacy is traditionally meant as the ability to read and write. In modern time meaning of the term has been expanded to include the ability to use language,numbers,images,computers, and other basic means to understand, communicate,gain useful knowledge,solve mathematical problems and use the dominant symbol system of a culture. The UNESCO defines literacy as the ability to identify,understand,interpret,create,communicate and compute,using printed and written materials associated with varying context. According to Census report a person aged seven and above, who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate. A person, who can only read but cannot write, is not literate. In the Censuses prior to 1991, children below five years of age were necessarily treated as illiterates.The age limit was raised to 7 years based on the advice of experts that the ability to read and write with understanding is not ordinarily achieved until that age. It was, therefore decided at the 1991 Census that all children in the age group 0 6, would be treated as illiterate by definition and the population aged seven years and above only would be classified as literate or illiterate. Same criterion has been retained in the Censuses of 2001 and 2011. It should be clearly understood that it is not necessary that to be treated as literate, a person should have received any formal education or acquired any minimum educational standard.  Since literacy rate is more meaningful if the sub population in the age group 0 6 is excluded from the total population, it was decided in 1991 to calculate literacy rate for the population seven years and above. The same concept has been retained in all Censuses since 1991. The literacy rate taking into account the total population in the denominator has now been termed as 'crude literacy rate' while the literacy rate calculated taking into account the 7 and above population in the denominator is called the effective literacy rate. !e formula for computing crude literacy rate and effective literacy rate are as follows: CrudeLiteracyRate Number of literate persons X 100 Total Population EffectiveLiteracyRate Number of literate persons aged 7 and above X 100 Population aged 7 and above Importance of Female Literacy: Female literacy can considered to be a more sensitive index of social development to overall literacy rates. Female literacy is relatively related with fertility rates, population growth, in font and child mortality rates and shows a positive association with female age at marriage, life expectancy, participation in modern sector of economic activities and above all female enrolment. Female Literacy is vital to build a foundation on which their societies can grow. The importance of female literacy from social and economic point of views are manyFemale Literacy Contributes to Economic Growth: Investing in the education of girls is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty. By one estimate, countries that do not meet the MGD target of gender parity in education are at risk of foregoing 0.1 to 0.3 percentage points actually in per capita economic growth. Literate mothers increase human capital through their influence in the health, education and nutrition for children: Daughters of literate mother are more likely to attend school. A mother's education also translates into higher immunization rates and better nutrition for her children both of which increase enrolment and improve school performance. Every year of mother's education corresponds to 5 to 10 percent lower mortality rates in children under the age of five. Improves family's economic prospects by improving female's qualification and skills: As better educated women participate in paid employment, families enjoy higher income and overall productivity increases. In rural economics, the education of women and girls may translate into higher agricultural production. Improves reproductive Health: Literate women are more likely to seek adequate parental care, skilled attendance during child birth and to use contraception.