Lok Sabha Question No. 3754 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-19
Subject: Gender Issues in Education
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, P.R. SUNDARAM, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3754 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.03.2018

## Gender issues in Education

## 3754. Dr. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

SHRI P.R. SUNDARAM: SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE: DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT: SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware that the educational sector in the country is facing massive gender issues;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the present educational system in the country is continuing traditional kind of gender education and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(d) whether there are many hurdles in education of under-privileged sections of society like women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities currently; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (DR. SATYA PAL SINGH)

(a) and (b) : Yes Madam. The Government is aware of the gender related issues in the education system. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for boys and girls at secondary level for 2015-16 is 79.16 and 80.97 respectively. The GER for boys and girls at higher secondary stage for 2015-16 is 55.95 and 56.41 respectively. As per All India Survey on Higher Education (2016-17), the GER in Higher Education in India is 25.2%  and female GER is 24.5%. This shows that there is no massive gender gap in education at the secondary, higher secondary and higher education levels. To address low female enrolment in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), it has been decided to increase female enrolment in IITs (in B.Tech. programme) from 8% in 2016 to 14% in 2018-19, 17% in 2019-20 and 20% in 2020-21 by creating supernumerary seats.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had conducted gender audit in the year 2014-15 and 2015-16 and found  that  there  are  certain  gender  issues  including  cases  of  sexual  harassment  inside  the  educational institutions. The UGC has taken various steps to address the issue of sexual harassment in institutions of higher learning. Directions have been issued by UGC to all universities to establish a Cell to monitor and deal with sexual harassment cases. The institutions of higher learning have been advised to hold conferences, seminars, workshops to sensitize the management and teachers and students about the issue. UGC has further reiterated its policy of zero tolerance with regard to harassment of any kind in the institutions of higher education and notified UGC (Prevention, prohibition and redressal of sexual harassment of women employees and students in higher educational institutions) Regulations, 2015.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has also written to Centrally Funded Higher  Education  Institutions  (CFHEIs)  for  formation  of  Internal  Complaints  Committee  (ICC)  to  address the complaints of the students and women employees.

(c) to (f) :  Gender sensitization is a continuous process and the MHRD has been addressing it on priority. The National  Curriculum  Framework  (NCF)  2005  prioritizes  gender  as  an  important  guiding  principle  in  all curricular areas and stipulates that gender be an integral part of all disciplines offered to children at school stage. Gender concerns have been integrated in the curriculum and textbooks drawn up by the National Council of Education Research & Training (NCERT) which are widely used by the schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and also in several State Governments.

Government has taken several measures to increase the  enrollment of Women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities in higher education. MHRD is implementing the Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students wherein 50% of the scholarship is earmarked for girl students. The UGC is implementing several schemes/ scholarships/ measures for SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer),  Minorities  Community  students  and  women  through  special  coaching  schemes,  remedial  coaching, coaching for National eligibility Test (NET) / State Eligibility Test (SET), coaching classes for entry in services, Equal  Opportunity  Cells  in  Universities/Colleges,  construction  of  women  hostels,  the  capacity  building  of women managers in higher education scheme, the Indira Gandhi post graduate scholarship scheme for single girl child  and  a  fellowship  for  single  girl  child  for  taking  up  research  in  science  departments,  the  Rajiv  Gandhi National Fellowship for SC/ST Candidates, the Post-Doctoral Fellowship to women candidates. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched the Scholarship scheme for girl child (PRAGATI) to provide assistance for advancement of girls participation in Technical Education.

Bridging gender and social category gaps in elementary education is one of the major goals of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Consequently, SSA attempts to reach out to girls and children belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), notified Minority communities. SSA has also given attention to urban deprived children, children affected by periodic migration, and children living in remote and scattered habitations.

The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abihiyan (RMSA) scheme envisages enhancing the enrolment for classes IX-X by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance of every habitation, improving quality of education  imparted  at  secondary  level  through  making  all  secondary  schools  conform  to  prescribed  norms, removal of gender, social-economic and disability barriers. RMSA further takes steps for improving enrolment and reducing dropout of girls which includes provision of learning enhancement programme for weak students, enrolment  and  retention  drives,  guidance  and  counseling  programmes,  self-defence  training  for  girl  students, provision  of  separate  toilets  for  girls,  residential  quarters  for  female  teachers  in  remotely  located  area,  etc. National scheme of incentive to girls for Secondary Education provides Rs. 3000 which is deposited in the name of eligible unmarried girls below 16 years and entitled to withdraw it along with interest on reaching 18 years of age and after passing class X. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has launched a scheme 'Udaan' to provide free online resources to girl student of class XI and XII for preparation of admission test for the premier engineering colleges in the country.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJ&E) and Ministry of Tribal Affairs also have scholarship schemes for SC/ST students like Pre-matric Scholarship for SC (IX & X), Post-Matric scholarship for SC/ST students, Central Sector Scholarship Scheme of Top class Education for SC/ST students and National Overseas Scholarship  for  SC/ST  students,  National  fellowship  for  Schedule  Caste  Students,  Scheme  for  strengthening education among ST girls in a low literacy Districts, Centrally sponsored scheme of hostels for ST boys and ST girls.  MSJ&E  has  taken  several  measures  to  increase  the  enrollment  of  OBC  Students  such  as  Pre-Matric Scholarship to the OBCs, Post-Matric Scholarship to the OBCs, Construction of Hostel for OBC boys and girls, assistance to Voluntary Organizations for the Welfare of OBCs, National Fellowship for OBCs, Dr. Ambedkar Central  Sector  Scheme  of  Interest  Subsidy  on  Educational  Loans  for  Overseas  Studies  for  Other  Backward Classes  (OBCs)  and  Economically  Backward  Classes  (EBCs)  and  Dr.  Ambedkar  Scheme  of  Post-Matric Scholarship for EBC Students.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs also provide opportunities to different minority communities like scholarship schemes  under  pre-matric, post-matric and Merit-cum-Means  based  scholarship schemes  for Minority Communities,  Maulana  Azad  National  Fellowship  for  Minority  Students  and  Nai-Roshni  -  The  leadership Development of Minority Women.