Women Empowerment and Education

INTRODUCTION

The western education which was imparted to them made aware that they were one in all the 2 wheels of the life-cart which they were also key persons within the family. They began to grasp that an all-round development of them, up to men, was necessary for the expansion and prosperity of the state. The trendy women have realized now that they need a personality of their own as a personality's being which their mission in life doesn't end with becoming merely a wife and a decent mother but also in realizing that they're also a member of the civic community. Thus, the modern women don't seem to be having a passive life. They prepared to precise and show their individuality in various walks of life. Education may be a catalytic agent for social change. Changes in life and position of women are greatly accelerated by the spread of education. As a result, women organizations and a powerful women‟s movement passed. Many greatest women emerged within the scene. Among them Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi, Panditha Rama Bai, Rama Bai Ranade, Madam Cama and Toru Dutt were prominent. As a result of education, women‟s economic horizon expanded considerably and that they have begun to feel that they need to earn their own living. They made their first response to the decision for teachers. Over hundred year‟s age in self, they took this profession. With the establishment of hospitals and health centers, women have qualified themselves as doctors, nurses, health visitors and mid-wives. Now there's scarcely any venue of employment during which women haven't entered. Various American studies have shown that there's a precise correlation between the academic level of women and their employment.

Any assessment of the status of women needs to start from the social framework, social structures, cultural norms and value systems that influence social expectations regarding the behavior of both men and women and determine women‟s roles and their position in society. A society consists of the many institutions and most vital of them are the system of decent, family and kingship, marriage and spiritual traditions. They supply the ideology and moral basis for men and women about their rights and duties and their status and role. The need for work on the part of the women isn't due to their enlightenment alone. The women work either due to economic necessity which force them to try to to so, or because they require to derive psychological satisfaction out of it. The explanations that prompt women to figure except economic necessity are manifold. The women may go so as to lift the quality of living of their household or to own an independent income or by the compulsion of the members of the family. Modern women don't wish to stay idle and stagnate reception, but rather aspire to utilize their education and mental abilities in an exceedingly constructive and artistic manner. They like to figure because they find lots of time after their household chores is taken care of, or because they'll use their job as an „escape-mechanism‟ from the drudgery of life. They‟ll also gain self-confidence within themselves by working, establish themselves a standing and gain significant role in the family affairs.

Education as a way to push Development in Social & financial condition. As per Dreze and Sen, education has five intrinsic values for improving social and economic conditions in accumulation countries, both benefits for communities and societies, also as individual social benefits. Social interactions are easier when persons are capable of reading a newspaper about social and political issues within the community and therefore the remainder of the globe. Secondly, education gives access to a wider range of job opportunities and normally enables persons to require advantage of economic opportunities and to participate in local politics. Thirdly, the next literacy rate facilitates public debates and demands for health care, social insurance and other needs. Public discussions enable people to carry politicians in charge of their promises of improvements within the work sector. Information on one‟s society provides better possibilities for utilizing the service system. Fourthly, education indirectly prevents child labour, to the extent that implementation of legislation of basic education for all children, force parents to send their children to college which again gives less time for labour. Entering school broadens horizons for youth. This suggests that meeting other children and youngsters could end in new ideas of various opportunities within the future. The fifth effect of education and literacy enables oppressed groups in a very society to become politically organized. Being a bigger group makes it easier to put into effect one‟s rights and demands concerning social and politically issues. An organized group achieves visibility within the society and is harder to oppress. The flexibility to resist operation not only concerns disadvantaged groups in society, but education does even have positive effects within families when women are being educated.

Education has continued to evolve, diversify and extend its reach and coverage since the dawn of human history. It‟s the sole due to achieve desired goals in life. It plays a very important role in socio-economic and political transformation of a rustic. It‟s one in all the essential variables of human development. The role of education isn't only to strengthen the muse of democracy, but also to supply good citizens. It lays the muse for adaptability of recent ideas and scientific temperament of citizens. While speaking about education, the daddy of the state, spiritual leader said, “By education, I mean an all-round drawing out of the simplest within the child and man- body, mind and spirit”. On the opposite hand, Swami Dayanand Saraswati viewed education as, “formulator of the character”. Statesman, the South African Noble Laureate once stated that, “education is the most powerful weapon to vary the world”. It‟s a panacea of all the ills because it plays significant role during a country‟s economic process and propelling socio-cultural and political reforms. In its wider meaning, education is assumed of because the dynamic adjustment of man to his environment that's desirable by a personal and his social founded. Education is one among the qualitative aspects of human life which plays a crucial role within the development of a personal specifically and society generally. It‟s strong social, cultural, economic and political bearings, because with the diffusion of literacy, kinsfolk grow during a proper way all told directions. It makes people attentive to their problems, prospects and therefore the potentials. It‟s also a process through which the essence of accumulated knowledge and virtues of the previous generations are transmitted to this and future generations. The contribution of education is more crucial in countries like India, where it's not only utmost required for getting economic process but also for brand spanking new ideas, scientific values and attitudes, which are instrumental in behavioral transformation for creating the people more liberal in their behavior. It‟s a remedy, if applied properly can cure many of the social evils like poverty, unemployment, female feticide etc.

In order to awaken the people, it's the women who must be awakened. Once she is on the move, the household moves, the village moves and also the country moves: and through the women, its children are brought into the image and given the chance of a healthier life and better training. Thus, through the kids of today we build the India tomorrow.” Women‟s education is an instrument for liberation not only of women but of the Indian society as whole. During the last three decades, planning of the socially, educationally and economically disadvantaged groups has been accelerated in India. it's only within the last decade beginning with the International Women‟s Year in 1975 followed by the eye of planners in India has been specially focused on women. The history of mankind reveals that there was a time when it absolutely was not essential for everybody to find out, or to read and write. The life was so simple and therefore the activities of an individual were confined to his small village community which of women was limited to their respective families only. With the passage of your time, the complexity of life also increased. Now activity of the people isn't any more confined to the boundaries of their communities/families but has tremendously grown within the recent century. The knowledge base and technology have entered the sphere of our day-to-day life-and-culture. But during this process women are backward. Only a few of them have gotten the minimum fruits of present development of our country. But the foremost portion of the poor section, both urban and rural areas, are completely empty it, more particularly the women in rural areas, and though it's not denied that till now our Indian society is totally male-dominated, women are exploited, oppressed and deprived in every sphere of life whether socially, economically, politically or culturally. But if we read the history of social change in India we are going to observe that the position of women today isn't as equal like the position of women in ancient period it absolutely was. Once it had been time when the position of women in our society was very high, especially in Vedic period the academic status of women was almost adequate to men. As an example, we will say about Gargi, Maitreyi, Lilavati, etc. whether or not we return little more we learn that when it had been time when women were the heads of the families. But in course of time women became the prisoners of our walls within the little home among their members of the family, especially to serve the lads. But society cannot indicate ever in a very particular place. So again, women are starting up of their small cottages to serve themselves for the greater interest of the society. Still there are some obstacles regarding their starting up from home for the society which prevents them to participate in Nation‟s development.

The opportunities for considerably widened. Still inequalities which are the lot of women have only been surreptitiously acknowledged. Women continue their struggle for receiving their due rights and place within the society. The successive five year plans have implemented programmes for the event of women within the fields of education, health employment and training, but it's not enough for a healthy district. Several legislative enactments are made to push the status and political participation of women. Despite the concerted efforts made during the last 66 years of political independence, the total potential of women isn't harnessed and integrated into socio-economic mainstream of life. This is often to not deny development of women during the past six and half decades. In fact, there are several positive developments affecting the status of women like rising expectancy, failing mortality, rising enrollment and retention of women at various levels of education and improving participation of women in political, economic and administrative higher cognitive process. Overwhelming the positive indicators are upsetting negative indicators like decaling sex ratio, high degree of female literacy, relatively low enrollment and high dropout rate among women at various levels of education, low participation rate, high and slowly declining birth rate, predominance of women within the agriculture sector working for long hours and receiving meager wages, inadequate access to ownership of land, credit and other productive resources, low participation of women in politics, administrative and judicial services and also the foremost growing crime against women. It‟s very essential to name the status and position of women. To form a society cultured and progressive, it's very essential to supply proper education to women at par with men. In contemporary Indian urban society, the share of educated women is increasing day by day. The fashionable facilities and awareness have helped to extend the tendency among the fogeys to send their women for education. But still in some traditional family‟s female education is treated futile because they think it's no touching on future marital and economic role. And this mental setup helps to form the platform of male-female differential in various aspects of life.

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Lecturer in Political Science, Department of College Education, Govt. of Rajasthan

neelamu@rediffmail.com