By: Priyanka Saurabh
Shruti Sharma, Ankita Agarwal, and Gamini Singla have secured first, second and third ranks respectively in the Civil Services Examination 2021 declared by the Union Public Service. Today girls have made a mark in every field. From studies to jobs and business to leaping into space, girls have made everyone aware of their talent. Shruti Sharma, a resident of the Bijnor district of Western Uttar Pradesh, has secured the first rank in UPSC 2021. It is a matter of great pride for Uttar Pradesh and especially district Bijnor. The area which is called the agricultural sector and where the backwardness and lack of awareness in the field of education remained for a long time; there being a woman the challenges increase even more. Early marriage, struggle to go out to study, lack of good institutions (central universities), lack of guidance, etc. have to be faced and fought a lot. But if a girl coming from such a field tops UPSC then it is a very good sign for the future. This time women power dominated the first three places in the top 10. It also shows the changing nature of female education in society.
Women will become a source of inspiration for thousands of young women in the times to come. Even in a traditional society like India, women can reach untouched heights due to their talent and dedication, and this confidence will be born in the new generation of women. If girls top the civil services examination, then the ground reality also comes to the fore. 52 percent of girls in the country drop out at the school level itself. Why are there such situations and what is the way out of this? If you look carefully, you will find that when girls are growing up in our country, most of them do not get as many opportunities to advance in education and other fields as boys get. In our society at home and outside, parents and teachers do not expect them to do well in addition to household chores. They are not invested as much socio-economically and emotionally as boys are. As a result, girls do not develop the confidence to move forward or the courage to face the constraints. It is true of all that if a child is expected to perform well then his self-image improves further. But with girls, it is often the opposite. Their work in school or at home is less appreciated, they get less praise. Due to this, his identity remains limited and this hurts his performance. They are always afraid of the doubt of when and why they will be denied the education of daughters and then higher education. About 52.2 percent of the daughters of the country are leaving their schooling midway. About 68 percent of girls belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes enroll in school but drop out before completing their studies.
Girls or women in our country face this pressure at many points in their lives when they are expected to be confined to domestic responsibilities. The first turning point comes when his intermediate studies are completed. Girls who can escape from this pressure go-ahead for a golden future, but those who are not able to overcome this hurdle, do not even reach the poor high school or intermediate. Whether a girl will be able to overcome this unwanted hurdle or not, depends very little on the girl. This directly depends on the economic and social status of the family and the presence of the school in the surrounding area and the better law and order situation. Most of the girls we see in the country topping Inter and High School etc and outperforming boys, most of them are from the affluent section. Girls from poor families are often unable to progress beyond this point. Boys from poor families are also successful in moving forward, but it is very difficult for girls to move forward. Once the girl crosses the hurdles, she realizes that this opportunity has come from a lot of struggle, not to be missed, and then she achieves better success than boys by performing the work with full dedication and hard work.
Why do the daughters of my country drop out of school? A research paper on this topic in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has revealed that one in five girls who drop out in the middle believes that their parents are a hindrance in their studies. Due to the unsafe environment and various evils in society, their family members refuse to study in class VIII or above. About 35 percent of girls believe that due to marriage at an early age, they have to drop out in the middle. This study indicates that barriers in the education of daughters are erected by their family members only. Why are our daughters discouraged? What is it that she distances herself from these areas where time and labour are more required? Research shows that only 5 percent of girls do not want to make a career in the field of science, technology, mathematics, and engineering. In subjects like maths and science, the performance of girls was not less than that of boys.
Whether it is a person or a country, its success is believed in that the possibilities inherent in it emerge and these possibilities are fully utilized. If new doors are opened for women in the workforce, it will pave the way for realizing the potential inherent in all women and we will be able to take advantage of the potential in our nation’s population. For this, both the government and the private sector will have to come forward afresh. This success of the girls will surely give strength to the government’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign. Due to this, the thinking that is weakening in the society will be even more breathless that girls are only there to do the work of the stove. This will send a message to all the parents that girls are not inferior in any matter. With the changing attitude of parents, government support as well as the attitude of the girls themselves, it should be expected that their success will continue more widely in the future. (The author is a Research Scholar in Political Science, a poet, freelance journalist, and columnist)
