IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS)

Volume 23, Issue 3, Ver. 4 (March. 2018) PP 55-62

e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845.
www.iosrjournals.org

Quality Education and Girl Children: A Case Study of a Slum

Dr Sadhana Satapathy
Associate Professor of Economics, B.J.B. Autonomous college,bhubaneswar
Corresponding Author: Dr Sadhana Satapathy

ABSTRACT: Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of lifelong learning
opportunity to all is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4) 2030 adopted by United Nations.
Quality education for under privileged children is of utmost importance as these children are deprived of basic
things in life because of acute poverty and as a result education has less priority in their lives. Coming to India,
educating all i.e inclusive education for all, has been a major concern for policy makers. Against this backdrop,
if one focuses on girls only, the situation is worse because of social and gender bias against them. Though
certain states have achieved the targets, the situation has not changed drastically for some states. In the context
of this, the present paper tries to analyse the problem of girls’ education in the state of Odisha, one of the states
at the lowest rung of development ladder in India. The paper has tried to analyse the plausible reasons behind
the skewed attendance/enrolment of girls in education on the basis of field level data (100 samples) collected
from two communities- fifty from Hindu and fifty from Muslim community in an urban slum.

Key Words: Education, Literacy, Schooling, Teacher, Constraints in going to school

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Date of Submission: 28-02-2018 Date of acceptance: 19-03-2018
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I. INTRODUCTION
Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunity to all
is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030.United nation’s agenda includes this as one of the
twelve life transforming goals. The world has set a more ambitious universal education agenda for the period
from 2015 to 2030. The vision is to transform lives through education, recognizing the important role of
education as a main driver of development. Education is a public good, a fundamental human right and a basis
for guaranteeing the realization of other rights. It is essential for peace, tolerance, human fulfilment and
sustainable development. Policy makers recognize education as the key to achieve full employment and poverty
eradication.
Thus, in this respect, provision of twelve years of free, publicly funded, equitable quality primary and
secondary education, of which at least nine years are compulsory, leading to relevant learning outcomes has
become the mottos of a country like India. It recognises that the provision of at least one year of free and
compulsory quality pre-primary education and access to quality education leads to early childhood development,
care and education. Inclusion and equity in education is of utmost importance to us and addressing all forms of
exclusion and marginalization, disparities and inequalities in access, participation and learning outcomes are
equally important. No education target should be considered met unless met by all.
However, the provision of basic education as a matter of right to all children in general and girl
children in particular, has not been free from problems in a country like India. Poverty, social and religious
stigmas, family responsibilities and biological reasons are equally important in the decision making process of
families whether to send their girls to school or not. In this context, the role of quality education is of utmost
importance for girl children to attend schools. For example, for a girl child, the distance to school, provision of
girl’s toilet at schools and provision of women teachers at schools are as important as say number of rooms, play
grounds, drinking water facilities and canteens etc. Education is a Concurrent subject in India which implies that
the burden of provision of education is jointly taken up by the Union and respective state governments. There
are certain different parameters to explain a girl child’s unwillingness to go to school apart from the other
common factors such as distance, drinking water facilities and play ground etc. They are social and family
responsibilities,access to safe sanitary facilities (toilets),number of lady teachers and early onset of
puberty In this context, the present paper tries to analyse the problem of quality education for girls in the state
of Odisha, one of the states at the lowest rung of development ladder in India.
The objectives of the paper are as follows:
1. To discuss the concept of quality education and its implementation in India.

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 Quality Education And Girl Children: A Case Study Of A Slum

2. To look at the facilities given by Odisha -a state at lower ranks at all India level in almost all parameters
including education- for quality education of girls.
3. To analyze the constraints faced by girl children for discontinuation of school at micro level.

Methodology: A sample of hundred households having girls-fifty from a Hindu community and fifty from
Muslim community co existing in a slum near Bhubaneswar -has been selected randomly to find out the
underlying constraints for their education.The slum is deliberately chosen as it is situated in the heart of capital
of the state and hence access to schools and other facilities must be available as claimed by authorities. Standard
simple statistical tools such as percentage and tables have been used to analyze the data. In the absence of any
proper measure for quality education the data for formal education has been used.
The paper is divided into five sections including the present section. Section II highlights the concept of quality
education and situation of education for children in India. In section III, the status of education in Odisha in
general and girl’s education in particular, has been discussed. We have also analyzed the facilities available for
girl’s education in the state at a macro level. In section IV, the findings of field level study has been analyzed.
Finally, section V discusses conclusions of and policy prescriptions by the study.

II. EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN INDIA

2.1: What is Quality Education?
Quality education fosters creativity and knowledge, and ensures the acquisition of the foundational
skills of literacy and numeracy as well as analytical, problem solving and other high-level cognitive,
interpersonal and social skills. It also develops the values and attitudes that enable citizens to lead healthy and
fulfilled lives, make informed decisions, and respond to local and global challenges through education for
sustainable development (ESD) and global citizenship education (GCED).
The Global Action Programme on ESD launched at the UNESCO World Conference on ESD in Aichi-
Nagoya in 2014 has made elaborate discussions on quality education emphasising lifelong learning
opportunities for all, in all settings and at all levels of education. This includes equitable and increased access to
quality technical and vocational education and training and higher education and research. It is further
committed to ensuring that all youth and adults, especially girls and women, achieve relevant and recognized
functional literacy and numeracy proficiency levels and acquire life skills, and that they are provided with adult
learning, education and training opportunities.
UNICEF takes a broader perspective and demonstrates that programmes must encompass a broader
definition involving learners, content, processes, environments and outcomes. For example, learners must be
healthy, well-nourished and ready to participate and learn, and supported in learning by their families and
communities. Environments should be healthy, safe, protective and gender-sensitive, and provide adequate
resources and facilities. This definition allows for an understanding of education as a complex system embedded
in a political, cultural and economic context.

2.2: Quality Education of Children in India:

Before further elaboration, one must admit that defining quality education is different for different
regions from different perspectives. The quality education from a western perspective may be different from that
of a developing country like India where there is lack of uniformity in language and culture, highly dense
population and poverty. Qualitative education cannot be taken as improvement in quality of learning alone.
Rather, provision of qualitative facilities at schools should be taken as a proxy for quality education in India
where dropout rate is very high. Secondly, formal education, in the absence of any visible measure of quality,
should be synonymous with quality education. The children should be attracted to formal schools first. The
argument that teaching quality and lack of suitable curricula are responsible for thin attendance school is
secondary as long as children do not come to school at all. In this context, certain factors such as proper
infrastructure at schools, teacher pupil ratio, proper play grounds and toilets can reflect the quality education.
Article 45 in the Constitution of India was set up as an act which states “The State shall endeavour to
provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory
education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years”. The Right of Children to Free and
Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE), is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted on 4
August 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children
between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21a of the Indian Constitution. Subsequently, state governments have
framed the rules under the RTE Act. Also, both MHRD and State Governments have released several
notifications related to RTE Act.
India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the Act
came into force on 1 April 2010.The Act makes education a fundamental right of every child between the ages
of 6 and 14 and specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25%

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 Quality Education And Girl Children: A Case Study Of A Slum

of seats to children (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan). Kids are
admitted in to private schools based on economic status or caste based reservations. It also prohibits all
unrecognised schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of
the child or parent for admission. The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to
pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special
training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age. In the 1990s, the World Bank
funded a number of measures to set up schools within easy reach of rural communities. This effort was
consolidated in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan model in the 1990s. RTE takes the process further, and makes the
enrolment of children in schools a state prerogative. Under its Right to Education (RTE) Act, passed in 2009, a
free and compulsory education is guaranteed for all children aged between six and 14, and the most recent
figures for primary school enrolment stand at an impressive-sounding 98%.
However, within government schools, pupils face numerous challenges. Overcrowded classrooms,
absent teachers and unsanitary conditions are common complaints. Nor do enrolment figures necessarily reflect
who is actually attending school. The number of primary age children not in school in India was put at 2.3
million in 2008, but other estimates suggest it could be as high as 8 million. According to an Indian Government
Report, the primary drop-out rate in 2009 was 25%.Of the out-of-school children in 2008, 62% were girls; they
make up two-thirds of illiterate 15- to 24-year-olds. And two-thirds of those not in schools were from those
lowest in the caste system, tribal groups and Muslim communities, despite those historically oppressed groups
making up only 43% of India's children.

2.3. Quality Education and Girls: Education is the only way a girl can be an informed citizen, leading the way
for her to having her voice heard in society. However, there are various constraints- economic as well as social-
which hamper the girls quality education. The first reason why girls are pulled out of school is because of
family responsibilities. Girls provide free labour at home for the family. Many girls are kept at home because it
is a better payoff than going to school. This problem is evident in India, even in urban areas, but more prevalent
with poorer families. Girls can be found doing everything from farm work to household chores. The family
plays a central role in a girl’s life and shaping her future. The second reason why girls are kept from receiving a
primary education is because they are pulled out early to protect family honour. Honour killings are prevalent
among the poor. The third reason for inequality during primary education is because girls can’t attend school
due to inadequate facilities. Schools are unable to provide safe and sanitary facilities for young girls to attend,
and with the population increasing at a rapid speed the priority for new facilities is given to boys. In many cases,
though, this is exacerbated by basic infrastructural problems: roads, running water, and electricity are often
scarce. The fourth reason girls are kept from school is because of the shortage of female teachers. Though less
discussed but as important as other reasons is the onset of puberty at an early age. This might be the most
important reason for girls not going to school. Now a days, the average age of puberty is thirteen years for girls
as per different studies. The other equally important reason may be the pre-puberty anxiety of parents which
may be responsible for not sending the girl child to schools. That is why the presence of female teachers is so
important. Thus the emphasis should be on access to toilets and number of lady teachers as parameters for
quality education for girls.

III. STATUS OF CHILDREN’S EDUCATION IN ODISHA

As per Census 2011 population of Odisha is 4,19,74,218. Out of this, the Rural population of Odisha is
3,49,70,562 and Urban population is 70,03,656. The literacy rate of Odisha as per 2011 Census is 72.9 per cent.
In rural areas the literacy rate is 70.2 per cent whereas in urban areas it is 85.7 per cent. The male rural literacy
rate is 79.6 per cent whereas the female literacy rate in rural area is 60.7 per cent. The male literacy rate in urban
area is 90.7 per cent and in case of females the literacy rate is 80.4 per cent. Among the districts the highest
literacy rate in rural areas noticed is in the district of Jagatsinghpur (86.5%) whereas the highest literacy rate in
urban areas recorded is in the district of Khordha (91.0 %). The lowest literacy rate of 43.9 per cent is recorded
in the rural areas of Nabarangpur district whereas the lowest urban literacy rate of 74.5 per cent is recorded in
the district of Malkangiri. The highest male literacy rate of 92.5 per cent is recorded in the rural areas of
Jagatsinghpur district whereas the highest urban male literacy rate recorded is in the district of Khordha (94.2
%). The lowest rural male literacy rate is recorded in the district of Koraput (54.1 %) whereas the lowest urban
male literacy rate is recorded in the district of Malkangiri (83.4 %). The highest female literacy rate in rural
areas is noticed in the district of Jagatsinghpur (80.4 %) whereas the lowest rural female literacy rate recorded is
in the district of Koraput (31.3 %). The highest urban female literacy rate of 87.5 per cent is recorded in the
district of Khordha whereas the lowest urban female literacy rate 64.9 per cent recorded is in the district of
Malkangiri.

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 Quality Education And Girl Children: A Case Study Of A Slum

Table1: Profile of the State Of Odisha

No. of districts : 30
No. of Blocks 420
Rural population 83.30%
Urban population 16.70%
Literacy : 73.45%
Male literacy : 82.40%
Female literacy 64.36%
Rural female literacy 60.70%
Sex ratio 978
Child sex ratio 934
Source: Census 2011

The percentage of girls married below the legal age (16 years) is 19.1(DLHS 2007-8).It is quite high
compared to many other states in India. Odisha’s rank is 21 among all states. Thus, when one looks at the girl
children (0-14 years of age) per se they are ready to embark upon a new life. In this context whether education is
of primary importance to these under privileged girls remain a question mark. The state level rural female
literacy rate is 60.74% (2011 Census). The state level main and marginal workers across different groups show
the vulnerability of girls. Table 2 shows that nearly 19 % of girls are marginal workers and 6.17 % are main
workers in age group of 15 to 19. If one considers the age group 5 to 14 (the school going age)it comes out to be
roughly 4.8 %.Assuming that 15 to 19 year age group girls might be studying given a chance, it is 10.8 % in 5 to
19 age group. One can infer that the girl children are quite vulnerable to not going for formal education.
Table 3 gives an idea about the state of education in general and girl’s education in particular in
comparison to other states of India. It shows that in fact the rank of the state has improved in terms of girls’
dropout rate at primary and upper primary levels of education. In some other sections though the state has fared
better across the years but hasn’t achieved the rank improvement as other states are doing far better than the
state. Thus one can infer that (as the data shows) the state is trying its best in spite of limited resources.

Table2 :State level Female Child workers and child population data (Census 2011)
Main and
Age Main Workers Marginal Workers Marginal workers
Sl.No. Group Population (%) (%) (%)
1 5-9 1989429 9121 0.46 21519 1.08 30640 1.54
2 10-14 2145090 26641 1.24 105371 4.91 132012 6.15
3 15-19 1952714 120469 6.17 374560 19.18 495029 25.35
4 5-19 6087233 156231 2.57 501450 8.24 657681 10.80
Source: Calculated from 2011 Census data

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 Quality Education And Girl Children: A Case Study Of A Slum

Table3 : Quality of Girl's Education in Odisha according to selected Parameters (2012-13 & 2013-14)
2012-13 2013-14 Change in Rank
between
Sl Parameters % All India % All India 2012-13 and
No Rank Rank 2013-14
1 Schools Approachable by All- 85.16 22 87.2 19 3
Weather Roads
2 Ratio of PS to UPS/Sections 1.85 15 1.8 14 1
3 Elementary Schools with 76.61 21 85.43 19 2
Libraries
4 Female Teachers in Elementary 40.28 27 41.04 27 0
Schools
5 Single Teacher Elementary 7.39 24 5.79 18 ↑
Schools
6 Enrolment of SC Girls 48.89 14 48.88 14 0
7 Enrolment of ST Girls 48.53 17 48.79 15 2
8 Enrolment of OBC Girls 48.37 22 48.27 19 3
9 Primary Enrolment Girls : 0.93 18 0.93 18 0
Boys
10 Upper Primary Enrolment Girls 0.96 15 0.95 16 -1
: Boys
11 Girls’ Dropout at Primary 5.21 13 3.49 16 -3
Level
12 Girls’ Dropout at Upper 4.62 12 3.52 14 -2
Primary Level
13 Girls’ Transition Primary to 86.99 22 88.8 21 1
Upper Primary
Source : Elementary Education in India, Flash Statistics, 2012-13 and 2013-14, NUEPA

Table 4 shows the number of women teachers at different levels of education in Odisha. It gives an idea
that the number of lady teachers are increasing from 2012-13 to 2013-14 at upper primary and secondary level
of education in both rural and urban areas. The objective is to show that there is a concern for girl students as we
assume that the lady teachers would be more competent to handle the school going girls aged beteen nine to
sixteen.

Table4 : Women Teachers at different levels of Education in Odisha

Women Teachers at Upper Primary Women Teachers at Secondary
Rural Urban Both Rural Urban Both
2011-12 48,651 14,258 62,909 13,360 6,454 19,814
2012-13 54,082 16,335 70,417 16,099 7,730 23,829
2013-14 59,587 16,538 76,125 17,592 7,524 25,116
Source: : Elementary Education in India, Flash Statistics, 2012-13 and 2013-14, NUEPA

As already mentioned sanitary conditions offered by schools are extremely important for girls at
different levels of education in general and girls going through pre puberty and puberty situation in particular.
Table 5 shows the statistics of it at different levels of education between 2011-12 and 2013-14 for both rural and
urban Odisha. The data shows some discrepancy in the sense that for the year 2012-13 the figures are lower
compared to the other two years. Never the less, assuming that the data being little overestimated, we might
conclude that the sanitary conditions provided at schools are not as good as it should have been.

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 Quality Education And Girl Children: A Case Study Of A Slum

IV. FIELD FINDINGS

To verify the status of quality education at a micro level and to see what has happened to girls at a
particular place and time, a sample of 100 households from two different communities-Hindu and Muslim- were
chosen randomly from a nearby slum in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. There are 436 slums in and around Bhubaneswar
(Bhubaneswar Municipality Corporation, BMC) with 80665 H.Hs and a population of 301611.The sample
households are chosen from Press Colony Basti, Ward No.41. The slum has 317 H.Hs with 1084 population
which is a big slum area. It is composed of Hindu, Muslim and in migrants. All the children are going to the
nearby government school. The school has a toilet which is locked by the teachers according to the respondents.
Mid Day meals are provided by the school authorities. There is an Anganwadi in the slum. There is also a play
school run by a NGO Ruchika in the slum.
In our sample, there are 139 boys (60 for Hindus and 79 for Muslims) and 183 girls (70 for Hindus and
113 for Muslims) (Table 6).The number of children per family for the sample is 3.03. The number of children
per family is 2.6 and 3.83 for Hindus and Muslims respectively. Average age of boys is 10.33(8.44 for Hindus
and 13.32 for Muslims). The average age of girls for the sample is 12.74 (11.34 for Hindus and14.50 for
Muslims).

Table 6: Profiles of the Sample Respondents

Avg no of
No of No of No of children per Avg age of Avg age
Households boys girls Total family boys of girls
HINDU
50 60 70 130 2.6 8.44 11.34
MUSLIM
50 79 113 192 3.83 13.32 14.50
Total 100 139 183 322 3.03 10.33 12.74
Source: Field Study

Table 7 below explains the educational status of girls in the families. A high percentage of girls are not going to
school (45.50%).It is higher for the Muslim community (48.15%) compared to Hindus (42.86%).Though the
discontinuity percentage is higher for Muslim community, a higher percentage of them are attending secondary
education(33.33%).

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 Quality Education And Girl Children: A Case Study Of A Slum

Table 7: Educational Status of Girl Children (in %)

Continuing some form of Education
Discontinued
Play School Anganwadi Primary Secondary
HINDU
11.43 8.57 25.71 11.43 42.86
MUSLIM
3.70 3.85 11.11 33.33 48.15
TOTAL
7.57 6.14 18.41 22.38 45.50
Source: Calculated from field data

For finding the constraints we decided on certain questions which were relevant to our survey. Most of the
respondents gave answers to the questions given in Table 8.Some other questions like eve teasing was answered
by only one respondent and hence was removed from the questionnaire.

Table 8: Reasons for discontinuing (in %)

HINDU MUSLIM TOTAL
puberty 0.00 7.69 3.57
marriage 20.00 92.31 53.57
household work 40.00 ̶ 21.43
Earning by self 26.67 0 14.29
Others 13.33 0 7.14
Source: Calculated from field data

Table 8 shows that for the Hindu community girls, helping in household work is the major reason for
discontinuing studies. For Muslim community, girl’s marriage is the biggest factor for doing so. Among Hindu
girls, earning by self is a big decision factor for not going to school. This is not so in case of Muslim girls
though a higher percentage of girls go for secondary education (33.3%).The pattern is puberty, training for H.H
work and marriage in that order.

V. SUMMARY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

Quality education is difficult to measure. Again same set of parameters cannot be applied for girls and
boys to assess quality education. A large number of girls discontinue studies due to a number of factors. Thus
provision of school and other infrastructural facilities are not enough to motivate girls for continuing education.
Other non economic factors also play important roles as well in the decision making process. That was
substantiated in our field study .It was found that getting puberty and being ready for marriage and helping in
household chores are two major hindrances across two different communities. Community attitude is as
important as mother’s education and other factors. Therefore the thrust of policy makers should be to look
beyond figures and go for alternative measures
Success of the Education 2030 agenda requires sound policies and planning as well as efficient
implementation arrangements. It is also clear that the aspirations encompassed in the proposed SDG 4 cannot be
realized without a significant and well-targeted increase in financing of education.
Quality education from western perspective may not be equal to quality education from oriental
perspective. There are quite a number of factors responsible for this difference. Population, poverty, social
attitude and institutional support etc are a few but equally important factors which prevent the third world
countries to follow quality education norm as followed in western countries.
Therefore the thrust of policy makers should be to look beyond figures and go for alternative measures.
None the less facilities at nearby schools cannot alone lure the girls to schools.

Note:
Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is the total student enrolment in a given level of education, regardless of age
expressed as percentage of the corresponding eligible official age group population in a given school year.

Gender Parity Index (GPI) is the ratio of Girls GER to Boys GER in a given level of education.

Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) is the average number of pupils (students) per teacher at a specific level of
education in a given school‐year.
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 Quality Education And Girl Children: A Case Study Of A Slum

Dropout Rate is the percentage of students who drop out from a given grade or cycle or level of education in a
given school year.

This paper is a partial modification of a paper presented in the International Seminar, “Inclusiveness of
Underprivileged Children in Quality Education” held in 2016.I am thankful to Dr Itishree Padhi for this.

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[5] Education 2030 Framework for Action, Education 2030, Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action.
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IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) is UGC approved Journal
with Sl. No. 5070, Journal no. 49323.

Dr Sadhana Satapathy " Quality Education and Girl Children: A Case Study of a Slum.” IOSR
Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS). vol. 23 no. 3, 2018, pp. 55-62.

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