women literacy and empowerment

8/2/2019 Women Literacy and Empowerment

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It is a crisis of the worst kind,, that nearly a billion people worldwide cannot

read or write and more than half of them are women.

Language is fundamental to human consciousness. Without language, higher levelsof abstract thought and insight are impossible. Language is also fundamental to human

society. Without language, higher levels of social structure and culture are unattainable.

As an extension of language, the written word likewise makes possible the

achievement of ever greater intellectual and social accomplishment. It is the repository ofhumanity's accumulated knowledge and the building block for innovation, creativity, and

social and economic development of every kind.

The period from 20032013 has been proclaimed as the United Nations Literacy

Decade. And the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization haveadopted a simple but powerful slogan for the Decade: Literacy as Freedom.

It is a slogan that perceptively encompasses the idea that knowing how to read andwrite is about more than those simple practical things, such as processing a business

transaction, reading a letter, or finding one's way, that are usually given as reasons tobanish illiteracy.

The slogan illustrates the way in which illiteracy also prevents an individual from

participating in the give and take of democracy and other forms of social interaction that

make diverse societies work in the modern world.

Literacy is a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for social

and human development. Educational opportunities depend on literacy.

Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all, and essential for eradicating

poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equalityand ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy. There are good reasons why

literacy is at the core of Education for All.

A good quality basic education equips pupils with literacy skills for life and further

learning; literate parents are more likely to send their children to school; literate people arebetter able to access continuing educational opportunities; and literate societies are better

geared to meet pressing development.

Literacy is one of the most effective and important instrument of socio-economicdevelopment and national integrity. According to census operations literacy is defined asthe ability to read and write in any language, it does not require any formal education or

educational standard for considered being literate. The latest census report of 2011 reveal

the India has achieved 9.21% growth since last census of 2001. Now the literacy of India is74% of total population aged above 7 yrs.


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Surprisingly the female literacy rate shows a significant growth from 53.67% to

65.46% as compared to 75.26% to 82.14%, increase of 4.91 percentage points.

The planning commission of India has set the target of reducing gender gap to 10 %as it is also on of the targets for Sakshar Bharat Mission.

Now coming to the Chhattisgarh state scenario we need to see and address this

literacy issue in a more emphasized manner. Chhattisgarh is a tribal dominated state

comprising 34% tribals of total state population and only 20% population lives in urbanarea. The statistics show a total literacy of 71.04, female literacy 60.59 and male literacy of

81.45% respectively which is below the national average literacy.

Chhattisgarh is also a naxal affected state. Most of us would agree that some way or

other naxal problem is associated with people being deprived of their rights, they dont getenough opportunity for earning or they are not skilled enough to get a job for their earning,

or they are getting misled by some anti social organization. We must agree that illiteracy is

one of the major factors behind this.

Talking about women literacy, it is one of the core issues of all literacy programs.Women play different role in our life be it mother, sister, wife or a colleague in your office

and in a Indian family, families nucleus is a synonym for women. We are brought up being

taught to respect women, and traditionally we know women are the first teacher of a childso we need literate women for a literate and intellect society and future. As families are

building block of society, women are building block of a family.

In a message marking International Literacy Day, which is observed every 8 th

September, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the transformative effect on both

a family and the wider community when a woman is literate.

Literate women are more likely to send their children, especially their girls, to

school, he said. By acquiring literacy, women become more economically self-reliant

and more actively engaged in their countrys social, political and cultural life. All evidenceshows that investment in literacy for women yields high development dividends.

"When women are the advisor, the Lords of creation don't take the advice till they

have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do; then they act upon it and

if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it; if fails, they generously giveherself the whole".- Louisa May Alcott

India today is at the cusp of a paradigm change in its growth and its position in the

world. We (both men and women) must act decisively to capture this opportunity. We need

to think big and scale up rapidly in each and every area, be it education, infrastructure,industry, financial services or equality of both genders. For around two centuries, social

reformers and missionaries in India have endeavored to bring women out of confines in

which centuries of traditions had kept them. According to the 2001 Census, the percentageof female literacy in the country is 54% up from 9% 1951.


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But we should not forget that history in a witness to the women who have in the

past demonstrated unique leadership capabilities. Razia Sultana, Rani of Jhansi, Sarojini

Naidu and Indira Gandhi are motivation examples of women empowerment. Earlier, mostwomen were able to demonstrate the leadership qualities only on their home fronts, as in

Indian society man has always acted as the master of the scene and the decision regarding

the issue of empowering women has always been taken by him. God has gifted womenwith compassion, tender-heartedness, caring nature, concern for others. These are very

positive signs which imply that women can be leaders. Though some women have shown

their mettle yet a large number of them have to sharpen their leadership qualities in variousways. In order to help women to be in limelight, they need to be empowered. Therefore,

empowerment of women is the prerequisite to transform a developing country into a

developed country.

I would like to peep into the past when the stature of women as destroyed. Theywere treated as chattel in the early Roman society. In France, they were termed as half-soul

creatures responsible for the destruction of society. The Chinese considered them as devil's

soul. Japanese men preferred to live unmarried lives. Before the advent of Islam, Arabsburied their daughters alive considering them as a sign of disgrace. In this way, they

deprived women of their due place. Most men view themselves as being the superior life-

form in society. They justify this belief by saying that they are stronger and more capable;

thus, making them more qualified for the more important roles in society. they placethemselves on pedestals and force women to believe in their own inferiority to men and

their incapability to excel educationally, politically, economically and domestically. But

the truth is that women have advanced in all those areas.

In Shakespeare's works, many female characters are portrayed as beingmanipulated, if not controlled outright by the men in their lives as fathers, uncles, suitors,

husbands. Therefore, Shakespeare's works appear to send mixed singles regarding thenotion of female empowerment. Empowerment has multiple, interrelated andinterdependent dimensions economic, social, cultural and political. It can be understood in

relation to resources, perceptions. Relationship and power. But what does women

empowerment mean? Women empowerment generally has five components : firstly,women's sense of self worth; secondly, their right to have the power of control their own

lives, both within and outside home; and lastly, their ability to influence the direction of

social change to create a just social and economic order nationally, internationally anduniversally.

Educational attainment and economic participation are they key constituents in

ensuring the empowerment of women. Educational attainment is essential for empowering

women in all spheres of society, for without education of comparable quality and contentgiven to boys and men, updated with existing knowledge and relevant to current needs,

women will be able to have access to well-paid formal sector jobs and advance with men.

The economic empowerment of women is a vital element of strong economic growth in

any country. Empowering women enhances their ability to influence changes and to createa better society.


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Other than educational and economic empowerment, changes in women's mobility

and social interaction and changes in intra-household decision-making are necessary. Slight

improvement in women's involvement in household decision-making in male-headedhousehold, on such issues as credit, the disposal of household assets, children's education

and family healthcare can work wonders. Traditionally, gender based divisions persisted in

intra-household decision-making. Women basically decide on food preparation and menmake the financial decision. Women are one of the greatest assets in our society. They

equal to men in all aspects. Women are more perfectionists in the power to create, nurture

and transform.' Today, women are emerging as leaders in growing range of fields. be itaeronautics, medicine, space, engineering, law, politics, education, business...you just name

the profession and they are there, all that needed in today's world in their empowerment.

In India, the empowerment process has already begun. We are now witnessing a

steady improvement in the enrollment of women in schools, colleges and even inprofession institutes. Their health is better as compared to earlier decades. In this decade,

women are entering into the job market in increasing numbers. They are showing their

skills even in non-traditional sectors like police, defense, administration, media andresearch fields. Twenty-six laws have been enacted so far to protect women from various

crimes. The recent law on the 'protection of women against domestic violence' satisfies the

long pending demand of the women activities. In the political field, the reservation for

women is a significant step forward towards their political empowerment. When thirty-three percent reservations for women in Parliament becomes a reality, women's voice will

be heard in the highest forum of democracy. The day, women of India will reach zenith in

their empowerment. But a lot of work has to be done as there is a category of women (whoconsider themselves highly educated) that proudly accepts that they don't have digital

literacy even though they own a computer, they cannot even operate bank accounts or make

travel arrangements for family or handle hospital admissions even during emergencies.

Even for a simple task like social visits or shopping generally they need the company oftheir husbands.

Women in India feel proud to display that they are well protected and pampered by

their husbands without realizing that they are making themselves helpless. Such women'seconomic literacy is so low that they cannot play any role in family's decision regarding

family's budget, savings and investments. To such women, the national budget discussion

is for men only and soap operas are for them. Such women suffer a lot if somethinguntoward happens to their husbands. This type of extreme dependency is not good for the

development of women. Women should remember that they are also rational, intelligent

and thinking human beings. Dependent women are not empowered women. If modern

women think that they are empowered, it's a myth for them. Empowerment means toinspire women with he courage to break free from the chains of limiting beliefs, patterns

and societal or religious conditions that have traditionally kept women suppressed and

unable to realize their true beauty and power.

Some qualities to be acquired by women to become truly empowered are awarenessabout risk prevailing at home, in work place, in traveling and staying outside home. They

should have political, legal, economic and health awareness. They should have knowledge


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about support groups and positive attitudes towards life. They should get goals for future

and strive to achieve them with courage. The best gift parents today can give to their

daughters is education. If women choose to be ignorant then all the efforts taken by theGovernment and women activists will go in vain. Even in twenty-fifth century, they will

remain backward and will be paying a heavy price for their dependence, So, it is a wake-up

call for women to awake from their deep slumber and understand the true meaning of theirempowerment. In the end I would like to conclude with the following words, "Women as

the motherhood of the nation should be strong, aware and alert".

Govt. is taking steps towards women-girls education and their empowerment, now

its our duty to contribute our part and make this movement a success. MahaparikshaAbhiyan on 18th March is coming and we are about to witness the biggest fest of literacy in

India, we need to gear up and get ready make every illiterate attend this examination and

make it a grand success for Indian society.

Mrs. Neera Shrivastava

Block Gender Co-ordinator

Surajpur (Chhattisgarh)

women literacy and empowerment

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