Role of Education in Empowering Women: A Study of Rural Areas | Original Article

ABSTRACT:

ABSTRACT

Dr James Emman Kwegyir aggrey very rightly said, "If you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate the whole nation". Yes, because only a single-family is benefitted from the education of a man, but in the case of a girl, "women" her education benefits two families, in turn, an entire generation and the whole nation as such. And bring about a revolutionary change in the village, society and nation as a whole. Thus, educating a woman should be the priority of any society, especially at the grass-roots level, i.e., the girl child.

This study attempts to analyse the status of women education viz empowerment in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, mainly Hathras and Aligarh (Satoha, Raghaniya, Sasni, Laadhpur, Lakhnu, Nagla  Hema) district. In Uttar Pradesh, the practice of early marriage is the main reason besides others which interrupts and hinders the girl education. The second most common factor being the economic condition, where again, a boy is encouraged to continue his education (Patriarchal mindset), and the girl is discouraged. Since the study is conducted with an age group comprised of 14 years to 35 and above, that was the time when the government policies were not framed for the benefit of the girl child education, and strict actions were taken for their marriage. The economic factor is the other major cause for girl's school dropout, where most families cannot afford to pay school fees due to their financial crunch. The researcher also finds out that most of the parents don't allow their girl child to study because of society's matter, i.e. WHAT WILL THE SOCIETY THINK?. In this study, the survey method was used with frequency, cross-tabulation and descriptive statistics having a sample size of 204 women from rural areas. This paper sought to investigate the effect of early marriage, early age pregnancy, sanitation problem, and parent decision on girl child force them to school dropout in Uttar-Pradesh. Early marriage is considered one of the main reasons that affected the girl child school dropout and also contributed to approximately 40% of the cases.