Going by the country’s commitment made at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, in 2000, it should eliminate all gender disparity in education by 2015. Although only a couple of years remain for it to achieve its objective, girls continue to be heavily discriminated against in education even in a so-called global city like Bengaluru.
A study by Child Rights and You (CRY) in a city slum clearly demonstrates that the girl child is losing out badly as a result of society's attitude to her education. Based on a sample of 100 people from the Madiwala slum in the city, CRY's "Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) Survey, found that the urban poor still feel the girl's place is in her home and her education is secondary. About 50 per cent of the respondents accepted that married girls were not allowed to continue with their education, and 23 per cent said that if a girl had a younger sibling at home , it was her duty to take care of him or her, instead of going to school.
The respondents also came up with some interesting reasons for not sending girls to school. As many as 59 per cent felt the present system of transportation was not safe enough for them and 44 p er cent said girl children were abused in schools. And an even greater number, 46 per cent, said the girls were abused while on their way to school.
Surveys conducted by CRY volunteers in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai too came up with startlingly similar results, causing concern among the organisation that is working to improve the lot of the girl child. " Bringing about a change in the attitude of people is essential," underlines Ms Regina Thomas, director, south, for CRY, which launched a ‘Click Rights for the Girl Child’ campaign on August 28, 2012, using photographs coupled with primary and secondary research as an advocacy tool to raise public awareness and influence policymakers into treating the issue with priority. The organisation has since received around 1500 photographs from across the country.
“The photographs not only depict the story of girl children who are not receiving the education they deserve, but also reflect the desire of people to bring about a lasting change in their lives,” says Ms Thomas, revealing that the photographs will be shared with government functionaries and policymakers and also displayed at an exhibition in Bengaluru on October 7.