EDUCATION OF GIRL CHILD IN INDIA: PRESENT STATUS AND CHALLENGES

The education of the girl child in India remains a critical issue despite significant advancements in policy and practice. This abstract provides an overview of the present status and challenges facing girl child education in India. Although enrolment rates for girls in primary education have achieved near parity with boys, with a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 96.3% (Ministry of Education, 2021), substantial challenges persist at the secondary level, where the GER drops to 79.5% (UNESCO, 2022). Socio-economic barriers, including poverty and the need for girls to contribute to household labour, significantly impede their educational progress (Kabeer, 2005). Cultural factors such as early marriage further exacerbate these challenges, with 27% of girls married before the age of 18 (UNICEF, 2020). While governmental initiatives like the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme and the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) program have made strides in addressing these issues, regional disparities and inadequate infrastructure in rural areas continue to undermine these efforts (Dreze & Sen, 2013; Government of India, 2020). This underscores the need for a multifaceted approach that includes community engagement, infrastructure development, and strict enforcement of laws against child marriage to ensure the holistic education and empowerment of the girl child in India.