Population Education In Vocational Training Programme

over the years the female literacy rate has gone up, as comparison to males it has remained
much lower.
Table: Sex-wise percentage of Literates in India (1951-1991)
Year Male Female
1951 27.16 8.86
1961 40.40 15.34
1971 45.95 21.97
1981 56.37 29.75
1991 64.13 39.29
The dropout rates of girls at primary as well as the upper primary stage are higher than those of
boys. Only 8% girls reach up to middle school level, 2% up to high school level and around 2%
up to graduation. Rural women are most neglected in education. The higher dropout rate of
girls is due to her role in the family as the caretaker of younger brothers and sisters and due to
her domestic responsibilities like cooking, washing, etc.
Health
Out of every 12 million girls born in India every year, 25% do not survive beyond the age of 15.
About 3 lakh more girls die annually than boys. Until the age of 35 years, more women in India
die at every stage of life: as infants, as children, as married women. In the age group of 15 to 24
years, around 32% women die due to burns. Inspite of a prohibitory law in the Indian Constitution,
thousands of female babies are killed either before or after they are born. Before birth, the sex of
the child is ascertained with the help of medical test and many parents decide to get rid of the
unborn child if it happens to be a female.
The Age at Marriage
The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1978, has prescribed the minimum age of marriage for girls as
18 years. Even today, 55-60% of girls, both rural and urban, are married between the ages of 10
and 19 years. Early marriage seriously affects the health and future of a young girl who has to go
through a cycle of child bearing and child rearing. In the age group of 15-24 years, 46% of women
die due to child birth and pregnancy.
Employment of Women
Though women have always played a very significant role in the economic development of
society, their contribution is hardly recognized. When there was a shift from simple to machine
oriented production, women were pushed to the background.
Percentage of Non-Workers (1991 Census)
Females
Males
77.73% 48.39%
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