Reasons for the inequality in Education.
The first step towards equality is to understand what it means.
The dictionary says “the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, or opportunities”
Equality says to be equal in terms of status, rights, and opportunities and our society plays the card by saying women can never compete with men. But they forget who wants to compete, we want equality.
Equality is not competing it is fighting together for the betterment of self and society.
We demand an education system, that doesn’t differentiate between the genders. While distributing brain or intelligence, IQ the creator never did any partiality. Then, why we as a society are so intense in making one as a dominating and the other as a submissive one? Why do we promote a master-slave equation rather than an equation of companionship?
But before we ask for equality in education, we should understand the real cause behind this partiality prevailing in our society.
There are two major root causes for the existing disparity.
- One is the subconscious mind and the old teachings (Mindset).
- The second is the dowry system and marriage burden.
- Why are parents not aiming for a girl’s education?
Their psyche and peer pressure teach them, that the girls belong to someone else, they will marry and then leave for another home. They can never shoulder the responsibility of their parents and can never support them in their old age. “Beti ek paraya dhan hai and beta budhape ki ladhi”
Until we will not remove this thought process from the mind and stop its spread to the next generation it will keep us hollow inside.
Every lecture on “women’s literacy and education” will turn out to be futile without changing the mindset.
How to change the mindset.
Mindset will not change in a fraction of a second, it takes a lot of effort and handholding. It is always better to set it right from the beginning.
First step.
The first step starts at home, and if we restrict it more it starts from your mind. Do away with the evil in your mind first, then comes your family, your relatives, the society, the city, and then the country.
Second step
Self-awakening is a must. Understand the thoughts that are generating gender biases and then stop promoting them. Simple phrases are so dearly inculcated in our daily lives, and we don’t often realize they promote bias. For example, “crying is a girly thing”. No, it is not.
In my book, “The Unseen Guilt (Echoes of Equality)” I unfold in detail, how these simple phrases highly promote biasedness unintentionally.
Link to the book https://amzn.to/4cdCmct
Third step
Promote the education for girls in your home, support them, and teach them marriage can wait but career can’t. Prepare them to face the challenges in life strongly, be independent, and don’t give them the escape route, to marry a rich man and settle abroad.
Fourth Step.
To stop the spread of unfairness, teach your boys the lesson of equality at home. The sooner they will learn the better it will be for the betterment of society and the coming generations. If they will learn to respect equality, half of the problem will be solved.
Fifth Step
Now, teach your girls their worth, tell them they are intelligent. They may not be physically as strong as their male schoolmates or friends, but it never makes them weak. Both are different accept it but if someone says you are weak, deny it.
- Dowry System and its impact on a girl’s education
What is Dowry?
The 21st century calls it a gift given by the bride’s family to the groom’s family at the time of the wedding. They call it a gift but trust me it’s not. It is a burden for a middle-class girl’s father and a show-off for a rich dad.
An obstacle in girl’s education and professional progress.
How?
- It is the reason, why poor parents prefer to save money for their daughter’s marriage than spending it on her education.
- They have limited earnings either they can make their daughter study and opt for a career or save it for her marriage and give gifts (dowry) to the groom’s family. They prefer the second option because even if they study and become independent, the dowry will follow. And who knows the groom’s parent will ask her to leave the job after marriage.
How to change the trend.
I will reiterate, it will not change or vanish immediately. It will take a lot of time and patience, but you can play an active role in helping the generations and eliminate this obstacle which is a big hindrance to girl’s education.
- For educated clans, please stop accepting dowry even in the name of gifts.
- Keep your children away from the concept of wedding gifts. Teach them it is wrong, and you should never support it.
- Change the trend, instead of giving extravagant parties, do some charity. Invest that money in your future and travel the world. It will make you content and happy.
Many hindrances in a girl’s life drags her back on the ladder of education. The poverty of parents, the mentality of their surroundings, lack of knowledge, etc but for me what makes it more complicated is our society’s mindset overpowered by the system of marriage and dowry.
Sadly, middle-class parents are busy saving money for dowry and marriage, not education or higher education for a girl.
Change the mindset that portrays Marriage as a milestone instead of getting a job and being independent.
Change brings at home, so start it from yours.
