New findings of Census 2011 released on Friday show that India is actually moving towards providing education to girl children.
The findings show that there has been a rise in the level of women's education between 2001 and 2011. The percentage of women seen passing out as graduates had risen to 116% and while that of women completing their post-graduation rose by 151% between the period. The increase in percentage of male graduates was only 65%.
Although certain professions like teaching and medicine are considered to be a woman's field, the rise in number of women with degrees in either of the fields is noteworthy. According to the report, Census findings show that women with teachers' training graduate degrees increased by 122% and women with degrees in medicine increased by 157%.
Engineering on the other hand, considered to be a male dominated profession, has also seen an increase in the number of women engineers. The number of women in the field has grown by 326% over the period. In 2001 it was seen that there were only 4.8 lakh women engineers but this has increased to 20 lakh women engineers now. The number of male engineers is still more, twice that of women (52 lakh).
The findings also show that women are starting to prefer technical education over other courses as they offer more job opportunities. The number of women who have achieved technical diplomas are 19 million while number of women with non-technical diplomas are only 0.34 million.
The educational level of girls of seven years and above also shows an increase in numbers. At mid-school level the number of girls has increased by 64%, at secondary level by 50% and at senior secondary level by 146%.
