Education Empowering Women In Rural Areas

Ashutosh Dayal Sharma Sep 07, 2018

Education is the key factor in the development of the country and the people living over there. Women empowerment refers to the ability for women to enjoy their right to freedom and benefit from resources, assets, income and their own time, as well as the ability to manage risk and improve their economic status and well being. It results in building the personality of an individual. In other words, the pathway to human-development goes through the lanes of education. Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills, and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. The education of women and girls has a tremendous impact not only on their own development but also on their families and communities.

There is no denying of the fact that women in India have made a noteworthy progress since Independence. However, even today, they still have to fight back against many evil acts in the male-dominated society. Women in the rural areas are not allowed to have education as they are meant to do household chores, which will help them after marriage.

It is rightly said that Educate women in the family and whole family will be educated. In consideration of this, rural areas where the literacy rate is minimal among women are actively targeted to improve the situation of women through education. Many parents to date are of the view, that educating son is an investment because they still think that sons will take care of them when they will be old. So, if a rural family has to choose between educating a son or a daughter, typically the son will be chosen. Negative parental attitudes towards educating daughters can also be a barrier to a girl’s education.

So to break this old frame of mind, Vinod Gupta Charitable Foundation (VGCF) has been working diligently for the progress of rural society with a focus on Women Empowerment past two decades. To fulfill the noble objective, the Foundation chose Rampur Maniharan, a remote village in Western Uttar Pradesh, and established Bill Clinton School and Hillary Clinton Nursing School. The motto of the Foundation is to “Learn, Earn and Return”. Bill Clinton School and Hillary Clinton Nursing School are being run under the aegis of Vinod Gupta Charitable Foundation (VGCF) which has changed the lives of children, especially girls, from the neighboring villages as well. President Bill Clinton had visited Ramrati Education Complex in April 2001 and appreciated the facilities being provided to students in the rural belt and gave his consent to name the school after him. VGCF has helped in advance education across fields like Nursing, business, science, information technology, communications, law, wildlife preservation, etc..

The aim of the foundation is to empower women and girls of marginalized groups through sustainable initiatives in the field of education, which will enable them to be economically and socially secure.

Thus, with a strong educational background, women have the capacity to achieve their goals and create financial freedom for both themselves and their families. Educated women are assets to the society as they are more innovative and can optimize resources in a better way. Over the past 10 years, the success stories of village girls have brought a huge change as now people living in villages are not scared of sending them to school. To exemplify, Ms. VARSHA was a student from the first batch of Hillary Clinton Nursing School and has passed out in the year 2015. She had studied in HCNS, GNM course for 3.5 years and was a very bright student. Varsha was married and was from a very poor family. She got married when she was pursuing her studies and use to travel from Shamli. She has a full responsibility towards her family and looks after kids while studying. With her strong determination and hard–work she passed an interview of one of the reputed Government Hospital of Meerut and got selected there for the job. At present, she is earning the decent amount of money and supporting her family and kids – making their future bright.

It is quite evident that the education rate has increased robustly with regards to women education and seeing live examples on television like Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Kalpana Chawla, Geeta Phogat and other eminent Indian personalities. Parents are encouraging their children to study whether it’s in rural areas or Metropolitan Cities. Education has opened up various avenues for girls in India whether it’s Singing, Sports, Dancing, Nursing, and other fields. Nevertheless, foundations like VGCF are encouraging girls and women at all levels and for dilution of gender bias in providing knowledge and education to them, which will impact their lives and bring them as a valuable member of the society.