7 districts in J&K UT with adverse enrollment gender gap at secondary, upper primary, primary level

Vikas Sharma
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 2

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is among those states and Union Territories wherein the gender gap ( gap between enrolment of girls vis-a-vis boys) was still on the higher side.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development (HRD) while expressing concern has recommended the conduct of special drives to rectify this adverse gender gap which is an important step in the process of women empowerment.

The committee in its report revealed that as many as 3 districts of J&K have a gender gap between boys and girls high at the secondary level while 2 districts each have a gender gap at the upper primary level and primary level respectively.

Apart from J&K, 15 other States/UTs have a gender gap on the high side at the secondary level.

They are Arunachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

At upper primary level, the other States/UTs are Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

At Primary level, apart from J&K UT, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab,

Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have an adverse gender gap in terms of enrollment.

The committee, however, has not specified the names of districts of States/UTs where the gender gap is on a high side.

The Committee has urged the authorities to conduct special drives in those districts to sensitise the parents about the need to educate and empower girl students to improve the adverse gender gap. School education for many girls continues to be a distant dream in J&K.

As per data, from Class I to V, the total enrollment of boys is 5,89,016, while the girls’ enrollment is 5,30,828. Similarly, from Class VI to VIII, the enrollment of girls is 2,69,814 against the boys’ enrollment of 3,03,401.

In terms of the overall enrollment from Class I to XII, of total 16,93,059 students in J&K schools, the number of girls enrollment is 8,00,642 and the boys is 8,92,417.

Around 12.5 per cent girls in J&K aged between 15 and 16 years are not enrolled in any school (both government and private) in J&K.

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