Women footprint smaller in education, but growing

A larger percentage of India's massive population attended educational institutions in 2011 than 10 years ago, census data released on Thursday revealed.

Of the total 1.21 billion Indians enumerated in the 2011 census, 25.97 per cent or 310 million attended educational institutions. This is an increase of 3.73 percentage points over the last decennial count in 2001 when 220 million or 22.24 per cent went to educational institutions.

The various types of institutions taken into account include schools, colleges, vocational institutes and literacy centres.

The rise could be attributed to increase in awareness, better educational opportunities as well as ease of access.

As many as 27.36 per cent of males, across all age groups, got themselves educated in these institutions. This was an increase of 3.03 percentage points over the last census.

Compared to this, 24.51 per cent of females across all age groups were attending, despite the fact that the 4.52 percentage point increase over the decade was visibly higher than their male classmates.

Education among females grew faster than males in primary to higher secondary schools.

At age six, the average age at which primary education starts in India, almost 46.53 per cent of 250 million children attended school in 2011. This represents a 5.92 percentage point increase over 2001.

The percentage of girls attending schools shot up seven percentage points over 2001, compared with the four percentage point increase in the number of boys.

Roughly 46 per cent of boys as well as girls attended school. The 15-19 age group, which corresponds roughly to the higher secondary and early graduate levels of education, also saw a large increase in the percentage of people who went to these institutions in 2011.

Almost 60 per cent of all students in the age group attended classes in 2011 compared to 43.78 per cent a decade ago. Gender-wise 57 per cent of all girls and 62 per cent of all boys attended classes in 2011.

The percentage increase among girls was by 20 percentage points. This dwarfed the increase among boys, which was 13 percentage points. The census also revealed that as many as 34 per cent of Indians had never attended an educational institution.