New Delhi: Professional education remains a
less preferred area for girl students as 85 per cent of them
enrol in conventional streams of Arts, Science and Commerce,
a government report has said.
The enrolment of girl students in education has increased
from less than 10 per cent at the time of independence to 41.4
per cent in 2009-10, the annual report of the HRD Ministry
said.
The number of girl students enrolled in different streams
in 2009-10 stands at 56,49,102. Of them, only 15 per cent
prefer professional courses like engineering, medicine,
technology, law, veterinary science and agriculture.
Nearly 49 per cent girl students have enrolled in Arts
stream followed by 20 per cent in Science and 16 per cent
in Commerce, the report said.
However, only five per cent of them are in Engineering
stream while 3.5 per cent have taken up Medicine. There were
15,252 girl students opting for Agriculture.
The percentage of total enrolment of women is highest in
Goa (59 per cent) and lowest in Bihar (30 per cent), it said.
In absolute number, Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest
enrolment (eight lakh) followed by Maharashtra (7.8 lakh).
The government has taken a number initiatives like
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, girls hostels construction
and special scholarship schemes for augmenting the enrolment
of girls.
PTI
