Contemporary images of beautiful young Indian women wearing colorful, stylish clothes as they dance to the latest music are in stark contrast to the reality of many young girls living in India today. The prejudiced circumstances surrounding these forgotten girls are also mirrored in Tibet. Instead of enjoying their childhood, many girls are saddled with grown-up responsibilities, including spending their time caring for their younger siblings and preparing family meals. As with any great nation, changes are slow to come about, especially when it comes to dislodging superstitions and ancient misguided beliefs.

Emancipation Through Education

The linchpin and catalyst to change is education. It has been said that when you educate a girl, you educate a family and a nation. Reports indicate that opening the door to education and increasing enrollment into secondary school by merely one percent would increase India’s GDP by $5.5 billion. Investing in girls’ education has far-reaching economic and social implications, including reducing poverty, reinvestment of earnings into the local economy. Positive effects include delayed marriages and parenthood, decreasing population growth and subsequent pressures of climate change, healthier babies, and increasing female leadership roles.

Although the Indian Parliament passed the RTE (Right to Education) Act in 2009, which mandates compulsory education for children between 6-14 years, 30% of economically disadvantaged children rarely see the inside of a school. If they do, it is short-lived. Impoverished parents often count on their young daughters to provide their family’s domestic care so they may earn a paltry living outside the home. According to the National Commission For Protection of Child Rights, 40% of girls in the 15-18 age bracket do not attend school; affordability, accessibility, and patriarchal social structures are the most significant barriers. India’s education progress is to be applauded, but it is not a real celebration until all girls experience equality across the board.

Four Hurdles to Overcome

Among the many obstacles, four main hurdles have stalled educating Indian girls: caste, gender disparity, hygiene, and accessibility.

Castes

Interestingly, the 1901 Indian census established four specific castes but did not recognize the lowest caste of Dalit or “untouchables.” The caste system continues to affect the lives of impoverished children by letting them slip between the cracks. One-half of all poor children belong to the Dalit caste. Imagine living in such miserable conditions that an entire family occupies a single room to sleep, cook, and pray. Now imagine that a girl of 11 years must get up at 5 a.m. to begin preparing a meal for her family so that her parents can go out and look for any work to sustain themselves. Such a child cannot travel the typical 4-5 kilometers to attend school. She must remain behind as others take advantage of an education that might provide growth and security opportunities. Without education, these young girls are relegated to seeking manual work outside the home, thus forfeiting even a remote possibility of receiving schooling in favor of earning money to help support their disadvantaged families. Sadly, it is not uncommon for an underprivileged and uneducated girl to lose her innocence. The hardships ramp up when she is illegally married at 15 to begin the illiteracy cycle after childbirth.

Gender Disparity

Gender disparity continues to elevate the birth of boys over that of girls. In a patriarchal society, boys are considered an investment as the future breadwinners and caregivers to aging parents. It is not uncommon for boys to receive better education, healthcare, and nutrition. A liability at best, girls are no more than second-rate citizens. With archaic traditions enduring, though illegal in India, parents are often pressured to pay a dowry at the time of a daughter’s marriage as she is viewed as a liability rather than an asset, which is another check in the female’s negative column. Despite modern times, the rate of sex-selection abortions continues to gain momentum. The numbers paint a grim picture that boys are preferred. One would think this is a phenomenon of disadvantaged or illiterate families, but you would be incorrect in that assumption. This sex selection occurs in wealthy and educated families. It is appalling to recognize that 63 million women are statistically “missing” from India’s population. A government report analyzed the birth rates and gender of last-born children revealing that 2 million go “missing” across all age groups each year due to abortions of female fetuses, disease, neglect, and inadequate nutrition. The social implication of skewing the population in favor of male births continues from one generation to the next until an educational intervention shifts the culture and mindset.

Hygiene

Another area of concern is hygiene or the lack of sanitation. It is nearly implausible for westerners to wrap their heads around that hygiene prevents girls from attending school or inhibits them from concentrating while in class. Although the RTE maintains that all children from ages 6-14 have the right to participate, 47 percent of all schools do not have toilets. Instead, girls must relieve themselves on the busy streets. Rather than suffer indignation, many girls decide to end their education because of the lack of toilets.

In addition to the scarcity of toilets as a cause for the high dropout rate, nearly 23 million Indian girls decide to drop out of school each year when they begin to menstruate. There are two primary reasons for their decision: one is due to the inability to acquire menstruation pads or the absence of sanitary napkin dispensers, and the second is the lack of reproductive education. In some cases, the dire circumstances of poverty necessitate girls resorting to use dirty rags, newspapers, and leaves to manage their periods. These choices are reprehensible and morally degrading. Because Indian society hides behind ancient beliefs that a woman’s menses is dirty, it does not recognize that menstruation is a woman’s rite of passage and childbearing path. This insufficiency of education allows superstitions to continue to run rampant. What lingers is a message that menstruating is unclean and that young women should be ashamed. Education and awareness are paramount in shifting the stigma of menstruation and how girls are perceived in today’s India.

Accessibility Leads to Success

Resources and accessibility rank high among the many barriers preventing girls from getting the education they deserve; however, poverty’s thorny role remains undeniable. If a child must supplement the family’s income, it robs them of receiving an education that would ultimately increase their potential to elevate their family’s standard of living. In many cases, the distance to walk to a school could be 4 kilometers or more, and a bus fare is beyond most family’s means. However, it has been demonstrated that by providing free bicycles, the rate of school attendance increases. Having a simple means of transportation would allow the child to help with the family’s domestic needs and have a reasonably fast way to get to school. Creating digital education infrastructures in rural areas would also bridge the gap for those children that cannot travel long distances to participate in conventional schools. Bringing awareness and formulating creative means to educate girls is the path forward.

Abiding by His Holiness’s wisdom, the Dalai Lama, who emphasizes the importance of education, Lama Tenzin continues to spearhead educating the rescued girls from Upper Dolpo along with other disadvantaged girls. He says nothing is more important than empowering girls to reach for the stars and find their passion through education and, with that, become integral leaders to shine the light for others. He passionately states that if one monk can do what he did, many other people, including religious figures, can as well. Together a rising tide lifts all boats.