An important position should be given to education, and particularly inclusion, in the scheme of things

Gender disparity and non-inclusivity is a major hindrance in India's pursuit to achieve the 4th Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring quality education for all. India lags behind China and other BRIC nations in terms of inclusivity and participation in education. China in particular has near universal levels of enrolment in lower secondary and a majority completing upper secondary in most parts of the country. India has a smaller proportion of its population enrolled at secondary levels than Brazil, Russia, and China. The only region of the world with lower participation at secondary school level than India is sub-Saharan Africa. India witnesses a huge gender disparity and access to education in India remains widely problematic, with great variations between and within states, and large differences in participation between identifiable sub-populations like Scheduled Castes and Tribes, girls, and some Muslim communities. Nationally, there is a high initial enrolment rate in the first grade. However, about 30 per cent of them fail to complete Grade V (primary), about 50 per cent drop out before completing Grade VIII (upper primary), and 60 per cent do not finish Grade X (lower secondary). This is prevalent in northern India, particularly in the BIMARU states. Gender plays an important role in education in India. According to the Census of India 2011, only 26 per cent of girls completed secondary education as compared to 50 per cent of boys. The Annual Status of Education Report (Rural), 2019 also found thatpreference is given to the education of sons in comparison to daughters, by enrolling the former in private schools, which are considered

better than government schools in imparting education.

In India, both direct and indirect costs of schooling are high and the lower household incomes of the majority of the population makes participation in secondary schooling a big challenge.  Household surveys show the poorest allocate less than five per cent ofexpenditure to education. Unsubsidised secondary schooling is not available to most ruralhouseholds and is considered a prerogative only for rich urban households. The present globalized world and integrated economies have brought to the fore the core importance of education. It plays a crucial role in empowering individuals and pave way for transformation of the society at large.  Education has a major role in making the youth improve their social standing by alleviating their poverty-ridden condition. One of the main measures of human development is access to education, and as the Human Development Report 2012mentions, the growth in index is associated with growth in publicspending on education. Therefore, a fundamentally important position should be accorded to education, and particularly inclusion, in the entire scheme of things. The importance of quality education and the urgent need of equality in education should be ingrained in the policy. As education is imperative for empowering people, equality and inclusivity have to be crucial for any education policy to facilitate and drive widespread social transformation in the society. The government should create a framework based on equality of condition, which has five dimensions of 1) resources; 2) respect and recognition; 3) love, care and solidarity; 4) power; and 5) working and learning. With equality of condition as a base, gender equality framework can be extended by adding the aspect of inclusion, which, in addition to parity, equity and equality, can become the pillars for achieving quality education for all. It is proposed that these four elements of the gender equality framework have to be guided by another framework — strategy, practices, resources and governance - to develop a holistic and integrated education policy.

(The writer is Associate Professor at Amity University, Noida. The views expressed are personal.)