Colleges in Kashmir | Image Resource : newsofkashmir.com
Education provides individuals with social, intellectual and emotional development and helps to shape their behaviour. Education is the birthright of every human being and is not meant for boys only. Females should be educated because when a woman is educated the entire family is educated. Education can help women face all the challenges in her life.
Female education is important not only for the women only but for the future of the whole nation. Known educationists believe that ‘An educated woman will never have an illiterate child’. Thus it can be said that educating a woman means an educated future.
Sex ratio in J&K
The distribution of sex ratio in J&K remains mostly tilted toward men. The sex ratio is represented as the ratio of females per 1000 males in J&K. The J&K district had the highest sex ratio of 1011, 1010 and 1002 from 1951 - 1971 and was among the top twenty districts of India. However, the sex ratio in Leh district decreased to 583 in 2011 which is very low for the state and national level.
It is noted that there is a link between the sex ratio and female literacy rate. As the sex ratio improved the female literacy rate also increased in the various districts of J&K.
The female sex ratio can be improved by adapting the awareness programs and using strategies to build an environment which saves and protects the girl child. Gender sensitive policies, provision and legislation can be used for this.
Female literacy rate
- In 1981, the J&K district had the highest female literacy rate of 32.24% and Kargil district had the lowest female literacy rate of 3.14%.
- In 2001, the J&K district had the highest female literacy rate of 68.75% and Kupwara had a rate of 26.83%.
- In 2011, the J&K district had the highest female literacy rate of 77.41% and the Samba district had a female literacy rate of 74.39%. The Ramban district had the lowest female literacy rate of 40.04%.
The female literacy rate in the urban areas was much higher than that of the rural areas in J&K. The female literacy rate can be improved by providing free and compulsory education to females.
Now Jammu and Kashmir has 460 colleges which provide higher education courses. The 47 Government colleges in Kashmir offer undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate level courses.
