Singh spoke at meet attended by Michelle Obama, Jim Yong Kim.
By Sujeet Rajan
In five years, the enrollment of girls in schools in India has improved from 58.70% to 78.94%, while Gender Parity Index has increased from 0.88 to 1, along with sharp reduction in gender gap, according to India’s Ambassador to the United States, Arun K. Singh.
Singh cited these remarks in his remarks during a special event featuring First Lady Michelle Obama at the World Bank titled ‘Let Girls Learn!’, held in Washington, DC, earlier today. The World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim was also present at the meet.
Singh said the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has taken special interest in education of girls in the country and launched a “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” (“Save the Girl Child Educate the Girl Child”) initiative in January last year.
“Our National Campaign for Secondary Education aims to make quality education for adolescent girls accessible and affordable, enhancing the enrolment by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance, improving the quality of education by ensuring compliance to prescribed norms and removal of gender, social-economic and disability barriers,” said Singh.
“The goal is to achieve an enrollment of 90% by 2017, and universal retention by 2020,” he added.
“We have rolled out a national incentive scheme that gifts money to young women from disadvantaged backgrounds when they turn 18 and have passed their 10th grade exams,” Singh said.
He pointed out that separate toilets have been built for girls in over 96% of secondary schools in India. Also, hostels were constructed close to schools to serve girls from remote areas. In one particular scheme, bicycles were given to girls who completed elementary school, making it easier for them to go to schools. More and more female teachers are being hired.
“Adolescent girls are being trained in job market skills including Information Technology, automobile, retail, security, wellness, healthcare, travel & tourism, physical education and sports, gems and jewelry designing,” he said.
Singh added: “I recall the words of Prime Minister Modi during his conversation with President Obama on radio in a special joint appearance on January 27, 2015 in New Delhi: ‘To save the girl child, to educate the girl child, this is our social duty, cultural duty, and humanitarian responsibility.’”