Girls feel shy to raise queries in school as well as at home, says a new study.
Girls may be perceived as talkative but boys have the edge when it comes to raising queries during classroom interactions or at home, a new survey has found. While girls hesitate or feel shy to ask questions, boys are more vocal, the study says.
Conducted in the three states of UP, Bihar and Jharkhand, the study found that 93-94% boys raised queries at school and home while only 85% girls did so.
Nearly 800 adolescents — in the age group of 13-18 years — from three districts of each state were part of the study carried out by the India-arm of the global NGO-Plan International. “Because I am a Girl” report was released in Mumbai on Thursday on the eve of International girl child day.
The study also explored the reasons for girls not asking questions. “Amongst those not asking questions, nearly 60-70% of the adolescents said that they were afraid or shy to ask questions,” it says.
Agreeing with the findings of the study, teachers in Mumbai termed it a pan-India phenomenon.
Anjana Prakash, principal of Hansraj Morarji Public School, says, “Even in Mumbai, boys are more inquisitive in the class as compared to girls. Barring a few smart ones, the girls usually don’t ask much questions on topics beyond their syllabus.”
Radhika Rueben, a maths teacher, attributes the behavioural difference to the patriarchal society. “In India boys are given more opportunities than girls, they roam outside and interact with a diverse group of people. So, their knowledge about outside world is also more.”
Actress Shabana Azmi says, “Education doesn’t mean mugging up. Education should be able to open girls’ mind so that they can think independently.”
The report also says that more boys have perceived the benefit of school education in developing soft skills such as self-confidence, respect in family/society, problem solving and leadership.
It says that 75% of school going boys and 65% school going girls made an effort to learn beyond schools. Of the 200 million children in the age group of 6-14 years, 59 million do not attend school, 59% of them being girls.
In UP, two out of five girl dropouts are SCs
Over 41% of the girls who drop out of school after primary education in Uttar Pradesh belong to Schedule Castes, the study had found. In Bihar, SCs constituted 25% of the girls who drop out after primary. In Jharkhand, SC girls formed 14 % of such school drop outs, while 35% belong to Scheduled Tribe communities.
Less than 10% of the girls who dropped out of school belong to general category in UP and Jharkhand while it was 20% in Bihar.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}