By IANS,
New Delhi : The enrolment of girls in primary and upper primary levels has grown steadily over the years, the Economic Survey 2011-12 presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Thursday said.
The survey, which was tabled in parliament, noted that under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a government project to universalise elementary education, the number of girls in schools in the age group of 5-14 years has increased from 79.6 percent in 2004-05 to 87.7 percent in 2009-10.
Similarly, the number of girls in the educational system in the 15-19 age group increased from 40.3 percent to 54.6 percent for the same period.
As per the survey, the SSA has had positive outcomes for girl child education leading to an increase in the gender parity index (GPI) in primary education at 0.94 (94 girls for every 100 boys) as well as upper primary education at 0.92.
“Enrolment of girls at primary level and upper primary level increased over the years and the challenge is to translate the high enrolment into high attendance rates,” it said.
The survey also indicated there was an increase in literacy among women, which increased from 53.67 percent (Census 2001) to 65.46 percent (Census 2011). It was the first time, that out of the total of 217.70 million literates added during the decade, women (110.07 million) outnumbered men.