Pedalling to a Brighter Future in India
By Liliana Chai Sept. 25, 2024
The 2024 Global Gender Gap report has revealed that the literacy gap between men and women in India is 17.2 percentage points, meaning that more than 50% more women are illiterate than men in India. One explanation for this large disparity is the low educational attainment of Indian schoolgirls, especially in rural areas, where Statista reports 8% of 15 to 16 year old girls are not in any form of school. However, a recent surge in girls bicycling to and from school has improved access to schooling for girls, especially in rural areas with poor infrastructure.
Indian girls face numerous educational disparities, such as a lack of transportation to and from school, a lack of menstrual products, cultural expectations that prioritize motherhood and child marriage. The consequences of these obstacles are dire, as many women in India enter the workforce uneducated, putting them at a large financial disadvantage. This cycle repeats continuously over generations as uneducated mothers are unable to educate their own children, which is reflected in the country’s literacy rates: 62.3% of women in India are literate, compared to the
worldwide average of 79.9%, per India’s National Sample Survey.
India has experimented with many programs aiming to increase girls’ access to education, notably Bihar state’s bicycle program. Launched in 2006, the initiative provides girls in ninth grade with resources to obtain a bicycle for commuting to school, tackling one of greatest barriers to girls’ education: transportation. The program improved enrollment by 32% overall and reduced the state’s gender gap in enrollment by 40%, per Northeastern Global News. For many girls, bicycles represent a symbol of self-liberation and female empowerment. The news agency also claims that girls involved in the program reported feeling a greater sense of potential for reaching success in life and a greater sense of control over their lives.
“Biking is very convenient in India and is the main way of transportation for close distances like getting groceries or going to a friend’s house. In older parts of cities that are more cramped, biking is often the only option to get around,” Sophomore Ayush Deshpande said.
Nibha Kumari, a female resident in Bihar, shared that the bicycle that she received from the state government changed her life when she was 15, per BBC. She was able to efficiently cycle from home to school and outside tutoring classes six days a week. Kumari also stated that if she did not have the opportunity to have a bicycle, she would not have finished high school.
“Cycling to school allows me to go places on my own schedule, and has the bonus of letting me skip the long lines of traffic. Because most of my extracurricular activities are close by, I can cycle there as well. Being able to cycle has given me greater autonomy without needing a car,” Senior Colin Jubert said.
Besides supplying bicycles, other programs have been enacted to increase school enrollment of Indian girls. Cash incentive programs aimed at poor and less priviledged families have increased the probability of girls continuing school by 23% across the country, according to The Times of India. Such programs provide frequent
payments each time a periodic milestone in the girl’s life is achieved, like reaching adulthood unmarried. However, despite persistent efforts, the gender gap remains significant. As studied by the International Centre for Women, girls are given less time at home to study than their brothers and sexual violence is a threat for many in school.
The rise in cycling levels among girls in India has been referred to as a “silent revolution” by Aditi Seth from the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. Despite India’s significant gender disparities, the strategies to improve girls’ mobility are proving to be effective without causing great public disruption to other commuters. Building on India’s achievements, Nishith Prakash and a team of researchers at the Northeastern University are working to implement similar programs in other parts of the world, such as Zambia. Ultimately, Prakash hopes to inspire global efforts in order to bring greater gender equality using the strategies that have proved successful in India.
About the Contributors
Liliana Chai
staff writer
Liliana Chai is a sophomore at Leland High School. She is a staff writer for the 2024-25 Charger Account. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, playing piano, writing poetry and sleeping.
Dana Lim
art director
Dana Lim is a Senior at Leland High School and the Charger Account's Art Director. She loves the creative aspect of art and this is her fourth year in journalism. She likes listening to music, nights out with friends, and cats.
Comments