Getting girls into schooling system presents a host of complex and persistent issues, but it may be one of the wisest investments developing countries can make. The fundamental importance of female education and benefits of girls’ education is beyond question. Girls’ education, as an issue, has special significance in the context of country’s planned development and has been an important sector of any society. “Growing evidences indicate that educating girls brings a number of benefits to girls, their families and their societies at large. Economic productivity, social development, desirable child care and social equity are the outcomes of education in general; whereas transferring education from one generation to another is possible only through educated girls and women” (Das and Mohanty, 2009). The United Nations reveal that only 2 out of 5 women in India can read or write, about 40% of Indian girls under 14 do not go to school and globally 64.9 million girls of primary school age are not in school. In India, women and girls receive far less education than men, due to both social norms and fears of violence. The county has the largest population of non-school-going working girls (Patanjali, 2005). The growing concern which needs to be addressed not only in India but also in most developing countries, if “Universalization of Elementary Education” is to be realised, is the education of girls (Das and Mohanty, 1995).

[1] Reader-Cum-Deputy Director, CSSEIP, B.R.Ambedkar Central University, Lucknow.