78% of parents in rural India aspire to educate their girls to graduation and beyond

From rural India, here comes a promising indicator of progress towards an inclusive environment. According to a report conducted by the Development Intelligence Unit (DIU), a collaboration between Transform Rural India and Sambodhi Research and Communications Pvt. Ltd., parents from rural communities firmly believe that a child's gender, whether a boy or a girl, should not hinder their educational aspirations. In this study, it was revealed that a total of 78 percent of parents of girls and 82 percent of parents of boys wanted to educate their children to graduation and above. The study was focused on 6 to 16-year-old children in rural communities across 20 states in India. The report, titled ‘State of Elementary Education in Rural India– 2023’, was officially unveiled by Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India, during TRI’s India Rural Colloquy 2023 (IRC) on August 8 at India Habitat Centre, Delhi.

On launching the report, the honourable minister said, "As a student of public policy and in charge of the education sector of India, I study and learn new subjects every day. The mindset with which I’ve come here is that the report titled ‘State of Elementary Education in Rural India – 2023’ would possibly help me with decision-making in the future. After all, today's young generation needs proof and data. Our country has a history of interpretation and documentation of knowledge in many formats. And this knowledge will travel through ideas. It has to transform into a language and a form." He went on to speak about India’s knowledge traditions, age of competency and skill-based learning, the transformation of Indian education steered by #NEP2020, education in local languages, the importance of early childhood care and education, and the need for more women's involvement in the development sector programs. "India's President Draupadi Murmu is an inspiring case study of a woman from rural India who had the courage to educate herself and stand in a leadership position. As a country, we have had a number of women moving forward, and it's something we need to ensure even more moving forward," he added.

The report also noted that the finding, which indicates no disparity in parental aspirations concerning the education of their children, calls for continued efforts to promote inclusive education. This will ensure sustainable opportunities for boys and girls alike. “This highly positive sign has the potential to further strengthen educational growth in the rural sector. We hope that our policymakers, educational institutions, and other stakeholders will acknowledge these common aspirations to establish an inclusive environment that ensures growth and development for every child in rural India," said Javed Siddiqui, Lead, Education at Transform Rural India.

The survey included responses from 6,229 parents, among whom 6,135 had school-going students, 56 had students who dropped out of school, and 38 had children who had never enrolled in school.

This report was launched at the India Rural Colloquy 2023 in Delhi, an event that features well over 100 thought leaders – in development, culture, business, and beyond – in over two dozen conversations in four Indian cities. The aim is to bring people together in hopes of finding actionable solutions to the challenges facing rural India, in an unusual event in that includes on-the-ground voices from those at the sharp end of rural development.