Female Education

Women's education in the Western Ghats region in Karnataka has a long history. The region has seen several efforts in this direction by the local rulers as far back as 1854 and later the state governments. While Wood's Despatch of 1854 brought many reforms in education in India this was followed by various commissions and committees which gave a fillip to women's education. After 1956 and up to 1976 these initiatives were part of development programmes implemented with the active participation of NGOs to empower women, especially tribal women. After 1976 mass literacy campaigns, environmental and women's movements have contributed extensively to the progress of women's education. This region of Karnataka has also seen considerable private investment in women's education.

Despite its reiterations on equality, fundamental rights and quality education for all, the emphasis of the National Curriculum Framework on Indian tradition and the collapsing of value education and religious education puts on hold the possibility of education emerging as an enabling tool for women's empowerment. The article revisits, briefly, the vision and policy framework of the New Education Policy of 1986 with regard to women's education, analysing the effect of progressive policy rhetoric on the actual writing of school textbooks, particularly those relating to language teaching.