WOMEN AND EDUCATION
What a change in women’s status from the Vedic age to the present day? Looking back at history, we find that women were treated with respect in the Indian society. In the Vedic age women were educated. However, as society became orthodox, there was change in their status. They were confined to the four walls of kitchen and occupied in rearing children. Men became bread earners and it was considered necessary for them to be educated. The role of men and women was thus separated.
But now the social scene has considerably changed. Women all over the world are being educated in almost every field that men were so far normally associated with. The knowledge of arts, science, technology and politics is no longer the privilege of men alone. Women have begun to study these subjects and have brought great credit to themselves and their nation by active contribution in those fields. As a result every school is now conscious of imparting education to girls. Some states even give incentive to them. This has been done primarily because even today there are some orthodox people who feel that woman’s place is only in her home. Yet one cannot deny the fact that it is absolutely essential to educate the women in any society. If the woman is an educated mother, she can bring up children much better. Being aware of the events and thought prevailing in the world, she can help to broaden the horizon for her children. In case the male in the family is unable to work for some reason, the woman can be financially independent too. She can supplement the income of the family by taking up a job, thus providing a better standard of living for her children and husband.
Wisdom requires that girls should be sent to school and later to college and encouraged to lead the society. It has been said that “You educate a man and you educate one person, but when you educate a woman you educate a whole family.” The influence of a woman in the home is greater than man and her education spreads within the family. Her education is more important because she is the first teacher of her child and is it not true that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.