Girls tend to drop higher education

26 September 2008

There have always been fewer girls than boys studying in the higher secondary level but the ratio between the two has tended to increase steadily over the past six years, according to Education officials.

From about 400 students in the early 1960’s, total enrolment has increased in all levels of formal education and non-formal education centres to 1,92,393 this year of which 1,01,265 are male and 90,969 female.

The comparative enrolment of girls in public higher secondary schools is lower than in the earlier stages of the general education system, the education ministry’s general statistics, 2008, indicate.

Only 33 percent of students studying in RUB institutes are girls and only 18 percent of the students receiving scholarship to study abroad are girls. Consequently, girls account for 58 percent of students studying abroad without scholarships.

According to the National Statistics Bureau (NSB), Bhutan had a literacy rate of 55.5 percent (male 65.7 percent and female 45.9 percent) in 2007.

Pema Choden, 16, from Bidung, Trashigang, left her school when in class VII last year to work breaking stones for the road department. “I have two sisters and three brothers whose education will be impossible to afford if I don’t work,” she said. I am okay with this arrangement.” Dechen Zam, the media focal person in the education ministry, said that the performance of girls in class X is bad compared to boys and so girls tend to drop out after that. “We are doing some research on that right now,” she said.

“The students in rural areas tend to be morally down and they give up studies,” said Norbu Gyaltshen, Head of Administration and Finance of the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC). “Also, rural parents have the notion that their daughters will depend on their husbands and so don’t let their daughters study further,” he added.

He said that the NCWC had discussed this matter and decided to conduct domestic and gender studies for class VIII, X and XII. It was also pointed out that financial institutions such as the BNB, BDFC and RICBL do not provide education loans, whereas the National Pension and Provident Fund issued education loans to only those civil servants who have a minimum accumulation of Nu 30,000 as well as those who have been employed for three years and have properties to mortgage.

The BOB issues loans on the base of net salary or mortgage.

The criteria for the mortgage in case of land and house is that either the land or house should be within the municipality or near a motorable road.

It is clear that most villages are not located within municipal boundaries and are far away from roads. As they do not qualify for education loans, rural parents tend not to encourage their children for higher studies.

Of the total population, about one in four persons resides in urban areas and the rest in rural area. The projected population of NSB for 2008 is 6,71,083. And 79 percent of the current population is dependent on agriculture.

By Sonam Rinchen

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