Mrs. Anuradha Baruwa
Astt. Prof. Dept. Education
Jorhat Kendriya Mahavidyalaya
Introduction.
Education is the only device by which the contemporary society may be moulded to meet the current challenges. With women forming fifty percent of the entire population, it is essential that they match their strides with the male population. Only then can a nation advance. Keeping this in mind, many of the developing nations are allocating a quarter of their national budget to education; some of them even more. (Venkataiah, 2001)A host of problems have however kept these countries from achieving their goal. A major problem faced by most of the developing countries is that they have inherited the educational system from the colonial rule. The education system adopted by the colonial rule was specifically to meet their needs and requirements rather than fulfill the requirement of the society. This study attempts to trace the development of women education in India from the vedic to the post independence period.
Education of women in the Vedic period.
History has witnessed the status of women in the early Vedic period when it was at its zenith. They were revered during that period and were regarded as the fountain source of strength. It is mentioned that Brahma divided his soul into two forms – husband and wife. (Chaube & Chaube, 1999). She was therefore, considered as the symbol of man’s power, his knowledge, inner strength and action and known as ardhangini. Women were considered as the inseparable counter part of man in the Rig Vedic age as she was not only the symbol of man’s power, but also of his knowledge, inner strength and action. No Yajya was considered complete without the active participation of women.. The Rig Vedic literature refers to many learned and scholarly women such as Visvsvara, Ghosala, Lopamudra, Urvashi and Apala. But in the post Vedic stage
References: 1. Venkataiah, S. 2001,Women education, New Delhi, Anmol Publication. P.1 2. Chaube, S.P., Chaube,A, Education in ancient and medieval India, New Delhi 7. Saikia, Jyoti Prasad, Problems of education and rural women, DVS Publishers, Guwahati, 2008. P. 16. 8. Ludden, David, 2003. Where is Assam? Using geographical History to locate Current Social Realities, Guwahati. Centre for Northeast India, South and Southeast Asia Studies. P 5. 9. Gangte, Dr.M.Priyadarshani, 2011. Women of North East in present context, Maxford Books, P.154 10. Dr 11. Baruah, S.L., 2009 A Comprehensive History of Assam, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, P. 626 12. Dr 15. Serto, Dr. Manilei, Women, Education and Development, Maxford Books, 2011.