Common social barriers preventing girls from attending school

05/01/26

Blog

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A girl child’s education is a vital way to change society. In India, more and more people are realising that to educate the girl child means better health for society, greater economic productivity, and women’s empowerment. Moving beyond the importance of education for girls, these girls still find it difficult to go to school. Although there has been some movement in the value of schooling for girls’ education through targeted interventions, the insidious social, cultural, and economic factors leading to discrimination faced by a girl child remain their major hindrances.

Let’s know the primary reasons which are making girls unable to access education and discuss their implications to see the urgency in addressing these barriers so every girl can claim her right to education.

Understanding the Right to Education and Its Importance for Girls

This phrase ‘what is right to education’ refers to the guarantee spelled out in India’s Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE). This law provides a free and compulsory elementary education to all children, from the age of six up to fourteen years.

The Right to Education: The definition and significance of the Right to Education also require quality and equity. This laid down a legal obligation on the State to ensure that all children receive education free of cost so that it should be a tool for social justice.

Forming Systemic Barriers: No less than that, many girls do not still receive comprehensive education due to systemic, socio-cultural deterrents blocking their way into fully exercising their right to education.

RTE Infrastructures Towards a Need: The argument for RTE should be constructed around providing a girl child with the education she needs by taking active steps to remove social barriers above and outside the school.

Gender Discrimination and Deep-Rooted Social Norms

The broader societal sphere places the attitudes of the boy child and the girl child into historically entrenched gender roles and cultures of bias that precede their birth or before they may even start schooling.

Grounded Expression of Gender Bias: All families, particularly rural ones, consider boys to be their future bread earners; hence, their education is put first. With regard to girls, they are seen in most cases as somewhat permanent members of the household.

Marriage, Bringing New Responsibilities: Expectation for early marriages creates a scenario of having too short a time for education; on top of that, girls are often held with a bigger share of household chores and caregiving conflicting with school attendance.

Culture, Beliefs, and Impositions: Some cultural beliefs confine girls’ mobility beyond their homes and thereby deny them education, and ultimately, restrict their self-esteem and space to participate in the public domain.

Poverty and Financial Barriers Limiting Girl Child Education

Some of the hidden costs of schooling make it a lot harder for families with limited resources to educate their daughters. These barriers for girl child education often encourage a bias towards educating boys, while violating the fundamental dictate of educating the girl child.

Cost Prioritization over Hidden Costs: Such costs as uniforms, transport, stationary, and exam fees become prohibitive to families living on scant incomes, thus denying the male child getting an education priority.

Pressure for Girls to Work: There is intense economic pressure on girls to stay home, help in household tasks or look for informal work, the earning from which may supplement that of a male breadwinner, thus negating the longer-term benefits of acquisition of education.

Generational Poverty Cycle: Denying a girl an education only serves to perpetuate the cycle of poverty; she would likely have limited career options and a lower earning potential as an adult.

Safety Concerns and Lack of Proper School Infrastructure

Girls’ non-attendance in school as a right for education is a product of unsafe hazards in commuting or poor facilities on the premises.

Long-distance travels: Make girls vulnerable to safety risks, which include harassment, a reason enough for their parents to withdraw children from school.

It is a Major Issue-Sanitation Facilities: Absence of private sanitary toilets and hygiene facilities at school is a key reason for girls dropping out, especially during menstruation.

More Comfortable Spaces will Result in Increased Attendance: Creating a supportive, physically secure school environment around trained staff and safe routes is most important for increasing girls’ attendance.

Early Marriage and Social Pressure on Young Girls

Early marriage, in particular, hastens the end of a girl’s educational journey and is among the most severe forms of discrimination faced by a girl child, significantly limiting her opportunities for growth and empowerment.

Compulsory School Withdrawal: Marriage for a girl leads to her immediate exit from school and brings with it domestic responsibilities which often outweigh formal education.

Education – Below Marital Obligations: The perceived societal pressure is that marriage tends to provide more assurance than the empowerment that the education of the girl child would give.

Rise in Dropout Rates due to Early Pregnancy: Early marriage also leads to early pregnancy; hence, dropout rates are positively related to the health care and demands of caregiving.

Reduced Education Opportunities: Tied to Marriage Expectations-Extreme shrinkage of space rendered regarding perceived need and time to spend on education significantly narrows future career paths.

Domestic Responsibilities and Caregiving Roles

The burden of household chores and caregiving differs much from one gender to the other, obstructing in many respects the right to education and school attendance for girls. Time must be taken for fetching water, cooking, cleaning, and other chores instead of studying or attending classes. Caregiving for younger siblings and elderly relatives becomes a highly demanding task for girls. Their education is seen as more flexible or less important than these immediate burdens at home in some contexts. This perception of education leads to some rigid timelines that diminish attendance, focus in class, and ultimately academic performance for girls, making them more vulnerable to dropping out of the education system.

Lack of Awareness About the Importance of Educating the Girl Child

This stands as the most potent barrier to ensure that the discrimination faced by a girl child is continued unimpeded: not really understanding the long-term benefits of schooling for girls.

Misunderstanding Long-Term Benefits: Communities often fail to fully appreciate the impact an educated girl has on the prosperity of her family and the local economy.

Some Myths are Commonly Accepted, thus Causing Low Enrolment: Many myths such as “Educating a girl is a waste” still persist and contribute to low enrolment rates and premature dropout.

Community Education and Advocacy: These are among the targeted community educational and sensitisation initiatives that can dispel myths and very clearly articulate the benefits of upholding the right to education.

Psychological Barriers and Low Confidence in Girls

Continuous exposure to discrimination faced by a girl child has a deep impact, really affecting her mental health and ability to stake a claim on her right to education. Things which are causing Low confidence in Girls are:

Internalised Beliefs: The barrage of negative messages piped into the girl’s life convinces her that she is “less capable” or, at least, less entitled to educational opportunities.

Societal Pressure and Lack of Encouragement: As such therefore, pressure to fit in with traditional roles does not pair very well with encouragement; rather, it erodes a keen sense of self and ambition.

Self-doubt and Poor Performance: This sets off self-doubt, which eventually leads to failure in school, reduced participation, and then, ultimately, dropping out from school.

How Strengthening Policies and Community Support Can Overcome These Barriers?

The marathon of universal girl child education requires strengthening government policy backed with tremendous community support.

Investments from the Government: Continued and severe investments in government schemes such as scholarships, interest-free loans, and conditional cash transfers are critical.

The Role of NGOs and Community Leaders: With predecessors such as Save The Children India, and then Bal Raksha Bharat, these are the non-profit organisations that complement government efforts aiming for child welfare with their own work in bringing implementation issues to light, providing direct support to children, and carrying out awareness raising campaigns.

Solutions Suggested: Many basic practical solutions include providing a safe and accessible school with proper sanitation facilities, targeted scholarships, and community awareness programmes to challenge harmful social norms.

Enforcing the Right to Education: All efforts must tie back to the effective enforcement of the Right to Education, ensuring every provision, every barrier is removed.

Conclusion

The multiple barriers that make it difficult for girls to achieve educational success and completion, such as discrimination faced by a girl child and financial barriers, unsafe environments, and limiting social norms, serve as severe obstacles to the full realization of the Right to Education.

However, we Bal Raksha Bharat, aligned with government policy and in collaboration with well-meaning members of the community, have proven that these hurdles can be overcome. By strengthening the intrinsic solidity of value that education imparts to girl children together with tireless effort in ensuring safety, support, and inclusion, we at Bal Raksha Bharat are sure that we will unlock millions of young girls. Teaching a girl is the most effective means of effecting a propitious social, economic, and cultural change that benefits all in India by guaranteeing a brighter and more equitable future for all.

Naveen Kumar

“Naveen is an SEO expert and digital marketing analyst at Bal Raksha Bharat with a passion for helping businesses grow online. With a data-driven approach, he specializes in boosting search rankings, driving traffic, and optimizing digital strategies. Follow for tips on SEO, content, and marketing trends."