4 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
the British government in India did not accept any responsibility for girls' education until 1854. This was full thirtyone years after they had accepted some responsibility for men's education. In 1854 in the province of Bombay, for instance, while there were 2875 schools and other educational institutions for men with over one lakh pupils, there were only 65 girls5 schools, all under non-government management, with an enrolment of only 3500 pupils.8 This gap has been a continuing feature of Indian education throughout British rule and also, to a certain extent» after independence.
This article concerns itself mainly with the developments of the post-47 period and is divided into four sections. The first deals with the advance of women's education in the quarter of a century of independence. The second section points out the main features of this advance. The third explores the effect of education on the employment opportunities for women while the last discusses the social changes consequent on the spread of women's education.
INDEPENDENCE AND AFTER
Modern education for women in India began in the early years of the nineteenth century and by 1880 universities started admitting them, Calcutta in 1877-78 and Bombay in 1883. Progress was extremely slow particularly until 1921 when education was handed over to Indian ministers in the provincial administration. Female literacy crawled from 0.2 per cent in 1881 to 1.8 per cent in 1921. Most of the enrolment was in primary schools. In 1921 out of a total of 12.24 lakh girls on the rolls, only 26 thousand were enrolled in secondary schools and less than a thousand in the colleges.4 The situation improved somewhat in the subsequent years particularly after Indian ministries assumed office in. the provinces after 1937. For instance, female literacy rose to 6.0 per cent by 1946-47 and the total enrolment of girls in all educational institutions rose to 41.57 lakhs of which 6 lakhs were studying in secondary schools and 23 thousand in colleges and universities. This relatively quicker pace of female education after 1921 was due to several factors. There was a greater spread of education in general after the transfer of the education portfolio, under the Montford reforms, to Indians in the provincial governments. Another important factor was the nationwide awakening among women as the national movement began to assume a militant mass character. Social forces such as the rise in the age of marriage of girls in urban areas and the demand for educated wives were also having their impact. Moreover, by this time educated women had also become available in adequate numbers for teaching in primary and secondary schools.
A substantial advance in women's education, as also in other spheres of education, came about only after independence. This will be seen from figures in table I for 1950-51 and 1973-74 (estimated).