Head, Department of Anthropology, University of Pune.
Research Students, Department of Anthropology, University of Pune.
Education has been identified as the most important instrument for changing women's position in society all over the world as it is aimed at making women more competent and active units in the process of socio-economic and political development. In the program of Action of the International Conference held in Cairo in 1994, on Population and Development, education is considered as the most important means to empower women with the skills, knowledge and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. But in Indian society even today a girl child is considered as economic liability and her education is an increased liability. Therefore the parent's are reluctant to spend on her education as she has to be married to equally or better educated groom with a huge dowry and difficulty to find a suitable partner. Also the parent's cannot rely on her in their old age. Therefore present study tried to understand the educational issues involved in women's development as it is one of the important factors of among the women's development and has focused on Maharashtrian women of Pune. Purposive sampling method and a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection was used.
