Bridging Exclusion of Girls at the Secondary Stage of Education: An Analysis of the Status of KGBV Girl’s Hostel Scheme in Assam, India

There has been a deficit of girls in education historically and especially at the secondary stage. Secondary stage of education is an important part in the educational hierarchy and this stage often witnesses girls dropping out or discontinuing with their education. Several socio-cultural factors contribute to the gender disparity in terms of access and participation in the educational processes. The Government of India has come up with several schemes to foster educational inclusion of girls. This current paper is based on one such scheme - the KGBV girl’s hostel scheme under Samgra Siksha, which mandates setting up of 100 bedded hostels for girls studying till Standard XII. So as to gather perspective on the status of the performance of the hostel scheme, two KGBV type IV girl’s hostel in two districts of Assam- Morigaon and Goalpara, were selected for an empirical study. The objective of the paper is to build an understanding of the factors that affect the educational participation of girls in these two districts and how far the scheme has been successful in bridging their educational exclusion at the secondary stage in Assam. A mixed research methodology comprising research tools like questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews and focus group discussion was used for field work. Findings of the study suggest that there has been an increase in the enrolment of girls at the hostel in the two districts. Based on the interaction with the students, parents, hostel authorities and the state authorities, a threefold framework was adopted to analyse the performance of the hostel in terms of addressing educational exclusion. Factors such as distance from home and school, safety concerns, flood situation and financial constraints governed the enrolment of girls at the hostel. In the end, the paper suggests inclusive strategies that could be adopted by these two hostels for better implementation and functioning of the scheme thereby fostering educational inclusion.

Abbreviations: BPL = Below Poverty Line; EBB = Educationally Backward Block; KGBV = Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya; MHRD = Ministry of Human Resource and Development; OBC = Other Backward Communities; OECD = Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development; RMSA = Rasthriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan; SSA = Sarva Siksha Abhiyan; SC = Scheduled castes; ST = Scheduled Tribes; UNESCO =United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation