Equality of Opportunity in Education and Training - Government Programmes in India

Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB)

Apex national organisation established by the government to coordinate the activities of State Welfare Boards. The Board runs a scheme for condensed courses of educational and vocational training for women and girls who are school drop-outs.

Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD)

This is a Department within the Ministry of Human Resources which administers the following programs relevant to education and training:

1. Support to Training and Employment Programmes for Women (STEP) provides training low income women to develop skills for sustainable employment in traditional sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, sericulture and handicrafts. Special features of the program include gender sensitisation, women and development and provision of support services.
2. Assistance for Training-cum-Production Centres includes assistance to establish training programs for women in non-traditional trades such as electronics, watchmaking, computer programming, printing and binding, handlooms and garment making, weaving and spinning, hotel management, fashion technology, tourism, bakeries and office management. Also known as the "NORAD-assisted Training Programmes for Women".
3. Funding of the Condensed Course of Education for Adult Women and Vocational Training for village-level workers.
4. Strategies to improve legal literacy such as awareness and training programs and a set of ten booklets entitled "Our Laws" which highlights the rights of women.

Ministry of Education

Relevant programs for women administered by this Ministry include:

1. A scheme for Education for Women’s Equality, which provides assistance to Voluntary Agencies for women's empowerment, to bring about a change in women's perception about themselves and that of society about women's traditional roles. This includes grants for field projects for women's empowerment and education, development of teaching and training material and other technical resources, training and research.
2. Girl's learning centres have been established in the Non-Formal Education (NFE) system for girls who are unable to access formal education. Forty percent of the centres are all-girl.
3. Special programs have been established in States requiring particular assistance on educational matters. These include Mahila Samakhaya which seeks to changes women’s views about themselves and societies views towards the traditional role of women and the Bihar Education Project which seeks to train teachers and bring women together to take collective action.
4. Support for State Polytechnics some of which are exclusively reserved for women.

Ministry of Labour

Programs administered by the Ministry include:

1. Vocational Training Institutes for Women. There is one National Vocational Training Institute (VTI) and ten Regional VTIs with a current (December 1999) capacity for 1496 women.
2. Assistance to State governments for women’s Indian Technical Institutes (ITI) and women’s wings in other ITIs. New women’s ITIs are to be set up with the assistance of the World Bank.
3. The Director-General of Employment and Training (DGET) within the Ministry of Labour administers Industrial Training Institutes some of which target women. Other relevant activities include the Training for Rural Youth for Self-Employment program which provides training in technical and entrepreneurial skills for poor families under which 40% of the program is reserved for women.