Over 70 Per Cent Indian Teenage Girls Aspire For Higher Education, Career And Late Marriage, Says Survey 

According to a report titled Teen Age Girls (TAG), fewer teenage girls are getting married and many more are going to schools, as reported by Business Standard.

The report was published by the NGO Naandi Foundation with help from Mahindra & Mahindra. The foundation which focuses on educating girls from marginalised sections of the society, also spearheads Project Nanhi Kali.

In a good news for India, an overwhelming majority of the surveyed girls, about 70 per cent, expressed a desire to get higher education, work after education and have specific career in mind. Both rural and urban teenage girls, more than 70 per cent of them, only want to marry after the age of 21.

This comes as a good news for India whose Female Labour Force participation rate stands at 27.2 per cent, one of the lowest in the world.

The data also suggests that female illiteracy and child marriage are on the decline.

The survey points towards the challenges faced by teenage girls like anaemia, open defecation and unhygienic menstrual practices.

The survey, whose results were published in the TAG report had a large sample covering approximately 74,000 girls. According to Naandi, this is the first time that a countrywide survey was conducted to better understand the challenges and dreams of India’s teenage girls.

The government has launched several schemes like Beti Bachao, Beti Bachao and Sukanya Samriddhi to encourage girl child education. While Prime Minister Modi has been aggressively promoting Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan to improve hygiene and sanitation, the government has launched ‘Suvidha’ pads which are 100% biodegradable and available at prices as low as Rs. 2.50/pad.