Passage 10: Note Making and Summarizing | Class 11 English Grammar PDF Download

Read the following passage carefully:

1. According to the National Council for Applied Economic Research’s latest report, India’. Human Development Report which is a profile of the Indian states in the 1990s, there are many problems in women’s education. Girls are taken out of school as soon as some calamity hits the family’s fortunes. They are made to look after their younger siblings and they are not looked upon as ‘investment’. In order to marry them off early and without problems, girls are not allowed to traverse long distances to go to schools. They are not allowed to study under male teachers. Affluent families invest in girls’ education only if they are assured of getting better bridegrooms.
2. So high is the girls’ drop out rate that there are only 52 girls to every 100 boys who complete middle school. Gender disparity is higher among matriculates and 40 women to every 100 men ever pass the examination. The only gender egalitarian state is Kerala and it is very difficult to come across a female graduate in a village excepting in Kerala. Gender disparity varies with household income and poverty level and the poorer the family, the greater the temptation to invest in boys’ education. It also varies according to social class. The lowest level of matriculates is among the SC/STs and Muslims.
3. Another important finding is that at the critical age of 25 to 34 years, there is higher gender disparity in education, with high levels of female illiteracy, in the problematic central Indian states (Bihar, MP, Rajasthan and UP). This is indicative of other connected problems that these states face. When women are illiterate, they are not able to look after their children’s health and the mortality rate may be high. Faced with a high mortality rate of children, there is a tendency to have more children and the fertility rate remains high. Among the SC/ST women in the reproductive age of 15 to 35, only 6 to 9 percentage of literacy can be found in Bihar and UP.
4. Female labour participation reveals that as soon as the family’s income improves, women give up working whether in the fields or in non-farm activities or at home in income generating activities. It is not surprising that they stop working because there is a huge gender disparity in wage rates. Even when women do the same arduous work they are paid on average ? ₹ 17 a day as compared to ? ₹ 23 for men.
5. When women are educated they can at least look after their own and the family’s health, better. Without adequate education, there is a low level of awareness about ailments and sheer ignorance can cause them to ascribe ailments to non-medical, often supernatural causes. Uneducated women are often too shy to reveal their diseases and many do not go to doctors out of fear that it may cause undue expenses to their budgetary balances. Pregnant women in many villages have been found not to be given any special diet. In fact they often reduce their food intake because of the prevailing belief that they cannot digest heavy food. There is gender disparity in most states in the treatment of young children and the elderly.
6. In any case, a majority of the rural areas do not have provision for primary health care services. The prevalence of diseases is rather high in the southern states, West Bengal and Punjab perhaps because of better reporting of sickness and the availability of treatment. About 41 million individuals receive medication for major illnesses at a point of time in India and the highest prevalence is of hypertension followed by tuberculosis. The critical issues of education and health are closely connected with expansion of job opportunities and while reducing unemployment has been a standard slogan during the elections by all parties, the emphasis on health and education has been subdued.

Q.1. Make notes on the contents of the passage you have read. Use a format you consider suitable. Use abbreviations where necessary. Also give a suitable title to the passage.

Title: Neglect of Women’s Education & Health
Notes:

1. Female drop-outs in schools
   (a) family hit by calamity—girl looks after siblings
   (b) girl’s edn. – not regarded invt.
   (i) rich – invt. if better bridegm
   (c) prob. free mar’ge
   (i) early age
   (ii) no long dist. to sch’l
   (iii) no male trs.
2. High drop-out rate/illiteracy
   (a) gender disparity in edn – directly: to
   (i) h.h. income & poverty level
   (ii) social clusters
   (iii) prob. central Indian states
3. Female labour participation
   (a) family income imps. – women give up wkg
   (b) huge gender disparity in wage rates
4. Results of inadequate female edn.
   (a) Health probs.
   (i) ignorance
   (ii) superstitions
   (iii) shyness about disease
   (iv) fear of undue expenses
   (v) lack of proper diet to preg. wn.
5. Lack of rural/health care services
   (a) high prevalence of diseases
6. 41 millions get medn.
   (b) southern states, W.B. & Pun.
   (i) better report’g of sickness
   (ii) availability of trtmt.
   (c) most com’n diseases
   (i) h’tension
   (ii) T.B.

Q.2. Make a summary of the passage.

Summary:
Women’s education is still legging behind under various factors. If any calamity hits the family girls are taken out of school to look after their younger siblings. Girls education is not regard as investment. Only the rich class educate their girls for better match. Most of the parents do not like to send their girl child in distant school or taught by male teachers. The working womens give up their job with an increase in their family income. Secondly inadequate education in female create health problems due to ignorance, superstitions and fear of undue expense. There is lack of rural health care services so the rural women become victims of diseases like T.B., hypertension etc.