Free Education Till The Age Of 18 Years Can End Child Marriage!

Non-Government Organisations Appealed All Political Parties To Include It In Their Election Manifesto

Delhi Desk : Free Education till the age of 18 years can prove to be important in ending the evil practice of Child Marriage from the Country. Non-Government Organisations working towards ending this practice have also appealed to all Political Parties to include this in their election manifesto.

Compulsory and free education to all children till the age of 18 can play a decisive role in eliminating child marriage from the Country by 2030 as there is a direct and clear correlation between dropping out of school before the age of 18 and child marriage.

Child Marriage Evil In India

Child Marriage Rates Are Higher In States With Low Literacy Rates

It has been claimed that in Kerala, with 96 percent female literacy, the child marriage rate is only 6 percent, while the National average is 23.3 percent. In contrast, in Bihar, where the female literacy rate is only 61 percent, the child marriage rate is 41 percent.

This important finding, which can prove to be a game changer in the ongoing fight against child marriage in the Country, was revealed on the occasion of International Women’s Day in a research paper “Educate to End Child Marriage : Exploring Linkages and Role of Education in Elevating Child Marriages” released by Child Marriage Free India Campaign (CMFI), a coalition of 160 Non-Government Organisations campaigning to end child marriage in the Country by 2030.

Child Marriage To End By 2030

India Towards Tipping Point In Ending The Evil Of Child Marriage By 2030

According to the research paper, India is moving towards the tipping point towards eliminating the evil of child marriage by 2030. The tipping point is the point at which child marriage will automatically end. In such a situation, if free and compulsory education till the age of 18 years becomes a reality, then this fight to root out the crime of child marriage will get a new edge and direction.

Jyoti Mathur, Policy and Research Director, Child Marriage Free India Campaign, said, “Although both the central and state governments are working with determination and seriousness to end child marriage, yet if there is a change in the existing Right to Education Act, If education up to the age of 18 is made compulsory and free, it can give a new impetus to efforts in the fight against child marriage.”

Let us tell you that all the Countries of the world have committed to achieve the goal of eliminating child marriage and forced marriage by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations.

Child Marriage In Bihar

50 Thousand Child Marriages Were Stopped Within The Last 6 Months

Child Marriage Free India Campaign is a coalition of 160 NGOs running a grassroots campaign against child marriage in more than 300 districts with high rates of child marriage to eliminate this social evil by 2030. This alliance has stopped more than 50,000 child marriages in the Country in the last six months alone, while legal action has been initiated in more than 10,000 cases.

Through its vast network and grassroots information system, it has succeeded in stopping 5 percent of total child marriages across the Country. Releasing the findings of the research paper, Child Marriage Free India Campaign said that although the Central and State Governments have shown commendable will and seriousness in eradicating this social crime, yet some more important steps need to be taken to sharpen the fight against child marriage.

Child Marriage In Uttar Pradesh

Big Appeal To All Political Parties

It is clear from the findings of the research paper that the step of compulsory and free education up to 18 years can prove to be a transformational step to end child marriage and hence there is an appeal to all the political parties to include this demand in their election manifesto of the upcoming Lok Sabha Election.

The research paper has underlined the interrelationships between female literacy rate and child marriage rate on the basis of data and facts taken from different parts of India. For example, in Mizoram, a state with 93 percent female literacy, the rate of child marriage is only 8 percent. Madhya Pradesh, where female literacy rate is 67.5 percent, has a child marriage rate of 23.1 percent, while Haryana, which has 73.8 percent female literacy, has a much lower rate of child marriage at 12.5 percent.

Child Marriage in West Bengal

Expanding Access To Education Shifts Marriage Age Forward

According to the paper, “The study clearly shows that expanding access to education shifts the age at marriage for girls, which has positive consequences in the form of improved socio-economic status and gender equality.”

However, the research paper also mentions a few examples where the relationship between female literacy and child marriage rates is opposite to what is seen in the entire Country. For example, the female literacy rate in West Bengal is 77 percent, yet the child marriage rate there is extremely high at 42 percent. Similarly, in Tripura, despite the female literacy rate being 82 percent, the rate of child marriage is 40 percent. The literacy rate in Assam is 78.2 percent while the child marriage rate is 31.8 percent.

Child Marriage In Jharkhand

Economic And Social Factors Also Play A Role In Child Marriage

According to the paper, “These exceptions indicate that while female literacy rates may play an important role, socio-economic factors and cultural traditions influence the practice of child marriage in some areas.”

According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NHFS 019-21), 23.3 percent of girls in the age group of 20 to 24 in the Country get married before they turn 18. Whereas according to 2011 census data, two out of every three girls get married between the ages of 15 and 17. This means that out of a total of 52 lakh, 33 lakh girls were married before they turned 18.

-VisheshNews.Com Bureau

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