SSA acknowledges that reaching out to the girl child is central to the efforts to universalize elementary education. SSA’s focus on gender parity is rooted in the National Policy on Education and the POA (1986/92) which brought centre-stage the issue of gender and girls’ education. More importantly, it linked education of women and girls to their empowerment. NPE states that education should be a transformative force, build women’s self-confidence, and improve their position in society and challenge inequalities. The approach to gender and girls’ education is based on the report of the Committee on Implementation of the RTE Act and the Resultant Revamp of SSA, which pointed out that although gender has become an accepted category in policy and programme formulation, it continues to be understood in limited ways. It is largely seen as a biological category (concerning only girls and women); as a stand-alone category (not related to other issues or other forms of discrimination); and in terms of provision of opportunities so that girls can ‘catch up’ with boys and ‘close the gap’. Thus, achieving gender parity has been an overarching concern of the education system. While this is of critical importance and has led to some impressive improvements in girls’ enrolment, retention and completion, it has also led to gender being understood primarily in quantitative terms.
Self Defence:
Under Samagra Shiksha, all the girl students studying in Govt. Middle / High/ Sr. Secondary Schools of Himachal Pradesh have been trained through expert trainers of Himachal Police and Himachal Home Guards and Civil Defence Departments in various Techniques of Self-defence & Self Safety. In 2019-20, around 46,470 (forty six thousand four hundred seventy) girl students of 1977 Middle and High schools were trained in Self-defence / Self-safety / karate / methods of rescue during disaster and Road accidents/ First Aid / Fire fighting techniques etc. and were also provided important information to ensure their safety and security by Himachal Home Guards &Civil Defence Departments and in 2018-19 around 1,52, 348( one lakh fifty two thousand three hundred forty eight ) girls were trained through Himachal Police Department at secondary level. Self- defence training could not be conducted in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 Pandemic but some online activities were organized under Fit India Movement.