Gender-based discrimination in education is both a cause and a consequence of deep-rooted disparities in society. Poverty, geographical isolation, ethnic background, disability, traditional attitudes about their status and role all undermine the ability of women and girls to exercise their rights. Harmful practices such as early marriage and pregnancy, gender-based violence, and discriminatory education laws, policies, contents and practices still prevent millions of girls form enrolling, completing and benefiting from education. Gender must therefore be integrated at all levels of education, from early childhood to higher education, in formal and non-formal settings and from planning infrastructure to training teachers. Status of gender equality in education in India Literacy rate in India have improved for both genders in urban and rural regions over the years, reaching 84.7% for males and 70.3% for females in 2017 as per NSS 75th round. Rural women remain the least literate group, whereas urban men are in the most literate group. However, both rural males and females have consistently had lower literacy rate than their urban counterpart. State-wise gender gaps in literacy rates - Among all States/UTs, Kerala (2.2) has the lowest gender gap followed by West Bengal (8.7) and Assam (8.9). On the contrary, Rajasthan has the highest gender gap (23.2), followed by Bihar (19.2), Uttar Pradesh (18.4), Jharkhand (18.3), and Jammu & Kashmir (17.7). Gross Enrolment Ratio in Different Stages of Education : GER is more in case of females over different stages of the education as compared to males for the year 2023-24. Gender Parity Index : Primary and higher Secondary levels have high GPI, indicating strong female enrollment. Upper primary and elementary levels saw fluctuations but remained close to parity. The data for secondary level shows improvement from 0.99 in 2020-21 to 1.02 in 2023-24 reflecting better gender balance. The values from higher secondary have reached to 1.07 in 2023-24 showing highest female participation in enrollment. Policies and schemes to promote gender equality in education The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 focuses on ‘Equitable and Inclusive Education’ which reverberates the idea that no child should be left behind in terms of educational opportunity because of their background and socio-cultural identities. It has taken into account the concerns of the Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) which includes female individuals. In addition, NEP prescribes to approach gender as a cross-cutting priority to achieve gender equality in education with the partnership of states and local community organizations. Further, NEP aims at bridging the social category gaps in access, participation, and learning outcomes, including providing greater access to women. Under Samagra Shiksha, an integrated scheme for school education, various interventions have been targeted for providing quality education to girls like free uniform and text-books to girls up to class VIII, appointment of additional teachers including women teacher, stipend to CWSN girls from class I to class XII, separate toilets for girls, teachers sensitization programmes to promote girls participation, gender-sensitive teaching-learning materials including text books etc. In addition, to reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, which are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL), are sanctioned in Educationally Backward Blocks. The academic year 2024–25 has also seen a rise in the representation of female teachers, with women now comprising 54.2% of the total teaching workforce. This marks a positive shift towards gender balance in the education sector and reflects ongoing efforts to promote women's participation in the teaching profession. The growing presence of female teachers can have a significant impact on creating inclusive, supportive, and gender-sensitive learning environments across all levels of schooling. Female representation in schools has shown a positive uptick in the academic year 2024–25, with girls’ enrolment reaching 48.3%, up from 48.1% in the previous year. Although modest, this improvement reflects ongoing efforts to promote gender equity in education and ensure greater access and participation for girls across all levels. To promote higher education among the students across the nation including women, Ministry of Education (MoE) has taken various measures, such as fee reductions, establishment of more institutes, scholarships, priority access to national level scholarships to aid students with poor financial backgrounds to pursue their education. Further, MoE offers various scholarship schemes for providing financial assistance to support women’s higher education. With a view to improve female enrolment in the Undergraduate Programmes in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs), supernumerary seats were created which increased the female enrolment from less than 10% to more than 20%. Apart from this, University Grants Commission (UGC) is implementing the scheme of “Development of Women’s Studies in Indian Universities and Colleges”. This scheme provides funds for setting up Women Studies Centers (WSCs) in universities and colleges, focusing on teaching, research, curriculum development, training and outreach activities. The objectives of the scheme are to provide financial support in advancing Women’s Studies through teaching, research and practical work. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) offers fellowships to promote research in basic and applied sciences among women through programs under Women in Science and Engineering- Knowledge Involvement & Research Advancement through Nurturing (WISE-KIRAN) and Science and Engineering Research Board- Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research (SERB-POWER) Fellowship scheme to identify and reward outstanding women researchers and innovators working in various Science & Technology program in Indian academic institutions and R&D laboratories. The Department of Biotechnology runs a special program ‘The Biotechnology Career Advancement and Re- orientation Programme (BioCARe)’ with a vision to promote and support women in science. Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education has developed Guidelines on School Safety and Security of children studying in Government, Government-aided and Private Schools. These safety guidelines envisage constitution of anti-bullying committees, parent teacher associations, school management committees, safety walk and complaint boxes etc., as preventive measures for ensuring safety and security of children in schools. Further, these guidelines have provisions to conduct awareness and sensitization program on various provisions including POCSO Act for girls in schools, preparation and dissemination of e-modules on sexual abuse and violence, parenting, nutrition, safety of girl child, etc., and integration of prevention of violence against young children in routine health delivery. UNESCO and its strategies for promoting equal opportunities in education UNESCO works to promote equal opportunities to quality learning, free from gender-based or other forms of discrimination. In particular, UNESCO: mobilizes additional funds through the ‘Better Life Better Future’ initiative, aimed at expanding learning opportunities for girls and women seeks to address obstacles to learning such as gender-based violence and HIV & AIDS promotes gender equality in national education laws, policies and plans seeks to expand access to learning opportunities, in particular for girls and women, in both formal and non-formal education develops the capacity of education policy-makers, planners, teachers and other education personnel regarding gender-sensitive approaches supports countries to make education content gender-sensitive and free from discrimination UN Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) Harnessing the power of collective action, the UNGEI partnership is on a mission to close the gender gap in education and unlock its transformative power for every girl, everywhere. It champions the rights of girls to a quality education in a safe and gender-sensitive learning environment and hold the international community to account for commitments made to gender equality in and through education. As a global authority on gender in education, UNGEI promotes evidence-based solutions to drive progress for gender equality in and through education. By facilitating research and developing resources for the sharing of good practice it strives to strengthen the evidence base on what works in girls’ education and gender equality. Harnessing this evidence, it works to catalyse commitment to accelerate progress towards the gender and education targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals. For more information, visit https://www.ungei.org/ .