Women have made progress through education but still face challenges. While school attendance is now common for both boys and girls, rigid expectations remain for women's roles. The story of Laxmi Lakra, India's first female engine driver, shows how stereotypes can be broken through education and hard work despite obstacles. Census data indicates improvements in literacy rates over time but also ongoing differences between social groups and genders. Women's movements have worked to challenge discrimination and effect positive change through awareness, protest, and solidarity.

1. C L A S S 7 T H C I V I C S
M A D E B Y - H I M A N S H U C H O U D H A R Y
K E N D R I Y S V I D Y A L A Y A B A N A R , J O D H P U R
WOMEN CAN CHANGE THE
WORLD

2. WOMEN TODAY….
 By getting education, women have got opportunities
to rise in every field.
 Women’s movement have risen to challenge
discrimination in all parts of the world.
 Today both boys and girls attend school in large
numbers.

3. Fewer Opportunities and Rigid
Expectation
 A lot of people feel that women are fit only for
certain kinds of jobs like nurse.
 They are not fit for the technical jobs.
 In most families, women are taught that after school
they have to get married.
 Laxmi Lakra, however, broke this stereotype image
when she became the first woman engine driver of
the Northern Railways.
 We live in a society full of pressures. If boys
do not work hard get a good salary they are builded.

4. LEARNING FOR A CHANGE
 Going to school is an important part of life.
 Today, it is difficult for us to imagine that school
andlearning could be seen as out of bounds or not
appropriate for some children.
 In the past, very few people learnt reading and
writing. Most children learnt the work their families
or elders did.
 Even in families where skills like pottery, weaving
and craft were taught, the contribution of daughters
and women was seen as secondary.

5.  In the nineteenth century, new ideas about learning
and education appeared. But there was a lot of
opposition to educate girls ever then.
 In 1890s, Ramabal championed the cause of
women’s education.
 Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain learnt English from her
elder brother and an elder sister inspite of family
opposition and went on to become a famous writer.
 Rashsundari Devi of Bengal was the first Indian
woman to write an autobiography called ‘Amar
Jiban’.

6. BREAKING STEREOTYPES (STORY)
Engine drivers are men. But 27-year-old Laxmi Lakra, from a
poor tribal family in Jharkhand has begun to change things.
She is the first woman engine driver for Northern Railways.
Laxmi’s parents are not literate but they struggled and
overcame many hardships to make sure their children got an
education. Laxmi studied in a government school. Even in school,
Laxmi helped with the housework and did odd jobs. She studied
hard and did well and then went on to get a diploma in
electronics. She then took the railway board exam and passed
it on her first attempt.

7. Difference in their Education
 India has a census every 10 years which counts the
population of the country. This information is used
to measure things like literacy, sex-ratio, etc.
 A huge number of SC and ST children leave school at
an early age. The 20014 census even shows that
Muslim girls are less likely than Dalit girls to
complete primary school.
 Many reasons like non-availability of teachers and
schools, lack of transport, cost of education,
indifferent attitude of teachers and parents are
responsible for negligence of education.

8. According to the 1961 census, about 40 per cent of all
boys and men were literate (that is, they could at
least write their names) compared to just 15 per cent
of all girls and women. In the most recent census of
2001, these figures have grown to 76 per cent for
boys and men, and 54 per cent for girls and women.

9. This table shows the percentage of girls
and boys who leave schools from different social
groups

10. Women’s Movement
 i) Women have individually and collectively
struggled to bring about changes. This is called
Women’s Movement.
 ii) Different strategies have been used to spread
awareness, fight discrimination and seek justice.
 iii) These movements are related to campaigning,
raising awareness, protesting and showing solidarity.