India received it’s Independence in 1947, it was originally one large state; the land was divided into the secular nation of India and the smaller Muslim nation of Pakistan which was made out of two Separate land areas, known then as West Pakistan and East Pakistan. These two areas are now the two separate nations we know today as Pakistan and Bangladesh. With India’s huge population and diverse mix of people it would be impossible to define a single Indian Culture, but the strong historical and cultural threads have developed a strong nation. There are many languages in India with the main one being Hindu, there are 14 other official languages. There are six main recognised faiths in India; the majority faith being Hinduism, Hinduism has no set scripture and although many believe in one god, most worship many different deities. (Brownlie Bojang et al, 2006) There are 32 states and Union Territories within India. Each have their own take on the education system. The DPEP (District Primary Education Programme) was introduced in 1994 The DPED works alongside the ‘Education For All’ scheme and gave children 6-15 years the right to receive education (Nordic Recognition Information Centres, 2006). Due to the social and economic background of the numerous states the teaching skills, facilities and materials vary as does the teacher to pupil ratio as specified in the UNESCO report (2005). Gender discrimination is high in India even though UNICEF guidelines state that everyone, no matter what sex, gets equal opportunities to work, health and education, this however does not seem to be the case even though improvements have been made. (UNICEF, 2007). In 1971 only 22% of women were literate while by 1991 it was 39%. (Velkoff, 1998). Educate girls is an organization which was established in 2007 to promote girls education in India. Many barriers are put in the way when it comes to education some of these are: Social, Economic and physical. The Educate Girls system has already proved a success during the first part of their project and now it is beginning the second part and has already seen an increase in education for all but more specifically the gender gap is beginning to close, even though they still have a long way to go. (Educate Girls, 2010). Reference list: Brownlie Bojang, A. Barber, N (2006) World in Focus: INDIA. London: Wayland Publishers Discover India (2006) Facts at a Glance [online]. Available: Last Accessed [ ]. Educate Girls. (2010) Project Completion Report: Educate Girls 500 schools project in the Pali district [online]. Available: Last Accessed [ ]. Kumar, R. (2006) The Crisis of Elementary Education in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Lintner, A. (n.d) Compare India to The United Kingdom [online]. Available: Last Accessed [ ]. Nordic Recognition Information Centres. (2006) The System of Education in India. New Delhi: Norric.org. Patanjali, P. (2005) Development of Special Education in India. New Delhi: Shree Publishers and Distributors. The World Bank Group. (2012) The world bank: Working for a world free of poverty [online]. Available: Last Accessed [ ]. Tour India. (n.d) India's Religion [online]. Available: Last Accessed [ ] UNESCO. (2005) Towards Knowledge Societies. Paris: UNESCO Publications. UNICEF. (2007) Child Participation [online]. Available: Last Accessed [ ]. Velkoff, V. A. (1998) Women’s Education in India. USA: US Department of Commerce. Capital CityLondon Total Land Area 241,930.0 sq. km Population62,641 million Literacy Rate99% Life Expectancy80.4 yrs (World Bank, 2007) Promote gender equality and empower women Achieve universal Primary education Capital CityNew Delhi Total Land Area2,973,190 sq. km Population953.7 million Literacy Rate52.1% Life Expectancy61 yrs (Discover India, 2008 ) The United Nations Millennium Declaration was adopted In September 2000 after a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits The campaign itself started in 2002, it was commissioned by the United Nations Secretary-General to develop a concrete action plan for the world to achieve the 8 Millennium Development Goals that were set and to reverse the poverty, hunger and disease affecting billions of people. In the 2010 summit; on point no. 45 of the action agenda, it was stated that “We reiterate our commitment to ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary education”. Yet on the same website it states that, “hope dims for universal education by 2015, even as many poor countries make tremendous strides,” and “Inequality thwarts progress towards universal education” (United Nations Development Project, 2007). If the global leaders have doubts, then what chance is there that girls in India will receive the education they want need and deserve. Victoria Ashford & Alexandra Manning SEN1005: Global Dimensions Victoria Ashford & Alexandra Manning SEN1005: Global Dimensions