Gender Issues in Educational Practices of Higher Education Institutions of North-east India

Abstract

In the sphere of education or educational practices in Northeast India, gender issues are particularly noticeable. The entire region of Northeast India is disadvantaged, geographically located in the most remote part India, particularly in terms of socio-economic, educational and communication infrastructure. Because of this, the Indian government and various state governments in Northeast India have set up institutions for rapid improvements in educational standards leading to significant progression in higher education during recent decades. This paper sets out to identify gender issues that exist in educational practices of higher education institutions of Northeast India. The sample area was confined to six higher education institutions in three states of Northeast India. A total of 240 students (i.e., 120 boys and 120 girls) and six public relations officers/representatives of the heads of the six sample institutions took part. Purposive sampling was used for selecting the institutions and participants for the study and two interview schedules were used to collect data from the participants. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that there are gender issues in the educational practices of Northeast India’s higher education institutions and highlight different government and state-wide schemes, policies and provisions working to mitigate and eradicate them. We conclude with some policy implications for achieving gender equity in Northeast India’s education system.