157. Reading Skills Comprehension: Mother is the First Teacher

Mother is the First Teacher

MOTHER IS THE FIRST TEACHER

Read the following passage and answer the following questions:-

Education of a child starts from the family and the mother is the first teacher. But, the irony in India is that although the deity of education is a female i.e., Goddess Saraswati according to the Hinduism, an innumerable number of women are illiterate. They do not remain uneducated by their own wish but they are forbidden from receiving an education because of the patriarchal system in our society.

Right from the Early Vedic Period people have been celebrating the birth of a son, but in those days daughters born into a family were not neglected but were educated properly. However, the scene changed during the Later Vedic Age and the daughters were considered a social burden. Only the girls belonging to upper-class families enjoyed the right to education and got proper nourishment. In Medieval Period girls in Muslim households, were taught at their homes while Hindu girls enjoyed the privilege of getting the primary education along with the boys in schools. The prevalence of child marriage was excessively practised. However, in the nineteenth century many social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Annie Besant, M.G. Ranade, Jyotiba Phule, Swami Dayanand Saraswati etc. came forward for the emancipation of women in India. Especially, Raja Ram Mohan Roy advocated female education.

 Since then there has been tremendous progress in every field but unfortunately, still, the girls are neglected. In most of the families, the birth of a girl child is not desired and if accepted they are thought inferior to boys and their education is not considered important because it seems a wastage of money to most of the parents, as they would be compelled to spend a heavy amount on their dowry. So the female literacy rate is unsatisfactory and it has a direct impact upon the overall development of a nation and its population growth.

 If all women are educated, then all problems like female infanticide, dowry, female suicides, domestic battering, malnutrition of women, child marriage and other related atrocities would vanish from India. If they are financially strong they will take proper care of their children and provide them with a good education.

(a) Why are women not allowed to receive education in India?

 (b) How were the daughters considered during the Later Vedic Age?

(c) Which practice was excessive during the Medieval Period?

 (d) Name any two social reformers.

 (e) What did Raja Ram Mohan Roy advocate?

 (f) How are girls treated in families that accept their birth?

(g) What impact does the poor female literacy rate have?

(h) Give a word from the passage which means the same as ‘cruelties’. (Para 3)

Answers :

(a) Because of the patriarchal system.

 (b) Daughters were considered a social burden in Later Vedic Age.

 (c) The practice of child marriage.

 (d) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

(e) Raja Ram Mohan Roy advocated female education.

(f) Girls were treated inferior to boys and so not considered for education.

 (g) The poor female literacy rate has an impact on the overall development of a nation and its population growth.

 (h) Atrocities.

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