Activists and researchers currently advocating for the dire need to increase girls’
educational access in developing nations often claim that fulfilling this need benefits girls, society,
or both. In the wake of these arguments and changes in cultural gender norms, such countries have
recently taken steps to address their sex disparity in education. This has been the case in India
since at least the early 2000s when the Indian Government joined a global initiative with more
than 160 other countries to improve not only girls’ but all children’s access to pre-collegiate
schooling. During this time, the Government also passed legislation, the Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education Act, that supports this initiviative. Since then, progress in India has
been made, especially in terms of increasing girls’ enrollment rate in primary and secondary
schools. However, research indicates that much work remains to be done to eliminate this sex
disparity and that such is particularly the case for girls experiencing multiple, intersecting forms
of inequality (e.g., sex, caste, and class discrimination). Also in need of substantial improvement
is the quality of public education itself. A dearth in professionally trained teachers and
infrasturctural problems in government schools further contribute to the low-quality education that
children tend to receive.