WOMEN EDUCATION IN THE COLONIAL ODISHA- A BIRD’S EYE VIEW

It is education that gives one personality as it is the sum total of one's personality. However the writing s of women's education of nineteenth century Odisha reveals that women were fully under placed in the educational system. Besides they were trained to subordinate themselves and to accept the dominant ideologies of masculinity. Women were considered enjoyable things for men. Their whole day activities were confined to hearth and home and they were hardly known to outside world. The general feeling was that, it was “unbecoming of the modesty of the women” to attend schools. So, they were prohibited from attending educational institutions. On the eve of British rule in Odisha there was a sharp deterioration in the position of women. Psychologically she was considered an inferior species and socially she was kept in a state of subjection.. Education was imparted to boys only. Since their education had no economic value. The girls were denied of this.. In this context, the British determined to impart education to girls' children by breaking the taboo of gender disparity and raised the ray of hope for the women of Odisha by establishing a number of girls' schools.