Education of women in Bargarh district is matter of concern. According to census 2011, Bargarh district spreading over 5837 square kilometers had female population of 732,094 out of the total population of 1,481,255 and male were 749,161. The overall literacy rate of the district is 74. 62%. Female literacy rate is 65. 38% while male literacy rate is 83.68%. Looking to the given data anyone can conclude Bargarh as a developed district but the reality is different from the printed numbers on the paper. Bargarh has 305528 illiterate female in the district. Total college and above educated are 3.77% in the district. The number for female educated in college and above is very low in Bargarh district. The rural population is more than the urban population in Bargarh but there is no infrastructure for woman education in the rural area of the district. For higher education urban area like Bargarh, Padamur, Sohela and Barpali have facilities. There is no separate college and hostel for women in rural area. Even in urban area ladies are not availing good hostel facilities.
The population of SC is 19.37% while ST is 19.36% in the district. The female population of SC and ST are very low to their male counterpart. Though the union and state government have taken many initiatives to educate and empowered the adivasis women and the district administration is trying to implement those but the results are not reflected in the ground. Since then, the Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan (SSA) has come up with many schemes for inclusive as well as exclusive growth of Indian education as a whole, including schemes to help foster the growth of female education.
The major schemes are Mahila Sikhya Programme which was launched in 1988 as a result of the New Education Policy (1968). It was created for the empowerment of women from rural areas especially socially and economically marginalized groups.
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme was launched in July, 2004, to provide education to girls at primary level. It is primarily for the underprivileged and rural areas where literacy level for females is very low. The schools that were set up have 100% reservation: 75% for backward class and 25% for BPL (below Poverty line) females.
National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL) was launched in July, 2003. It was an incentive to reach out to the girls who the SSA was not able to reach through other schemes. The SSA called out to the “hardest to reach girls”.
Due to low literate and without education these women suffered a lot in taking care of their health. Most of them are suffering from anaemia and iodine deficiency. Girls of the district have the lowest hemoglobin contain comparing to other district of the state.