Question

What role does poverty play in the education of girls?

Answer 1

The passage clearly shows that poverty is one of the biggest barriers to the education of girls, especially in rural areas.
Step 1: Direct Impact of Poverty.
When girls from poor families have their clothes torn or worn out, they are unable to attend school. Their parents often decide to keep them at home rather than allow them to go to school in such conditions, because they feel ashamed or are concerned about modesty and social propriety.
Step 2: Financial Limitations.
Poverty prevents parents from providing proper clothing, school supplies, or even ensuring safety for their daughters. As a result, parents believe it is better to keep their daughters at home rather than expose them to humiliation or difficulties.
Step 3: Social and Cultural Reinforcement.
In poor families, social norms regarding modesty and propriety become stricter, and poverty makes it even harder to overcome these barriers. The lack of financial stability directly reduces the chances of girls being enrolled and retained in schools.
Step 4: Conclusion.
Therefore, poverty plays a crucial role in keeping girls away from schools by restricting their clothing, resources, and opportunities, and by reinforcing traditional norms of modesty.

Answer 2

The passage clearly mentions that girls face harassment on their way to school, and even at school, which discourages them from pursuing education.
Step 1: Harassment from Fellow Students.
The passage says that school-going girls are sometimes harassed by their fellow students. This makes the school environment unsafe and uncomfortable for them.
Step 2: Harassment from Strangers.
It also mentions that strangers on the way to school cause harassment to girls. This adds to the risks of traveling to school, making parents hesitant to send their daughters.
Step 3: Combined Effect.
Both forms of harassment—inside school (by peers) and outside school (by strangers)—create fear and insecurity. This directly leads to lower enrolment and retention of girls in schools.
Step 4: Conclusion.
Thus, school-going girls face harassment from both their fellow students and strangers, which discourages them and their families from continuing their education.

Answer 3

The passage highlights several reasons why parents, despite wishing their daughters to be educated, often choose not to send them to school.
Step 1: Belief about Education Offered.
Parents feel that the kind of education available is not appropriate for their daughters. They think it does not suit their needs or future, and thus, they prefer keeping them at home.
Step 2: Risks Involved.
The passage mentions that parents are concerned about the risks their daughters face, particularly harassment. These risks are seen as very real and dangerous, which discourages parents from sending their girls to school.
Step 3: Fear of Harassment.
Girls are harassed either by their fellow students or by strangers on their way to school. This harassment makes parents fearful for their daughters’ safety and modesty.
Step 4: Poverty and Modesty.
Another strong reason is poverty. If the girls’ clothes are torn or worn out, poor parents prefer to keep them at home because of demands of modesty and propriety. Poverty and social customs, therefore, act as combined barriers.
Step 5: Conclusion.
Thus, the main reasons are: inappropriate education, fear of risks and harassment, poverty, and social demands of modesty. Together, these discourage parents from sending their daughters to school.

Answer 4

The passage uses the word “retention” in the line: “These pressures are central to low enrolment and retention of girls.”
Step 1: Identify the Keyword.
The phrase “keep in place” means holding back or continuing to keep something where it already is. In the context of education, it refers to continuing to keep the girls in school.
Step 2: Word from Passage.
The word “retention” perfectly matches this meaning, as it refers to the ability to hold or keep something in place over a period of time.
Step 3: Contextual Understanding.
Here, “retention of girls” means keeping them enrolled in school and preventing them from dropping out.
Step 4: Conclusion.
Thus, the word in the passage which means ‘keep in place’ is retention.