MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES FOR ENHANCING EQUALITY IN EDUCATION AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA

According to a UNESCO Institute of Statistics in 2018, 258 million children and youth are out of school out of which
132 million are girls. According to the Census 2011, the literacy rate in India is 74.04 %, the male literacy rate is
82.14 per cent and 65.46 per cent women’s are literate. Gender inequality has been experienced in the educational
institution from decades. The main areas that are taken into account are gender influence on women’s education and
empowerment, factors influencing women’s education and empowerment, how MOOC can help to reduce gender
inequality by providing access to education and empower women’s by overcoming gender disparity issues. Samples of
120 females were taken using a non-probability sampling method. The data was collected with the help of the
questionnaire and interview. The path of gender equality in India is full of potholes. Education is the key to empower
women’s and gender equality. It can change the attitude of society to accept the equal status of women that only can
clear the path for gender equality. Some reasons which hinder women education and empowerment are women were
not allowed to travel long distances, lack of toilet facilities in school forces them to drop out from school, irregularity
in school and colleges because they have to accomplish their gender roles like household work, taking care of their
siblings etc. MOOC provide great opportunity to access quality content without any biases which ultimately empower
women with knowledge. Women can access to “the bulk of knowledge” which is economical from anywhere, at any
time with the help of MOOC which also provides better job opportunities ultimately leads to women empowerment.