प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

Chapter IX
FEMALE EDUCATION
Eligibility of women for sacrifices necessitates their Upanayana
and helps their education—Two classes of girl-students—Attainments of
lady scholars in the early period—Early Buddhism helps female
education—Arrangements for teaching girl students—Was there
coeducation ? Deterioration of women's religious status after c. 200
B. C. retards their education— So does the lowering of the marriage
age—Lady authors of the 1st millennium A. D.—They belonged to
cultured families—Female education in ordinary families—Buddhism
ceases to help it—Education of princesses and Kshatriya girls—Female
education and economic independence—Female education in medieval
times.
SECTION I
Female Education before c. 200 B. C.
**A strange Phenomenon :—**The history of the most
of the known civilisations shows that the further back
we go into antiquity, the more unsatisfactory is found
to be the general position of women. Hindu civilisation
is unique in this respect, for here we find a surprising
exception to the general rule. The further back we
go, the more satisfactory is found to be the position of
women in more spheres than one. And the field. of
education is most noteworthy among them. We can
however understand this strange phenomenon when
we remember that for a long time education in ancient
India meant Vedic education, and that it had to be
necessarily imparted to all who were expected to take
part in Vedic sacrifices. irrespective of their sex.
Women eligible for Vedic Sacrifices : There is
ample and convincing evidence to show that women
were regarded as perfectly eligible for the privilege of
studying the Vedic literature and performing the