Education is accorded a high priority in development policy in most countries, including India.

This monograph is guided by f

Education is a fundamental requirement for enhancing overall quality of individual and societal life.

Highlighted by sensational titles such as "The endangered sex" (Miller, 1981) or "More than 100 million women are missing" (Sen, 1992), studies have long drawn attention to the unfavourable life chances of females versus males in various parts of East and South Asia.