Explanation:

In its simplest form, it is calculated as the quotient of the number of females by the number of males enrolled in a given stage of education (primary, secondary, etc.). It is used by international organizations, particularly in measuring the progress of developing countries. The Institute for Statistics of UNESCO also uses a more general definition of GPI: for any development indicator one can define the GPI relative to this indicator by dividing its value for females by its value for males. For example, some UNESCO documents consider gender parity in literacy by dividing the female value of an indicator by the male value of the same indicator.

Elaboration: GPI equal to 1 indicates parity between females and males. In general, a value less than 1 indicates a disparity in favour of boys and a value greater than 1 indicates a disparity in favour of girls. However, the interpretation should be in the other way round for indicators that should ideally approach 0% (e.g. repetition, dropout, illiteracy rates, etc.). In these cases, a GPI of less than 1 indicates a disparity in favour of girls and a value greater than 1 indicates a disparity in favour of boys.

Limitations: This index does not show whether improvement or regression is due to the performance of one of the gender groups (boys or girls). Interpretation of the GPI requires trend analysis of the underlying indicators. The Union Finance Minister released Gender Parity Index specific to India sometime back. The main aim of developing Gender Parity Index commissioned jointly by FLO and FICCI is to evaluate gender diversity and empowerment of women in the formal sector and the progress made over the years.