Building gender parity through co-ed schools

In a landmark order, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed the state government that there should only be co-education institutions in the southern state from the academic year 2023-24.

The order, expectedly, has triggered a debate on the relative merits of co-education (CE) schools vis a vis single-gender (SG) schools. It is a fact that boys-only and girls-only schools have existed in all parts of our country for may years. In many cities, we can see convent-run girls’ schools and parish-run boys’ schools in separate campuses. We see such schools administered by other communities too. There are government-run schools too for boys and girls separately in many places.

Times, and mindsets, have changed now. Many single-gender schools and colleges are becoming co-ed. A Jesuit-run premier men’s college in Mangalore where I taught for a few years, not only turned co-ed, but also has more girls now. The college has gained in its academic achievements after turning co-ed. Similarly, a women’s college in the same city, one of the first such in the country, is now considering turning co-ed in a phased manner. This trend is fast spreading across the country. It augurs well for education in general that century-old colleges are now thinking anew.

The Kerala initiative, therefore, is not entirely without a favourable context. The Child Rights’ body asked the various others responsible for school education like the Department of Education and SCERT to draw up an action plan to implement the order. How soon this will happen is anybody’s guess, but it has definitely set the ball rolling. Other States too have started thinking on similar lines. Chances are that it will gain momentum, sooner than later.

Society has enough dividers -- religion, caste, language, region, economic status etc -- to segregate and separate us. Do we need a gender-based division in schools too? One of the aims of education is to erase all irrational differences and distinctions and see all humanity as one entity.

Education becomes more meaningful when it acts as a melting pot and creates an urbane society. Besides, nature, after all, has programmed both genders to co-exist to make a society.

The proponents of SG schools, which include teachers and parents, argue that children perform better academically and participate in all activities without inhibition or fear in single-gender schools; boys study well without distractions. The obvious line of thinking is that the other gender is a distraction. These are not entirely baseless arguments, but we must see the larger picture and weigh its pros and cons at a deeper level. Education is not only about marks and grades.

We ought to respect nature and its ways. Nature makes no boundaries and has no regard for man-made distinctions. Boys and girls need to grow up together. Inclusiveness is natural and spontaneous, while exclusiveness is contrived and manipulated. Distancing generates indifference and otherness.

Those rooting for CE Schools believe that a school is a microcosm of society. Boys and girls are an integral part of it. Growing up and learning together, they imbibe important values of respecting each other, equality and socialisation. That will prepare them for the real world. Teachers, and parents, have an important role to play. School is the ideal place to inculcate values of tolerance, respect, co-existence and healthy competition. Stereotyping of gender roles must stop. Girls can be as brave and intelligent as boys, if not more. Girls will blossom as well as boys in a CE environment, under the tutelage of good mentors. As elders, our responsibility is to guide them in a sensible and unobtrusive manner.

This brings us to another issue of cardinal importance, especially in a CE school -- a good, school-based sex education curriculum, encompassing multiple issues related to human growth and development. In addition to basic facts about puberty, sex and reproduction, lessons can cover topics such as relationships, body image, sexual violence, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Research shows that comprehensive, culturally responsive and inclusive sex education programmes help young people develop healthy relationships.

More openness is required; secrecy and mystery provoke irresponsible behaviour among the young. We have to demystify the subject of sex to enable children to have a mature view of all matters related to gender and sex.

Schools must rise above being mere passive purveyors of knowledge and become active life-skills training grounds where healthy citizens are formed. Throughout history, places of education have reflected the communities they served. It’s time to shatter these constraints. The time has come for schools to hold a mirror to society.

(The writer is Director-Little Rock, Brahmavar, Udupi)