Revisiting Gender Equality in Schools: From policy to Action

Abstract

Gender equality refers to the condition in which people of all genders have equal 
access to resources and opportunities. It is time to see gender equality more than in terms of the 
binary of male and female. Gender equality means not only being fair to men and women, but 
also to LGBTQ people and people of other genders. Gender equality is something that has been 
in demand for so long, but it still hasn't reached the basic minimum. It is critical to recognise 
that reserving seats for females in buses/metro, chanting slogans like "Beti Bachao, Beti 
Padhao," the United Nations declaring gender equality a fundamental human right, and the 
Supreme Court of India decriminalising Section 377 are insufficient to end the persistence of 
gender inequality in our society. 
This paper analyses how gender inequality affects all genders. Of course, gender inequality 
suppresses females and other genders more, but it also creates barriers for male members of 
society to grow as humans. This paper discusses the different premises of gender equality and its 
challenges. And it majorly focuses on the premise of schooling and the school curriculum and 
tries to analyse the challenges posed by it to gender equality. As the school environment shapes 
one's behaviour and mindset, it is important to relook the school curriculum and gender 
dynamics in schooling processes. With the help of a study of 15 C.B.S.E schools in Madhepura, 
district of Bihar, this paper examines the issue at grassroot level and has shown how small 
administrative change can lead to big threats to gender equality. 
The objective of this paper is to understand the challenges in determining gender equality and 
how schooling processes and school curriculum play a major role in shaping the concept of 
gender. The paper also tries to explain how it's time to redefine the concept of gender equality 
and make it more inclusive by including other genders too. Gender inequality does not take place 
only in fixed premises; rather, it is evident everywhere, but to understand and analyse it better, 
this paper has taken the premise of school. 
Methods and procedures used in this paper is observation as well as digital and personal 
interviews of different school students and teachers.