After a two-month-long summer vacation, children in Kerala are back to school. While many around their school premises remained unchanged, their textbooks had some new, interesting pictures.
One image featured a father grating coconut in the kitchen while helping his wife and another showed him cooking snacks for his daughter.
While these scenarios might sound a bit odd for a patriarchal society, they are now a part of the Kerala government’s initiative to bring in more innovative textbooks comprising gender-neutral messages.
The southern state which has long been celebrated for its progressive stance on social issues and high literacy rates has made significant strides in promoting gender neutrality. Here’s a closer look
Reimagining textbooks
The Kerala government has taken proactive steps to revise and update its school textbooks to promote the idea of a gender-neutral society among children, authorities said.
Pavithra Krishna, a student of a government school in Vithura, told PTI that she was amused seeing the pictures in her new Class 3 Malayalam textbook.
“I was turning the pages of the new book and was surprised to see the pictures of a father scraping coconut in the kitchen. I showed this to my father and asked why he doesn’t do this at home,” she said.
The thought counts, as the reimagined gender roles depicted in the textbooks paint a “positive” picture for kids that cooking and other housework are the collective responsibility of both father and mother, Sindhu, a teacher of a state-run school in Kochi, said in a PTI report.
“This is very positive. Knowingly or unknowingly, there is a general impression in our society that cooking and housework are the sole responsibilities of women. Children are also growing with this sense of feeling because that is what they see in their home,” she further said.
The new initiative has caught widespread attention on social media with several netizens applauding the LDF-led government’s move. Even the state General Education Minister V Sivankutty shared a page from one of such textbooks in his Facebook post.
Earlier this year, Sivankutty announced a gender-sensitive curriculum for lower and middle schools, with a focus on equal justice. The new curriculum also included lessons on POCSO rules, democratic and secular values, and scientific temperament.
Gender-neutral uniforms, titles & more
Beyond textbooks, some state-run schools have also introduced uniforms to support gender neutrality.
Traditionally, school uniforms in the country have been distinctly different for both genders, with girls often required to wear skirts or dresses. Some schools in Kerala have moved a step ahead and introduced uniforms that are the same for all students, typically consisting of knee-length pants and shirts.
“I feel very thrilled and comfortable with the uniform. It’s quite distinct from that of my friends studying in nearby schools. I can play well with this dress,” 10-year-old Sivananda Mahesh who is a student in the Valayanchirangara government Lower Primary School, in Kerala’s Ernakulam district told The Guardian.
Vivek V, an official of the Parents Teacher Association told PTI, that the move did not come overnight. “We got the backing of the students and their parents. We wanted all the students to have the same uniform so that they could enjoy the freedom of movement. This was first introduced in the pre-primary classes of around 200 students. It was a big hit which gave us confidence to implement it for all other classes.”
Inspired by the Valayanchirangara model, more than a dozen schools in the state have shifted to gender-neutral uniforms.
“It is time to start a discussion in the society whether there is any need to continue with the separate schools for boys and girls. The state government fully support the idea of a unisex uniform for the students which is a step towards ensuring gender equality (sic),” Sivankutty had told PTI.
The schools in the state are moving towards co-education, with the state child rights panel in 2022 in a landmark order asking them to phase out girls-only and boys-only schools by the following academic year.
This is not the only initiative, last year, the Kerala Child Rights Commission decided to continue advancing gender neutrality in public schools and to replace addressing ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ with the universal term ‘teacher’ in the premises.
The idea came from the Olassery-based school in Palakkad district, consisting of around 300 students, along with nine female and eight male teaching staff, who asked their students to address faculty as ’teacher’ and not as ‘sir’ and ‘mam’.
However, the Department of General Education later opted to refrain from the move.
As Kerala continues to lead by example, it is hoped that other states and countries will follow suit, creating a world where gender neutrality is not just an aspiration but a reality.
With input from agencies
