Gender inequality has been a thorny issue in the education sector for many years. For a long time, there was express discrimination towards the girl child while the boy child was given preference. This problem is still evident in some developing countries. However, most of the developed countries have put up measures and strategies to ensure equality in learning institutions. These measures are designed to ensure that both genders get an equal opportunity to acquire an education. This is because lack of equitable education will directly affect the society as the underprivileged gender will have a less skilled labor force than the privileged gender. This brief paper seeks to discuss some of the strategies employed.
In order to ensure equality, educators have tried to portray both girls and boys as kids with similar and equal abilities. This can be evidenced by how paintings and other character displays of both are displayed around the learning facilities. In such painting, there will be both boys and girls engaging in similar activities. A billboard that seeks to portray a class room will always contain both genders. They illustrate presentation and group discussion when boys and girls are represented and participating. Apart from learning activities, the same is replicated in extra-curriculum activities. These may include scouting, physical education, games.
More fundamentally, the presentation of characters in books and libraries has come under critical scrutiny. This is because it speaks volume about the perception of the society on equality of boys and girls. It order to ensure equality, it is common to find that a picture or drawing in a text book will contain a boy and a girls either studying together or playing together. The sexes have been synchronized that all perception of inequality is eliminated or suppressed.
The interactions between boys and girls in freely encouraged and enhanced. The employment of all of teachers and the support staff also reflects gender diversity. Interactions between the staff and the faculty with the girls and boys in promoted, encouraged and facilitated. Any staff member who intentionally refuses to assist a student because of his or her gender will receive disciplinary sanctions. Such interaction has been enhanced that girls feels as mush confortable around male teachers and vice versa. This is extremely vital because it will ensure that no particular student feels discriminated because of his or her gender. Educators have also ensured that there is no huge disparity between the number of male teachers and female teachers. This is fundamentally because kids at an early age seek to emulate and relate to their teachers as their mentors and role models. Girls will, most likely, look up at female staff members and vice versa. It is, therefore, significantly vital that staff members numbers be representative. It is critical to understand the young students are more influenced by what they see rather than what they are told.
In order to ensure complete equality of boys and girls, educators have designed most games that feature both genders. Most of the indoor games can be played by both genders at in a single game. Moreover, in masculine games like football, girls are given a critical part of cheering their team thus making them feel an essential part of the game.
Works Cited
Hattie, John and Eric M Anderman. International Guide to Student Achievement. New York: Routledge, 2013.
Klein, Susan S. Handbook for achieving gender equity through education. New York: Routledge, 2007.
