Many Bangalore colleges have said they have a problem of "too many girls", so they're going to "fix it" by having higher cutoffs for girls, between 2-5% higher than boys. This is illegal!
Many Bangalore colleges have said they have a problem of “too many girls”, so they’re going to “fix it” by having higher cutoffs for girls, between 2-5% higher than boys. This is illegal!
It is scary to note that institutions of education that should fundamentally remain equal spaces are turning into places for institutionalized misogyny and gender-based discrimination operate. There are several reasons why the average classroom needs appropriate interventions to ensure that they are up to par vis-à-vis equality. Think of the attrition of girls in higher levels of education, the lack of spaces at school / college that feel safe for those who identify beyond the binary, the general belief that a son’s education is worthy of prioritization over a daughter’s… I could go on.
Consider this. The government of Karnataka has recently done a U-turn on the diversity checks put in place to improve girls’ education at PU level: labouring under the “belief” (what do you call it?) that these colleges now have a problem of “too many girls,” (what the hell is this ridiculousness?!) they have decided to set a higher cut-off mark for girls for admission into the PU / pre-university level courses. And here is the best part: they say that the idea behind this is to improve access to education for girls.
No, Government of Karnataka. Not at all.
A Times of India report quoted the Vice Chancellor of Bengaluru’s Christ University, saying that he “stated that the reason behind setting higher cutoffs was to ensure ‘gender balance’ in classrooms.” He reportedly told them, “If there is no higher cut off, the college will have only girls. The higher cut off is to bring gender balance.”
This move is both ridiculous and self-serving for the patriarchy, because its agenda has always been to delegitimize pursuits of and participation in public life on part of women. It is also completely antagonistic to the Constitution of India. Article 14, which speaks about the concept of classifications toward legislating / framing policies for equality, says that any classification made to serve the needs of a particular group must fulfill two criteria. One, such a classification must be reasonable. Two, such a classification must bear a reasonable nexus to the outcome sought to be achieved.
Take a minute to recognize the fact that these were the men for whom the slow clap was invented. If Infinity Wars made you pull your hair at Thanos’ logic, heh, my friend, just take one look at this masterpiece of a decision.
Sarcasm aside, this feels like one more heavy nail driven into the coffin that now carries the very, very, very severely dead body of women’s rights. The Security Council of the United Nations recently passed resolution 2467, which addressed sexual violence in conflict without mentioning “sexual and reproductive health rights” because the US threatened a veto if “women’s rights were spoken of that way.” Alabama, USA has decided to throw women’s rights over their bodies under the bus. Joining them, and piteously no less that this is the company it wants to keep, Karnataka has decided to throw women’s rights over their intellectual pursuits under the bus.
This is dangerous.
Image source: Flickr
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This strange love story reminds me of Princess Diana when she gave an interview about Prince Charles - "There were three of us in this marriage!”
This love was flawed and broken the way only we humans know how to break things with our ego, pride, insecurity and complexities!
Where do I even begin to tell the story of how deep a love can be, how it transcends time, place and people. Perhaps this is a story about how women are their own worst enemies. Either way it is a story that tells us how frail, fragile and fraught we are as humans and how much we hurt each other.
This love story began when I was two years old. Growing up in India in a culture that wove love stories like Laila Majnu, Heer Ranjha and the epic symbol of love, the Taj Mahal, into the very fabric of our existence, love was always an integral part of our lives.
One such love story was of a boy and a girl who were neighbours. The boy, an athlete, artist and a poet, found his muse in this shy, thoughtful and in her own way poetic girl, who seemed to worship the very ground he walked on. Her face could be found in all the paintings he created, and her name in every poem he wrote. The girl called him Sagar, which means ocean, symbolizing his all-encompassing love for her.
Everything thing was going well; their wedding date was being finalized, till the boy’s older brother who was a doctor in the same little town, got accepted into Stanford Medical School to do his MS.
Earlier my husband would say, 'Arey! What is there in making dal-roti? It's so simple.' After he had to cook everyday when I was ill, he has stopped saying that to me!
“Arey! What is there to do in making dal roti? Put a handful of lentils in the cooker and let it whistle and make two rotis. After all, how long will it take?” A handful of dal (lentils) and two rotis! This is the story of every woman and no one seems to understand.
Some time ago, after a shopping spree, my husband and I entered the house, exhausted. I had just about kept all the bags aside, when my husband said, “I am very hungry, can you make something.”
I looked at my husband in amazement and thought, ‘He had just had food, how did he get hungry again so soon?’
My husband, as if he had read my face, said, “Arey! You know that my stomach is not filled with outside food. Just make dal roti. What is there to do in making dal roti? Put a handful of lentils in the cooker and let it whistle and make two rotis. After all, how long will it take?”
‘Is this the way dal (lentils) and roti are made?’ The thought came to my mind. ‘After all, I also went along and now I am tired too.’ I was also getting angry at myself that after all, I had spoiled the habit of everyone in the house.
Education in India is nowhere near global levels, and certainly not the crucial primary education. On the International Day of Education today, 24th January, we look at what needs to be done.
The United Nations has declared today, 24th January 2019, as it’s first International Day of Education, with the vision of committing to an “unwavering political will to support transformative actions for inclusive, equitable and quality education for all.”
The Indian education system is still very far from this vision, and our primary education, which is what is crucial to bring up our next generations and give them tools to craft a better life for themselves, is not quite where it should be. What do our educators have to say about this? What would they wish for us to do to make education closer to the ideal of “inclusive, equitable and quality education for all”?
We all have a favourite teacher, one that we think of fondly when we reminisce about our school days. A teacher who went beyond the textbook and taught so much just through his/her behaviour and interaction with the students.
More school teachers in India are women, but there are more men in higher education ranks - professors and educationists. Why this gender gap?
More school teachers in India are women, but there are more men in higher education ranks – professors and educationists. Why this gender gap?
The position of teachers in India is held sacred in the hearts of the people in our country. Today, September 5th, is celebrated as Teacher’s Day or shikshak divas across the country to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the country’s former president, scholar, and philosopher.
But that is not the topic of this article. I’d like to talk about something else. In this article, I’d like to talk about how society views this profession for both men and women.
For a dynamic and critical profession like teaching, it is always observed that there is a significant gender gap among teachers in the Indian education system.