Vol. 10, Issue 7, Part B (2024)

The state initiated education reforms in 2020 by creating six types of schools namely satellite foundation school (pre-primary), foundational schools (pre-primary - class II), foundational school plus (pre-primary - class V) and pre High school (class III - class VII/VIII) and high school (class III - Class X) and high school plus (class III - Class XII). Transition to English medium education in all government schools started in the academic year 2020-2021 is expected to reach completion by 2024-25. The situation of dropout rates and out-of-school children was already poor even prior to COVID-19. According to NSS 75 Round Household Survey 2017-2018, around 3.22 crore children in the 6-17 year age group are out of school, 31 percent of whom have never attended any school (NSO, 2019). These figures were higher for rural areas as compared to urban areas. The major reasons cited for being out-of-school are engagement in economic activities and participation in household chores (NSO, 2019). A teacher is the perfect guide and facilitator and has a lot of impact on his/her students. So they can help a lot in raising awareness regarding gender equality. Evaluating and giving remarks to the students on the basis of their gender. Teachers can use gender-neutral pronouns to call and address students, for example instead of addressing them by “him” and “her” one can use “they” it is more gender neutral. Teachers could use these terms in their classroom and there are strong chances that students will notice and they will start using these words too. Educators can play a vital role in eradicating the bias with the help of their keen observation and accepting attitude.