|
|
Society
Splitting the Sexes
Saad, 12, a
student at St. Joseph Boys' School in Dhaka, had a strong interest in
learning music. So his mother enrolled him in Shishukunja, a local music
school. Soon, however, he refused to continue with lessons, complaining to
his mother, "Most of the students in the school are girls. I don't feel
easy with them. How can I learn music with so many girls in the class?"
Riyadh, 14, studies in a boys-only school in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. The
teenager has hardly any opportunity to interact with girls his own age. He
has a younger sister, but doesn't speak to her friends. At home, he spends
most of his time by himself in his room with the door shut. Riyadh feels
offended when you enquire if he has a girlfriend. "I don't like the
company of girls," he responds.
Bangladesh now has an increasing number of single-sex schools and
colleges, and the lack of co-education is slowly, but surely, affecting
the behaviour patterns of boys and girls. According to the Bangladesh
Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics, there are 16,562
secondary schools and 2,634 colleges in the country, with an estimated
student population of 9,730,805. Of these, 3,079 secondary schools and 504
colleges are exclusively for girls and have a student population of
4,974,207.
Evidently, single-sex education is the norm. Very few students attend
co-ed schools and colleges. And, unfortunately, in some of these co-ed
institutions, girls are not allowed to mix freely with boys. Girls spend
their spare time in their common rooms and come to class only when the
teachers are present. There is hardly any healthy communication or
friendship between the sexes. Boys and girls rarely discuss either their
lessons or other hobbies and interests with each other. Such co-ed schools
and colleges lack an environment that fosters the healthy intellectual and
emotional growth of their students.
Experts agree that well-implemented coeducation helps in the development
of school-going children and young adults - boys and girls learn
self-confidence and mutual respect. According to Farida Akhtar, Senior
Consultant for the Asian Region at the US-based International Child
Resource Institute, "A child goes through seven stages of development as
he/she matures into an adult: physical, mental, linguistic, social, moral,
intellectual and emotional. There must be a balanced growth in all these
stages. Many guardians focus more on the physical and intellectual aspects
of their child's growth and ignore the other sides. As a result, their
children fail to attain an all-round development."
Laila Arjuman, a resident of Dhaka's Mohammadpur area, has enrolled her
children - a boy and a girl - in single-sex schools. She says, "It's
better for girls to stay away from boys. They need purdah (seclusion). I
also want my boy to stay away from girls and concentrate on his education.
It's so easy for young people to fall in love. Studying in a co-ed school
with other girls may distract him from his studies."
Akhtar gently disagrees. "It's possible this boy will do well in studies,"
she says, "but he may lag behind in social and mental development." She
points to research demonstrating that co-education alone does not
necessarily encourage love affairs between boys and girls. There are other
factors, such as family environment, lack of candour with parents, family
and religious values.
Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, a prominent Bangladeshi intellectual and
academic, supports co-education. "Co-education has evolved over the years
after long experiments," he says. "It helps boys and girls grow in a
family environment. Boys and girls feel they belong to a family. Boys and
girls fail to know each other if they study in separate schools. That
creates a curiosity about the opposite sex which may lead to violence."
According to Dr Nizamuddin, Associate Professor at the National Mental
Health Institute, Dhaka, "The absence of co-education can cause social
phobia, lack of confidence and negative attitudes towards the opposite
sex." She adds that the lack of knowledge about the opposite sex can cause
unhappiness in conjugal life and a failure to communicate with one
another.
Mohammad Habibur Rahman, Principal of Dhaka University Laboratory School
and College, a co-ed institution, agrees with experts who support
co-education. "There are about 1,800 students here," he says," about 30
per cent of whom are girls. Barring one or two stray incidents, we have no
record of any major trouble." Hasina Begum, the mother of a student at the
school, concurs: "My daughter has no problem here. She considers boys as
her brothers or friends."
– Shanta Sultana
July 17, 2005
By arrangement with
Womens Feature Service
Top
| Society
|
|
