Article writing on co-education
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Explanation:
Co-Education
Mixed-sex education (or just mixed education), also known as co-education, is the integrated education to males and females at elementary, secondary or post-secondary levels at the same school facilities. They are not discriminated based on sex and sent to two different campuses or two different buildings or even two different classrooms. Otherwise, the very purpose of coeducation is defeated, in principle. The opposite situation is described as single-sex or unisex education in which males or females attend the classes exclusively with members of their own sex.
No one can deny the importance of education in the society. A nation is built in its educational institutions. Education provides necessary opportunities for the development of many qualities, intellectual, social and moral, in a person. In India it is the fundamental right of every citizen regardless of religion, class or sex, to receive education and pursue the vocation of interest for which the institutions need to be available within reach of the populace. Many a times, due to various constraints, it may not be feasible to create facilities in fields of higher learning, separately for boys and girls. Hence, coeducation is the answer especially in respect of higher, professional, and specialized courses e.g. post-graduation, medical, engineering, aviation, business management, fashion designing and such.
The economic benefits gained from joint classes and the need to secure equality for women in industrial, professional and political activities have greatly influenced the spread of coeducation. There were scattered examples of coeducation in the 18th century even in developed western countries. The advent of coeducation in 19th century is indeed an important development. In most countries coeducation is now favoured over single-sex education, although there is some evidence to suggest that girls perform better in a single-sex institution up to high-school and intermediate(or secondary) levels for which facilities do exist in towns and cities of India. There has been a great upsurge in women education, in general, and coeducation in particular in post-independence India.
On the international scene, coeducation has expanded since World War II. In the USA, UK, France etc 90% of the schools and colleges are coeducational. In 1954, the then USSR returned to its earlier coeducational system which was partly abolished in 1944. In Islamic countries, coeducation is discouraged beyond the infant stage on religious principles.
There are protagonists as well as opponents of education. The opponents do so chiefly on grounds viz. religious, cultural or possible harm to girl’s dignity or womanhood. The proponents of coeducation explain how God created humankind. Humans, males and females work together to survive and exist. They require each other’s existence and support to succeed. For students to succeed, they require coeducation: Many a times it happens that single-sex education of females leads to loss of ability to compete academically or socially with males. Coeducation and daily academic competition with males can change females’ attitudes and inculcate self-confidence. Young adults must be conditioned to deal with natural distractions because of sex differences, and what is right and what is wrong at an early age so that when they encounter them later in life, they are able to effectively deal with them. Males and females can learn from each other by pooling their talents.
Coeducation facilitates a microcosm of the real world where social skills can be learnt. A coeducational school helps females to acquire socialization skills that will help them in further schooling and an eventual job in the workforce. Another opinion is that the coeducational schools are better as the presence of girls controls boys – from indulging in unruly behaviour, classroom disruption end improves academic performance.
There are pros and cons to everything, and yes, coeducation too has its positives and negatives. But the ones can be overcome by guiding the children in the right direction; keeping a tab on them and helping them recognize their limitations. Today, the number of coeducational institutions is increasing day by day. It is hoped that with the changing times, parents will start evaluating schools by what they offer and not whether they e single-sex or coeducational; and children will understand their norms, and not go astray.