Four years ago, the National Council of Educational Research and Training, a premier educational institution, laid down a new curriculum, radically changing the content of textbooks, particularly in social sciences, in Indian schools.

But researchers and policymakers say schoolteachers, woefully lagging behind in their training, are not doing justice to gender-sensitised textbooks.

“Teachers’ training is a huge limitation in the way of properly implementing the new curriculum. The curriculum has changed but the Bachelor for Education (B.Ed) syllabus has not,” says Dipti Bhog, researcher with Nirantar, a voluntary organisation.

The teachers’ training institutions are neither equipped with an upgraded, gender sensitised curriculum; nor are the trainers familiar with the new concepts. Even though teachers training colleges are multiplying by the dozen, the training is inadequate, especially in the light of the demands made by the new curriculum. “The teachers themselves do not understand the concepts. So how can they teach them to the students?” asks Bhog.

Anita Rampal, professor in Delhi University’s Education Department however regards the gap between the new curriculum and teachers’ training not as an obstacle but a “challenge”. “I would call it a ‘challenge’ rather than an obstacle. It is a serious issue that needs to be addressed but it is part of a process that began with the change in curriculum and reached a watershed with the passage (Nov. 4) of the Right to Education Bill (RTE),” says Rampal.

How does the government plan to meet this challenge? Both the government and NCERT seem to be giving it high priority.

Recently the NCTE proposed an ‘open and distance learning’ mode for the orientation of one million new teachers across the country, but it was rightly stressed by many that quick fix solutions must not be sought.

“The RTE provides a historic occasion to rethink and restructure teacher education, which has not addressed issues of quality and equity, and not sensitised teachers to how the school deals with discrimination and difference – related to gender, caste, socio-economic background, religion, etc. The RTE specifically has clause 8c to ensure that a child belonging to a weaker section or to a disadvantaged group ‘is not discriminated against and prevented from pursuing and completing elementary education on any grounds’,” according to Rampal.

Policymakers acknowledge teachers’ training has remained dreadfully inadequate, now more so in the context of the new curriculum and textbooks. A large number of teachers in the suburbs and villages are not fully trained. Many states, particularly Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, are heavily dependent on para teachers. Many of them are 7th and 8th grade students, paid much less than fully qualified teachers.

“The issue of inadequate training is a matter of serious concern. Gradually the states need to address this issue. It is true, that the training imparted through our teacher training institutes is also inappropriate. But no training and poor training are not answers. There is a need to think afresh about the training needs of these teachers. Academic support systems also need strengthening,” observed a report of the central government.

Against this backdrop the instructors are trying to deal with gender-sensitised textbooks, aiming to construct knowledge differently. While the lessons have been drawn up within a feminist perspective, the teachers who have to explain it to the students, have little or no understanding of it.

The construction of gender in knowledge dissemination has undergone change not only in schools, also in colleges and universities, believes Asha Singh, who teaches in Lady Irwin College, the only college in Delhi to offer full-fledged BA and MA degrees in Home Science. “But social attitudes are still reinforcing stereotypes,” she points out.

For instance, her students still believe that working mothers because of lack of time are not able to pay proper attention to the children. “There has definitely been a change in the curriculum but social attitude is still a major hindrance,” says Singh.

The educational system turned a page in 2005 when NCERT rectified the chronic gender flaws in textbooks, at least in some of the disciplines. Prior to this textbooks carried stereotypical images of women – portrayed mostly as cooking, washing, doing domestic chores. The men were shown active, engaged in the world outside. For instance, the images would show the father working in office, the mother nurturing the children at home.

Following the curriculum changes the NCERT textbooks for the 7th grade have woven gender into the larger framework of day-to-day life. For instance through narratives, comic strips among other forms, the textbook puts women in relation to India’s constitution, its media, minority populations, Dalits, the lowest in India’s caste hierarchy.

From the ’70s an effort began to overhaul the stereotypical gender images. In alliance with Delhi University’s Women’s Study Centre, the NCERT laid down gender-sensitisation guidelines in the ’80s. “But even then there was no change in content. What we got was a framework of ‘great women’ like Rani of Jhansi or Sarojini Naidu (who fought the British in different eras). Women were ‘added on’ rather than intersected with other identities – caste and class,” says Bhog.

By Monobina Gupta
MADHYAMGRAM, West Bengal, Apr 20 2009 (IPS)

Grassroots activist Anuradha Talwar was in the eye of a storm that swept Communist-ruled West Bengal state between 2006-08, over the acquisition of agricultural land for industries.

Anuradha Talwar: ‘Women are not getting jobs here' Credit: Monobina Gupta/IPS

The state government decided to hand over 997 acres of fertile farmland to the Tatas, a leading Indian corporation, for their ambitious Nano, a small car project. Villagers of Singur, an obscure cluster of villages, 40 kms from the state capital Kolkota (previously Calcutta) fought back successfully.

Fifty-year old Talwar and her organisation Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samiti (Agricultural Workers’ Union of West Bengal) played a crucial role in this protracted struggle, attracting the wrath of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), which leads the state’s Left Front government.

CPI-M activists plastered the walls of her office with posters denouncing her as a CIA agent. Talwar who grew up in Delhi and Mumbai, moved to West Bengal only in 1981. Together with her husband, she has run a commune of agricultural workers in Madhyamgram, a semi rural town on the fringes of Kolkota, since 1985.

The organisation is actively involved in implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) that provides 100 days of work in a year to one member of every rural and urban family. In the run-up to elections in West Bengal in early May, Talwar talks to IPS about her experiences of working in the state.

IPS: You have been working for decades among rural women. Would you describe the political system in West Bengal as gender sensitive, responsive to women’s concerns? Anuradha Talwar: Let me tell you gender does not exist as a plank for any political party here. The indifference comes through clearly in the parties’ election manifestos, which have little to say about women’s concerns. The same attitude shows in other issues, from the high number of women trafficked from this state to non-implementation of reservation of jobs for women under NREGA.

IPS: What is West Bengal’s record in trafficking? AT: It is alarmingly high. In fact, it could well be said that the state leads in trafficking. In March 2009, the government, in a statement, said the number of trafficked women stands at 65,000. Out of them, 20,000 have been traced. The rest are missing.

IPS: What explains the high incidence? AT: At the core of the problem is poverty stoked by sluggish job creation, rampant unemployment. In 1985, villagers could find work on both mono and multi-crop land. With the number of working days shrinking over the years, villagers are forced to migrate to Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam.

Modernisation of agriculture has further added to the problem. Mechanisation has cut into employment. Migrants from the state are driven into forced labour. The link between trafficking and poverty can clearly be seen in the fact that Malda and Murshidabad, among the poorest districts, have the highest incidence of trafficking.

IPS: What about one-third reservation of jobs for women in NREGA? Would that not help in bringing down incidence of trafficking? AT: Yes, it would. But West Bengal’s record in implementing NREGA and reserving jobs for women (the law provides for 33 percent reservation) leaves much to be desired. The national average for gender-based reservation is 48 percent. Tamil Nadu (south India) leads with 78 percent reservation. West Bengal, on the other hand, has a chequered record; 16 percent in 2006-07, 18 percent in 2007-08 and 22 percent in 2008-09. Job cards are given out in names of families. Women are not getting jobs here.

Another major area of non-implementation of NREGA is the government’s consistent failure to provide compensation allowance. Under the Act it is mandatory for the government to provide compensation in case of failing to provide work. In West Bengal over 6,000 people have filed for compensation – only 35 have received it so far. In fact the political leadership is not keen on implementing NREGA, which can function without patronage of party intermediaries.

IPS: What has been your experience of working with agricultural workers and women? Would you say West Bengal’s panchayats (village councils) reflect truly decentralised local governance? AT: Panchayats are mostly controlled by CPI-M, which restricts the scope of independent functioning of elected representatives. Panchayat leaders execute decisions taken by the party. Other parties including the opposition Trinamool Congress are following in the CPI-M’s footsteps. Organisational structures of all political parties are geared towards one thing: winning elections.

IPS: In the late 1990s West Bengal government, under pressure from CPI-M backed All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), introduced pattas (documents of ownership of land) for women, both as single and joint owners of land. How successfully has this been implemented? AT: I would say it has not really been successful. According to a recent statement by the state’s finance minister, Asim Dasgupta, the government has distributed 30 lakh (3 million) general pattas so far; out of this, 6.01 percent is jointly in the name of women and men and, 5 percent only in the name of women. Even here the problem we find is politicisation. Pattas are often given on the basis of loyalty to the CPI-M. In many cases pattas have been awarded on paper but not actually transferred to the beneficiaries. People are expected to vote the party, be loyal to it, in the hope of getting ownership of land.

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