Education is the softest but most powerful foundation of any society. But this foundation becomes strong only when every corner of the classroom is equally safe, respectful and comfortable for both boys and girls. In a state like Bihar, where tradition and modernity interact with each other every day, the question of gender sensitization has no longer become a luxury, but a necessity. This article presents the details of the same.
A safe classroom is one where there is no fear before asking questions.Curiosity aroused.
According to Census 2011, the female literacy rate in Bihar was around 51.5 percent, while the male literacy rate was around 71.2 percent. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) also reveals that about 40 per cent of women in the 20-24 year age group in the state were married before the age of 18. These numbers look calm on the pages, but on the ground they are witnesses to thousands of incomplete notebooks, broken dreams and silent farewells. But Bihar is also the land from where the most inspiring stories of change have emerged—and this is where the real story of this article begins.
Chief Minister Girl Cycle Scheme —The journey from mobility to dignity.
‘Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana’, started in the year 2006, provided direct financial assistance to girls studying in class nine to buy bicycles. The results weren’t just visible in enrollment figures—they were also visible on village sidewalks where blue-clad girls began bicycling to school for the first time. This scene was not ordinary. In a society where a girl’s scope was considered limited to the threshold, this bicycle became a symbol of her public presence, her confidence and her authority.
“The bicycle did not turn its wheels, it turned the wheels of thought.”
livelihood group meetings – Where silence is broken, the seed of equality is sown.
Women self-help groups formed under ‘Jeevika’ have changed the rural landscape of Bihar from within. The weekly meetings of these groups are not just limited to discussions about savings and loans—they inadvertently become schools of sensitization, where women speak openly for the first time on child marriage, domestic violence and daughters’ education. Similarly, in the year 2006, Bihar became the first state in the country to give 50 percent reservation to women in Panchayati Raj institutions. In a village where the head is a woman, it becomes impossible to ignore the demand for toilets or safety in schools.
The incident took place in a middle school in Muzaffarpur. A student of class eight was absent for three consecutive days. The traditional thinking would have been – ‘She is a girl, maybe she has left her studies.’ But a sensitive teacher of the school herself went to her house and found that the girl was not coming to school due to menstruation, because the door of the toilet there was broken. Repairing a door, availability of sanitary napkins, and a teacher’s patient reassurance—these three small but decisive steps saved a student from permanent school dropout.
security prevents violence; The treatment heals his wound.
A truly safe environment is created only where there is provision for treatment along with security. Trauma-informed approach teaches us that instead of asking a child victim ‘what is wrong with you’, we should ask ‘what happened to you’. Confidentiality, freedom from victim-blaming, availability of trained counsellors, and dignified return to school of an adolescent girl rescued from child marriage or violence—all together make a school not only ‘safe’ but also ‘healing’.
Active gender and child protection committees in every school, regular sensitization training of teachers, participation of mothers in the school management committee, and easy system of complaint and consultation – these four together lay the foundation of the change that Bihar needs. This change won’t happen overnight, but every bicycle, every door repaired, and every voice heard is a concrete step in that direction.
The land of Vaishali had given the concept of republic to the world. If this land can become the cradle of republic, why can’t every school in it become the cradle of equality? Gender sensitization is not a struggle against any class, but a quiet but firm investment in favor of the entire society.
