The Relevance of Intervention Programmes in School Setting to Sensitize Children Towards Gender Equity

Abstract

AbstractThe quest for gender equity is a long-standing issue in India and other countries too. It took centuries for women to even speak up for their rights and for men to realize the damage that patriarchy is causing to their personalities. Differentiating human beings based on gender (social construct) is the foremost reason behind this global phenomenon. It is the need of the hour to deconstruct the gender norms and sensitize our children to strive for an equitable and just society. Concerning to latter, social work for being a practice-based profession and academic discipline (https://www.ifsw.org/what-is-social-work/global-definition-of-social-work/[46]) holds up the potential to intervene and address the issue of “equity” in society. Social work professionals, academicians and practitioners have contributed on a larger scale to provide for the basic needs and help individuals deal with their problems. They are working positively towards achieving equity and peace in the society. Their work encompasses gender concerns and endeavours for gender equity in different spheres of human life. The current study results provide evidence that the school-based intervention programmes help modify children’s behaviour and attitude. By understanding the primary experiences and needs of the children, planned changes can be introduced in the form of intervention programmes. The knowledge, attitude and behaviours of the children can be modified to achieve the goal of gender equity. The data from secondary sources forms the basis for the analysis of the current study. The research findings are presented, and the paper is divided into thematic order following the academic vigour.KeywordsIntervention programmesSchool childrenSensitizationGender equity