A teacher's innovative strategies for a gender equitable society

Knowing the problems that came with educating a girl, Gulati devised ways for to generate interest among girls to continue studying

This year’s Martha Farrell Award for the most promising individual has been won by a teacher who’s at the forefront of devising innovative pedagogic support for increasing girl child education, writes Sneha Bhattacharjee

Being a teacher for 15 years, Manu Gulati was always determined to bring a change in the lives of her students, especially girl students. Knowing the problems that came with educating a girl, Gulati devised innovative strategies for teachers so they could generate interest among girls to continue studies. Today, her efforts at creating a gender-neutral society by coaching boys and girls in Delhi schools have fetched her the 2019 Martha Farrell Award for Excellence in the most promising individual category. 

Apart from being an English teacher at a Delhi Government school, Gulati is a mentor teacher with the Directorate of Education. She has been instrumental in helping young girls receive formal school education. Her efforts have also been extended towards working with boys and girls at government schools in sensitising them about gender neutrality and bringing a positive change in society.

Speaking to Business Standard, Gulati points at the marginalised sections of society where the school dropout rate is high especially among girls. “This is where it becomes important to generate critical thinking, question and challenge the existing norms, among the girls,” she says. Reflecting on how important it is to get both the boys and the girls involved when it comes to building a gender equitable society, Gulati stresses the necessity of having a dialogue about every topic associated with a girl’s life. For instance, awareness about menstrual hygiene. This topic, when it comes up for discussion, often is dealt in hushed tones or draws laughter, says Gulati. Through her mentoring sessions, she has been trying to break that stereotype. 

“Children with special needs, coming from poor background need to be dealt with more compassion. My challenge is how to make these girls self-sustainable,” she says. So, she tries to incorporate creative art in her teaching methodology. “I teach music and dance or art and craft along with imparting English language training,” she adds.  One problem she encountered was that girls stopped coming to school months before any festival was to arrive. Why? Because they had to go with their parents to help them earn money. “So I would teach them how to make things that could be sold during those festivals, all the while also imparting process writing and speaking skills. The children would be taught to use waste materials such as bangles, ice cream sticks, CDs and utilise them to make items for sale,” she adds. 

With the thought that life is much beyond marks, Gulati is looking to inculcate in the children the awareness and resilience with which they need to lead their lives. Talking about the happiness curriculum being introduced in Delhi schools by the Aam Aadmi Party government, Gulati feels it encourages more interaction among students, teachers and parents. “Today, teachers and parents can have a conversation about how their child is behaving in schools and how they can be a part of raising them well,” she says. She admires how girls are coming up and discussing issues as small as not being able to eat as well as their brothers because the parents cannot afford to feed both children well. “The curriculum has helped students connect with their own self, which I feel is very important. Marks can come and go, but if you are unable to speak your mind and be true to your self, it becomes difficult to face life,” says Gulati. 

Talking about the Martha Farrell Awards, Gulati says awards are just another way of recognition and does not mean one becomes complacent having been recognised. “Whatever has been done is just a drop in the ocean, we are working for a larger purpose. And, I shall continue on that journey with vigour,” she adds. Gulati also collaborates with America India Foundation’s “Market Aligned Skills Training Program”, through which she facilitates training programmes for beauticians, weavers, sales girls and the like  in Jalandhar in Punjab, Betul in Madhya Pradesh and Baramullah in Kashmir.

The Martha Farrell Awards were first awarded in 2017. Instituted in the memory of Dr Martha Farrell, a prominent activist for gender equality and women’s empowerment, the Award is co-sponsored by Rizwan Adatia Foundation and Participatory Research in Asia and supported by Martha Farrell Foundation. This year, the best organisation for Gender Equality category has been won by Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti, a women-led organisation, which started as a collective of rural women and eventually transitioned into a registered organisation in 2000 to fight against Violence against Women.