Essay No. 01

Co-education

Co-education is a system of educating boys and girls together. In ancient times, co-education existed in Sparta in Greece. There was no discrimination between boys and girls. They studied and played together. Along with academic education, physical training was also given to both sexes.

Plato, the Greek philosopher, believed that co-education helped in the development of personality of both men and women and created a feeling of comradeship among them. In the west, the importance of co-education has been felt since ancient times.

In early Vedic Society, co-education was prevalent in a few places. But gradually female education began to be ignored. Moreover, the system of education was quite different from that of today. The boys stayed in Gurukuls, for the whole educational period. There they received both academic education and physical training. The former included the study of the scriptures and the latter, training in warfare. Girls were not sent to the Gurukuls and thus were deprived of the benefits of education.

In medieval India, those belonging to lower castes and the womenfolk were not allowed to attend schools or study the scriptures. Raja Rammohan Roy, a great social reformer and scholar, fought against this practice and succeeded in his mission. His job was further carried on by other social reformers.

Today co-education is prevalent in almost all the countries of the world. In India, there are a number of co-educational schools, colleges, and universities. There are a number of advantages to the co-educational system of education. It is economical. Poor countries cannot afford to open separate schools for boys and girls are taught together in the same school, then there is no need open separate schools for them. Thus the cost to be incurred on building infrastructure furniture, stationery, personnel recruitment, etc. will be saved.

There is a shortage of well-trained teachers in developing countries like India. if there is co-education, the same staff can teach both boys and girls at the same time in the same class, and the problem of teacher shortage can be dealt with Establishing more of co-educational schools can help in spreading literacy even with the limited teaching staff and infrastructure. Thus co-education is beneficial for both boys and girls and the nations as a whole.

Co-education helps the boys and girls to intermingle and understand each other well. They become more broad-minded and tolerant towards the opposite gender. They interact freely with one another and thereby overcome hesitation and shyness. Thus co-education leads to a healthy and harmonious relationship between boys and girls.

In a co-educational school, boys are free to meet and talk with girls. They develop a feeling of friendship among themselves. Hence, these boys usually do not indulge in eve-testing. Co-education contributes to the balanced development of the personality of boys and girls.

A study has revealed that co-educational schools are better because the presence of girls in classes restrains boys from indulging in unruly behavior and improves their academic performance. In fact, a higher percentage of girls not only lowers the amount of classroom disruption but also fosters a better relationship between students and their teachers. The researchers for and that classes with more than 55 percent of girls resulted in better examination results and less violent outbursts overall. They conclude that this effect is due to the positive influence the girls have on the classroom environment.

In fact, the study found that primary school classrooms with a female majority showed increased academic success for both boys and girls. In the middle and high schools, the classrooms which had the best academic achievements overall were consistently those that had a higher proportion of girls enrolled. The researchers suggest that boys and girls may learn differently, but it is better not to send them to sex-segregated schools.

Boys become conscious of their dressing habits, behavior, and the style of communication in the company of girls. They dress properly, behave well, and talking a decent language. Girls, similarly, overcome their shyness, behave well with boys, and understand them better.

Co-education generates a spirit of healthy competition among boys and girls. They work hard to remain ahead of one another. Co-education reduces gender bias in the society. It generates a feeling of equality between both sexes. The feeling of male dominance may be wiped out from the society if this system of education is given importance.

However, some people are opposed to the system of co-education. According to them, this system is against the Indian culture and tradition. It is also argued that girls feel freer in an institution which is meant only for girls. As such they have a greater scope of developing their personality. They also participate in sports, dramatics, and debates more freely.

Teachers of some subjects like Biology also find it easier to explain some chapters more thoroughly if only girls or boys are sitting in the class. Sex education has also been introduced and in co-educational schools, even teachers find it difficult to discuss such topics in the class.

It is also felt that since students are of impressionable age, the possibility of their going astray is much more in co-educational institutions, where they enjoy more freedom of intermingling with the other sex. They also may not remain focused on their studies.

It should be acknowledged that in the fast-changing society of the twenty-first century co-education has to become the order of the day. Today girls are entering all professions in large numbers. Many of them are heading bug organization. Co-education will help young boys and girls to mix freely and understand one another better. Today’s children are tomorrow’s citizens. We must encourage them to develop their personality in a free and healthy atmosphere. Girls no more have to remain confined to the four walls of the house. Co-education will help both sexes to learn and work together for the progress of the country.

1000 Words Essay

Essay No. 2

Co-Education

In ancient times, co-education was prevalent in Sparta,   a city-state of Greece. Both boys and girls were given academic education and physical training together. There was no discrimination between the boys and the girls. They played and studied together.

Plato, the Greek philosopher, was also in favour of co-education helped in the development of the personality of men and women and created a feeling of comradeship between them. He felt that coeducation was the only method to make both men and women useful members of society. In ancient India also boys and girls were brought up and taught together. They were not segregated from each other.

Nowadays, the system of co-education is in vogue in the U.S.A., Europe, and other advanced countries of the world. In India also, a number of co-educational schools and colleges have been established.

There are a number of advantages to the co-educational system of education. Firstly, if boys and girls are taught together in the same school under the same roof, there will be no need to open separate schools for girls. A poor country like India cannot afford the luxury of opening separate schools for boys and girls. Co-education is thus economical.

Secondly, there is a shortage of trained teachers in India. If the same staff teaches boys and girls together, we can manage with the existing staff of teachers.

Thirdly, if boys and girls study in separate schools, they will grow up in watertight compartments. The result will be that girls will feel shy in the presence of boys. Boys will have curiosity about girls. Co-education helps the boys and girls to inter- mingle and understand each other well. It leads to the harmonious relationship  between boys and girls

Fourthly, co-education generates healthy competition between boys and girls. Both boys and girls. Both boys and girls work hard to remain ahead of each other in studies and sports.

Fifthly, co-education creates a feeling of comradeship between boys and girls. As the boys are free to meet and talk to the girls, they do not indulge in eve-teasing. Girls too do not feel shy in the presence of boys. The system co-education is thus very conducive to the balanced development of the personality of boys and girls.

However, there are some conservative people who are opposed to the system of co-education.  They point out that this system is against our tradition and culture. They approached that if boys and girls study together, the possibility of their developing immoral relationship cannot be ruled out. They also felt that the system of co-education may spoil the character of boys and girls.

But these arguments are not very convincing and do not hold well in modern times. If our experience is any guide, boys dress properly and behave well in the company of girls. They use dignified language. By nature, boys are curious about girls if they study with girls, their curiosity will be satisfied. They will not regard girls as strange creatures. Likewise, if girls are taught with boys, they will not feel shy. They will understand boys better.

Thus, we can say that the advantages of the system of co-education outweigh the disadvantages. Since the boys and the girls have to, later on, live together as husband and wife, there is no point in segregating them in schools or colleges. We should move with the times and open more and more coeducational institutions in India. The hackneyed morality of the medieval ages should not be allowed to stand in the way of the progress of our youth who are the future citizens of India. 

600 Words Essay

Essay No. 03

Co-education

There was a time when it was believed that boys and girls should be taught in separate institutions. In ancient gurukuls, there were only boys who were given education then. In spite of this, women generally had a good education in ancient India.

After Independence, several education commissions and committees were set up. They generally advocated co-education in schools up to 10+2 level and separate education for boys and girls at the university level till graduation.

This policy is now, by and large, being followed in our country. There is, however, co-education again at the post-graduation level.

Some people believe that co-education should not be there. In their opinion, this can lead to attraction between boys and girls which is neither good for their health, nor character, nor studies.

Some other people are of the view that co-education can bring about a healthy competition between boys and girls and thus it can be of mutual benefit to both sexes. It can mean better discipline since in the presence of girls the boys will not talk irrelevantly or obscenely in the class.

The most potent argument advanced by co-education lovers is that it can help both boys and girls in the development of their personalities. They can come out of their enclosed shell-like personality and get rid of their unwarranted hesitation and shyness.

This can make boys and girls more expressive, progressive, and forward in outlook and attitude to life which can be of great advantage to both sexes.

It must, however, be noted that some reservations are also there and even in a country like England, exclusive schools for girls are now being set up.

250 Words Essay

Essay No. 04

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 against 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 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 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 the 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’s 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 a 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 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 co-educational 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.

700 Words Essay

Essay No. 05

Co-Education

Co-education is a system of education where boys and girls study together. In most of the schools and colleges in India and abroad, co-education is prevalent. There are, however, few good educational institutions that are strictly meant for boys or girls as has been the Indian tradition since very ancient times.

Educationists have now realised the benefits of co-education and they are consciously working to would a society where men and women share the work in every field. The new educational institutions coming up are invariably co-educational. Co-education removes the inhibition present in the boys when they come across members of the opposite sex. If boys and girls are brought up together in schools and colleges, they can talk and exchange ideas freely without barriers and accept each other as human beings.

Men have a natural impulse to please the opposite sex. As a result, they behave and dress well. This is true of both sexes. Men learn to be polite, gallant, and courteous. Women to show admirable behaviour. In the same way, boys in schools and colleges work much harder. The girls too, in order to super cede the boys devote a great deal of time in studies which they would in all probability spend otherwise, whiling away their time in idle work. Hence co-education provides the atmosphere for healthy competition.

The end result of co-education is a more mature, more level-headed better adult. Co-education makes the girls bold and fearless. They are thus better able to face the male-dominated society and can fight for their rightful place in society single-handedly. On the whole, co-education is essential for a progressive society where men and women must co-operate to build a better world.

250 Words Essay

Co-Education in India

Essay No. 06

Co-education is the education of boys and girls at the same institution. Co-education has many advantages. First of all, a common school for boys and girls reduces the burden on the government to provide the state with more schools. Secondly, a free exchange of ideas between boys and girls gives rise to a healthy relationship between the two sexes. Girls do not become giggly and silly when they see boys because they realize that they are not really different from them.

Had there been a distance between them, there would have been more of a scope for curiosity about the other sex and that could sometimes lead the children to behave foolishly. A free interchange of ideas between them would make them friends and good companions. Studying together, boys and girls get a chance to learn about each other better. Girls are better at needlework etc. and boys are usually better with electrical gadgets etc. While working at these activities together, both could learn from each other and in fact, help each other to become better at these. When it comes to competing with one another in the field of academics, one realizes that boys and girls are almost the same in terms of potential and capability. This generates mutual respect between them and they see each other as human beings rather than specimens of some kind. Co-education should be encouraged right from kindergarten so that children grow up with the right attitude towards each other. Interaction of this kind can build more confidence in the minds of the children and they will never hesitate before talking to someone of the opposite sex.

Although there are many schools in India where coeducation is not a practice and they are quite successful in the long run, co-educational schools are becoming increasingly popular.

300 Words Essay