Kerala State Run Schools Introduce Gender-Neutral Uniforms

After a two-month-long summer break, the Kerala government surprised students and parents with their new instructional materials. The new textbooks featured gender-neutral images in it.

This initiative got widespread attention on social media. The images of the textbooks went viral on the internet and the netizens praised the Kerala government for this new initiative. They claimed that the revised representation in the textbook would help to drive off the misconception of gender stereotypes. An image from the class 3 textbook was uploaded on social media by the General Education Minister, V Sivankutty.

One of the images that were featured showed a father grating coconut in the kitchen while his wife cooks dishes and another image showed the father cooking snacks for his daughter.

Pavithra Krishna, a student of a government school in Vithura, told PTI that she was amused seeing the pictures in her new Class 3 Malayalam textbook.

“I was turning the pages of the new book and was surprised to see the pictures of a father scraping coconut in the kitchen. I showed this to my father and asked why he doesn’t do this at home,” she said.

Teachers are also applauding the step, seeing it as a move in the right direction towards breaking down long-standing gender stereotypes. Sindhu, a teacher from Kochi, told PTI, "The thought counts, as the re-imagined gender roles depicted in the textbooks paint a 'positive' picture for kids that cooking and other housework are the collective responsibility of both father and mother."

“This is very positive. Knowingly or unknowingly, there is a general impression in our society that cooking and housework are the sole responsibilities of women. Children are also growing with this sense of feeling because that is what they see in their home,” she added.

Apart from textbooks, some of the state-run schools have also introduced gender-neutral uniforms.

Usually, the school uniforms in the country are different for both genders. The boys wear shirts and pants and girls wear Skirts or shalwar kameez in some schools.

Some schools in Kerala have introduced the same uniform for all the students which consists of shirts and Knee-length pants.

“I feel very thrilled and comfortable with the uniform. It’s quite distinct from that of my friends studying in nearby schools. I can play well with this dress,” Sivananda Mahesh, 10, a Student of Valayanchirangara government Lower Primary School, in Kerala’s Ernakulam district told The Guardian.

More than a dozen schools in Kerala have switched to gender-neutral uniforms after being inspired by the Valayanchirangara concept.

“It is time to start a discussion in the society whether there is any need to continue with the separate schools for boys and girls. The state government fully supports the idea of a unisex uniform for the students which is a step towards ensuring gender equality (sic),” Sivankutty had told PTI.

These are not the only decisions taken by the state to impart gender neutrality in schools. The Kerala Child Rights Commission decided last year to replace the terms "sir" and "madam" in the school premises with the universal term "teacher." However, the Department of General Education ultimately decided to refrain from the change.