Girls’ access to school as compared to boys’ continues to be a crises area in Pakistan. There is no denying the fact that the country has not been able to ensure gender equality during the last six decades. Meager budgetary allocations; non-conducive social environment; restricted movement of girls; shortage of female teachers in schools; and curricula promoting gender biases are some of the factors identified as major hindrances by the stakeholders.
The following discussion is based on research findings generated through thorough content analysis of the recently introduced EFL textbooks. The area of English language teaching owing to its importance as a recent addition in the primary school curriculum will also be explored. It will now be taught as a compulsory subject from Class I.
There are a number of problem areas in the recently developed EFL textbooks and that any attempt to force a linguistic change in the absence of its corresponding social change seems to be unworkable and futile.
The gender equality debate in Pakistan grew out of a need to ensure that opportunities were equal for both girls and boys. The concept of equality though, in the present scenario, goes beyond equality of opportunity only, where everyone is treated the same, to fostering a bias-free environment where individuals benefit equally. It recognises that some people require additional specialised support in order to achieve equal benefits. Equality in education, therefore, would take into consideration not only equal access to education or of participation standard, but the contents of curriculum, instructional and evaluation materials and practices, different ways of learning and views of knowledge, and open merit with respect to opportunities. However, gender inequality is a problem embedded in the fabric of Pakistan’s social structure.
The educational status of women in Pakistan is unacceptably low — amongst the lowest in the world. The problem emanates at the primary level, as low participation and high dropouts at this stage prevent females from reaching higher education and equitable opportunities for such furtherance do not become available to the female gender. According to the ministry of women development, only 19 per cent of females have attained education up to Matric, eight per cent up to Intermediate, five per cent have a Bachelors degree, and only 1.4 per cent have a Master’s degree. Sixty per cent of the female adult population is illiterate. Of the 3.3 million out of school children, 2.503 million are girls. Around 73.6 per cent of primary-age girls attend schools in comparison with the 92.1 per cent of boys.
According to the convention against discrimination in education adopted by UNESCO in 1960, any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which, being based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, economic condition or class, as the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing equality of treatment in education is tantamount to discrimination. This refers to all types and levels of education and includes access to education, standard and quality of education, and the conditions.
We took five English language textbooks (class I to V) to serve as a corpus for the present study. The books have been prepared and produced by the Sindh Textbook Board; prescribed by the Education Department, Govt. of Sindh for schools in the province; and reviewed by the Ministry of Education, Curriculum Wing, Islamabad, Government of Pakistan. With reference to both sexes, their content was analysed in terms of illustrations, dialogues, stereotyping and attribution of professions.
Analysis of the data collected from English textbooks from grade I to V showed a heavy gender bias in terms of all variables. The presence of women in illustrations was at a minimum, whereas men occupied more space. Men were shown in traditional as well as nontraditional dresses whereas the women were shown wearing traditional dresses only. Also male characters had active roles in different professions while and women were shown as helpless beings, with limited activities and professional roles.
The language used in all the books except the grade-I book, carried linguistic bias. There were more dialogues for the male characters than female. Usually men were the initiators of a discourse and women just the respondents. The language showed women as passive participants and the men as active.
This bias may affect the learning of the female students. When both girls and boys are given an opportunity to practice language in classroom activities, the girls will get lesser practice chances as their dialogues are shorter and fewer.
Stereotype was the major type of gender bias found in the textbooks. Women were shown in traditional roles doing routine chores within the home, involved in unproductive activities most of the time. Rarely were they shown going out of the house, and there too they were shown working as nurses or school teachers. The men, on the other hand, were mostly busy in other kinds of activities. They were shown as experts at using various tools, involved in economic and technical labour such as fishing, carpentry and farming, or fulfilling the roles of cobblers, butchers, tailors, doctors, barbers, etc. No female role models were presented for the girls that would aspire them to break the stereotypes.
Following are some recommendations:
• A gender-fair policy may be adopted.
• Experts, developing curricula at various levels must be forewarned to handle the issue with care.
• A balanced curricula may be developed to combat gender biases and promote gender equity in education.
• The contents of books and teaching materials must be analysed thoroughly before being implemented in the classroom.
• Teacher training programmes must prepare the teachers to handle gender-sensitive issues in the classrooms, and especially in the English language scenarios, as any negative effect might discourage girls in pursuit of further education.
• Social roles and responsibilities must clearly be indicated in the curricula as related to both the genders.
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