Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan to conduct POSH awareness training workshops in government schools across Delhi

One of the key targets of the Union Budget 2018-19 was to improve the quality of school education. It proposed to treat school education holistically, i.e. to ensure all-round development of school-going children and conduct POSH awareness training workshops. Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is a programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12, sharing the aim of the central government of making provisions for quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students. The scheme also envisions to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from pre-school to the senior secondary stage in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for education. The Goal SDG 4.1 states that “By 2030, ensure that all boys and girls complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.” To reach this goal, the first step is to demolish gender disparities in education. The two things that distinguish female students from male students, are menstruation and gender-based harassment.

Female students, especially those studying in classes 6 to 8 face their first period at this age. Since they are either completely unaware of the working of the menstrual cycle or are misinformed about the same, they are traumatised when they get their periods for the first time. In March, the Hindustan Times reported that 66% of girls studying in government schools either skip classes or take a half day’s leave during their monthly periods.

Young girls also frequently encounter sexual harassment in school, by their teachers, peers or non-teaching staff. Further, sexual harassment is considered as a taboo in today’s society, and talking about harassment is greatly discouraged. This adds on to the trauma they face at this age. Their performance deteriorates, they lose focus and they lack motivation to study. This puts female students at a great disadvantage compared to their male counterparts, and the goal of gender equality in education becomes distant.

For this reason, the SSA has organised a mass awareness campaign at 136 locations in Delhi to answer adolescence-related queries female students might have. In addition, the campaign will inform students on “good touch bad touch”, to raise awareness on sexual harassment in schools. This awareness programme, which is to be conducted through the month of August, aims at talking to girl students about taboos and myths around menstruation. Through the programme, the SSA also plans to conduct activities and lectures to make them aware about good touch and bad touch.

Breaking the Stigma

This initiative by the SSA is in partnership with a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), SachhiSaheli. The NGO is famous for its campaign, ‘Break the Bloody Taboo’, where they regularly interact with girls from government schools to answer frequently asked questions about menstruation. The primary objective of the NGO is to break the stereotypes and myths surrounding the natural bodily process, to destigmatise menstruation for young girls. It has agreed to work with the SSA to abolish societal myths on menstruation in many more government schools across Delhi. The larger goal of these workshops is to educate and empower female students, so that they do not feel ashamed of their bodies.

Encouraging Discussion

A teacher at a government school in Shakarpur, said that these girls generally come from families that are not very comfortable discussing menstruation and harassment against women. These two topics are heavily stigmatised, and families prefer to keep their children misinformed about them. Thus, when female students face them for the first time, they are confused and afraid, which greatly hampers their academic performance. The awareness workshops target this, by openly discussing these issues with the students.

The head of Sarvodaya co-ed Vidyalaya, Awadesh Kar Jha, said that the best way to sensitise students on sexual harassment is by conducting POSH awareness training to inform both boys and girls about them. Both male and female students should be made aware of good touch bad touch, to break the silence surrounding the same, and to make them feel more comfortable discussing these issues amongst themselves. As of now, the campaign is targeted at female students only. The officer special duty of the SSA in Delhi, Kavita Rana, has said that the POSH awareness training workshops will cover male students in the following year.

Following up

The POSH awareness training workshops are not conducted like lectures. The SSA and SacchiSaheli both wish for a more interactive form of raising awareness through their programme. After each workshop, a small questionnaire is to be filled by students stating what they learnt through the workshop. Based on the results of this questionnaire, the plan will be modified accordingly, to best succeed in their effort to reduce gender disparity in schools.

Gender-based harassment and menstruation are two greatly traumatising issues in a young girl’s life, especially when the society keeps mum on them. The programme conducted by the SSA is a great initiative in opening discussion on these so-called taboos. It helps in building confidence in female students of this age, to flourish and achieve like their male counterparts. Once these female students are made aware of these two issues, they can overcome them to a greater extent. Such issues should not affect girls’ academic performance, and the SSA’s initiative on POSH awareness training is a step in that direction.