Co-Education in India

Co-education is the recent system of education where girls sit and study along with boys in the same classes and in a common college. This system was not popular in ancient schools and colleges. At that time, it was not considered appropriate to allow boys and girls to study together in the same institutions. Rather, boys and girls were sent to separate schools and colleges. Social mixing of boys and girls was not allowed. This was considered essential to maintaining the purity of character in them.

Actually, the elders of each family consider many disadvantages in coeducation and that’s why they are against sending their children or grandchildren to such schools and colleges. They think that co-education makes their children absent-minded. The children become indisciplined and the whole atmosphere of the schools and colleges gets polluted.

The boys try all sorts of motions, gestures, and songs to attract the attention of the girls. Even the girls tempt the boys for all sorts of indiscipline. Boys do not come for the teachers in the class. They keep combing their hair off and on and waste their time. The boys and girls all try to show themselves as heroes and heroines respectively and are mostly running to cinemas to see the latest movies. The educational institutions start presenting a look of fashion parades. All sorts of unsocial and undesirable habits are developed and students forget to listen to their elders or teachers. In such an atmosphere, one cannot expect a good quality character.

Co-education is considered better from the social point of view in spite of its various defects as explained above. Such a system of education gives an opportunity to understand each other’s problems and, therefore, can co-operate better in the achievement of respective goals. A healthy spirit of working and competing is created by coeducation. The boys try to keep a polite and gentle character so as to give a good impression to their girl class-fellows. During their long period of education, they can better understand each other’s psychology and even can choose their life partners from among their class-fellows. In this way, the problem of parents selecting a suitable match for their children is also solved. The boy and girl educated together to make the best match due to their broad attitude towards life and closer understanding of each other’s habits and manners of living likes and dislikes.

Co-education provides economical and advanced education to girl students. This is because the same amount of money is invested to upgrade or provide better types of equipment and infrastructure in schools and colleges. Otherwise, funds would get diverted for constructing separate schools and colleges for girls. Further, in a free democratic country like India, we cannot deny education to girls along with boys, the girls must also be equally educated. However, where girl students take interest in greater numbers towards studies, there, special separate institutions can be established to impart education of each level and in various professions.

Co-education seems to be good at the primary level and higher level in colleges. But due care must be taken at high school and inter-classes where a lot of physical and mental changes take place naturally in children. Students must be guided properly to avoid their going astray. The separation between girls and boys can be made by taking them into confidence and making them understand any implications. As such, at the high school level, co-education can be imparted with able guidance and care. At the university level, boys and girls get matured to understand the good or bad of each other. So co-education can be very useful from the social and economic point of view if given under proper care and guidance.