BENGALURU: A study has stated that primary textbooks of the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) contain gender stereotypes.
The study, released last week, was done by 21-year-old French national Anais Leclere, who is interning with Actionaid Association, a child rights NGO. Her findings project women as weak in the textbooks.
Textbooks of Classes II to IV for Hindi, Maths, English and Environmental Studies were analysed. The study showed that the textbooks encourage men to do outdoor activities and women are projected to be ideal for domestic work like cooking, child rearing.
During the release of the study, Anais said, “The objective of my study was to identify how textbooks promote gender equality, but I was shocked to see the way women are projected. In the Class 4 English textbook, jobs like milkman and policeman were dedicated to men and women were projected as weak.”
The NGO has now decided to write to the Union Government to make gender equality a priority during revision of the NCERT textbooks. Also they want gender studies to be included from the primary level itself.