CO-EDUCATION AT SCHOOL LEVEL: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON URBAN VS. RURAL PARENTS' ATTITUDE IN SILIGURI

Abstract

Co-education was at once a myth to the Indian Education System. But after the establishment of Universalization of Elementary Education, through various projects like the Sarva Shiksha Mission and Education For All, the Government has envisioned  to make the co-education system popular so that, the boys and the girls both can get the formal education at school level under the same roof without discrimination. It makes girl students bolder and smarter by eradicating self-defeatism, inferior complexity and self created pessimism and broadens their personality with growing self confidence. It should encourage and cultivate a relationship of mutual respect among both the genders which promotes a healthy and competitive environment among the students. Thus it socializes people by giving the preparation of real world. Co-education is also economical for a poor country like India. In case of school level education, parents are the decision maker. It is of prime importance to understand their perception and attitude regarding co-education. Is there any special preference towards single-sex education? How much impact does gender have as a factor influencing parents’ school choosing criteria? Does it vary among urban and rural parents if at all. This study attempts to find out importance of co-education as a deciding factor for the parents before making choice for the future of children's education  along with other factors like school infrastructure, teacher quality, reputation of the school, distance of the school from the house, school discipline etc. It also highlights a comparison between urban and rural parents' attitude towards coeducation.