Culture is the way of life which is learnt, shared and transmitted from one generation to another. And, the process through which culture is learnt is called socialization. Amongst the agencies of socialization, perhaps one of the most important is the secondary socialization, which involves a child’s peer group. As a naughty little baby joins school, he meets his age-mates. If is often noticed that majority of the playgroups consist of children of both sexes. Perhaps, that’s the foundation of co-education culture, a high prevailing aspect of educational domain. It was first introduced in Switzerland. Now, it has become popular almost in the whole of Europe and the whole of America. The Eastern companies are also adopting this system gradually. In our country, opinions sharply differ on the issue of coeducation in colleges.
To begin with, one may categorize the whole discussion on two aspects namely, sociological and economical. We shall first sneak into the sociological front. Perhaps the biggest advantage of co-education is that it provides a high quality of educational output from the students. The fact that both genders studying together brings in an element of competition between the genders. Therefore, more intellectuals are expected to grow from the lot. The fact that both genders study together under one roof provides an impetus to their confidence. The confidence results in easy communication which is so vital in every walk of life. In fact, every position description in the job market requires candidates having “strong networking and communication skills”. The mixing of the genders through “difficult” ages and stages in co-educational schools eradicates shyness and gaucheness in the boy/girl relationship.
Advantages of Co-education
As respect for women is strongly preached in Islam, co-education helps in strengthening the same. Boys realize the presence of females in their classes and therefore, act sober and decent. Co-education leads to a more balanced school life because of the mutual interest between the genders. Plays, concerts and so on, are very much easier to produce when girls and boys can both take part, and the final results are often better. In a Co-Educational school both female and male perspectives are discovered.
The economic aspect elucidates the fact that it is cost-effective for developing countries like Pakistan to teach both the genders under one roof and requires less teachers, staff and amenities.
While there are a myriad of benefits of co-education, the system does come attached with strings of disadvantages. The competition may not be confined to work only! It may be directed to boys competing to capture the attention of girls and preoccupations of a sexual nature are, of course, detrimental to work. Premature relationships, lousy friendships etc. are amongst few banes of the discussed system. However, the advantages clearly overpower the disadvantages and in my view, it depends upon the user how to deal with the situation. In my view, Co-education is here to stay!
