Closing the book on gender bias in school

While there have been efforts in the country to promote gender equality, these efforts are being undercut in the classroom, where millions of young people read school textbooks that contain gender-biased materials which deprecate the role of women. The Jakarta Post's Rita A.Widiadana, Maria Endah Hulupi, Ida Indawati Khouw, Cornelius Purba and contributor Evelyn Suleeman examine this issue.

JAKARTA (JP): Eight-year-old Mirza asks her teacher why mothers always cooks while fathers read the newspaper, a domestic scene she has seen depicted countless times in her schoolbooks.

Ibu Sri Haryani, Mirza's teacher at SDN Kelapa Dua elementary school in East Jakarta, reluctantly answers the question: "Because a woman should cook for her family and a man should relax and read the newspaper after work."

Dissatisfied with this answer, Mirza tells Ibu Sri her father often cooks dinner because her mother works in an office.

Ibu Sri is embarrassed and finds it difficult to find an explanation to satisfy this intelligent and curious student.

"I was frequently numb and could not answers my students' questions because most illustrations and sentences in their textbooks did not jibe with the lives they lead and their surroundings," Sri said.

The fight against gender inequality is being lost in the classroom, where students continue to use textbooks that were written to reflect the diminished role of women in a patriarchal system.

A vice chairman of the Indonesian Publishers' Association, Setyadarma, admitted that many authors, illustrators and editors had precious little knowledge of gender issues.

"But we are ready to make changes and revisions to the contents of textbooks if necessary," he said.

Individuals and institutions have been conducting studies on gender biases in school textbooks for two decades now, with few results to show for their efforts. The government and related parties have refused to be prodded into action despite these studies, and textbooks have remained largely unchanged over the years.

Evelyn Suleeman conducted a study of textbooks and found that women and girls were overwhelmingly portrayed as dependent, cooperative, passive, submissive and nurturing, while boys were depicted as being creative, clever and strong. These stereotyped images are instilled in Indonesian schoolchildren from the time they step in the classroom.

"This is very dangerous and misleading. Young children are being exposed to the supremacy of men and to male success stories."

She said children should be taught to respect the rights and worth of everyone, and be made to realize that men and women deserve the same opportunities in life.

"These values can be conveyed by parents at home and by teachers at school through various fun activities, lessons and classroom materials," she said.

There are many different types of materials that can be used in classrooms to supplement textbooks, such as educational games, flash cards and computer programs, she said.

"But school textbooks are very important if we want to teach our children gender equality. And unfortunately, the majority of our schoolbooks are still gender-biased," she concluded in her study.

Yustina Rostiawati from Atma Jaya University's Community Development Center said she has been researching gender parity in the schoolbooks used in a number of elementary schools in Jakarta, Bekasi and Tangerang since 1994.

"It really requires a huge effort to change the entire content of the textbooks used in our schools," she said.

Yustina and her team at the center carried out a comprehensive study and education program at Catholic schools in Jakarta.

The team, in cooperation with a Canadian institution, completed content analyses of schoolbooks and classroom lessons, and held seminars on gender issues for teachers, students and officials at the Jakarta Catholic Diocese as part of a gender training project.

"If we talk about gender issues we are really talking about a very socially and politically sensitive issue, as it deals with a possible change in an already establish system -- a male- dominated patriarchal system," she said.

And there appears to be a continued resistance to changing the old system. "I was astonished by the response of the Indonesian Catholic Education Board when I approached them about implementing gender-equality projects in the schools. They said, 'We have a lot of other important problems besides gender equality that have to be addressed,'" Yustina said.

The mission of State Minister of Women's Affairs Kofifah Indar Parawansa to change the content of gender-biased schoolbooks requires a strong commitment from all related parties, she said.

Rahayu Hidayat, the chairwoman of the University of Indonesia's Women Studies Center, identified the Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Manpower as the institutions that had to take the lead in encouraging gender equity.

She said the Ministry of National Education should immediately amend the country's textbooks to eliminate gender, religious and racial biases in the classroom.

Despite the necessity of these changes, Rahayu realizes the task is daunting. "The changes should begin in various aspects of daily life, and Indonesian women must play the lead role in ensuring equal treatment. This is why Indonesian women should be critical of unfair policies and decisions, and fight for their rights," Rahayu said.

This struggle will take time because it requires altering the public's perception of the role of women, and there is sure to be resistance from men who cannot accept the idea that women can be "agents of change" for a better society, she said.

She said equal access to education had to be accompanied by efforts to introduce the benefits of gender equity to society as a whole.

Yustina agreed, but said prompt action was needed to eliminate gender bias in the classroom. She singled out teachers and the vital role they played in shaping the values of children. "We have to train the male and female teachers in our country's schools, but at the same time we still have to push the people in governmental institutions."

A key to this change also lies in the legal and legislative institutions. "If we have a strong legal foundation then it will be easier for us to implement all of our programs," she said.

Fitri Putjuk, a gender specialist and the director of the John's Hopkins Communications Center, said people's perception of gender equality varied according to their social, cultural and educational backgrounds.

"The issue should be widely, slowly and patiently spread through various mediums of communication. Reversing people's mind-sets is just like moving a mountain," she said.

Amending school textbooks is a necessary and urgent step to introduce gender equality to our children and instill in them the values that reflect the realities of our world today.

But what is more important is the commitment and willingness of all parties to introduce and embrace gender equality in society as a whole.