New Delhi: Delhi University has revised its BEd syllabus to train future teachers to question — not replicate — systemic bias in classrooms, textbooks and policy. The move was approved by vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh, who exercised the discretionary power vested upon him in Sept.

The decision comes following reports of student suicides in educational institutions linked to alleged humiliation, punishment, misgendering or discriminatory treatment in the recent past. In many cases, parents and advocates have pointed to a lack of teacher training on sensitivity, inclusion and gender-responsive classrooms.

Under the updated paper on “Gender, School and Society”, trainee teachers review NCERT and private publisher textbooks across states for gendered representation, analyse education data on girls, SC/ST and minority students to interpret gaps in access and outcomes, and critically assess govt schemes, such as Ladli, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya and the National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level. The overhaul reflects a shift from passive awareness to active scrutiny, positioning future teachers as evaluators of the system they will eventually serve.

According to the revised document, the course aims to enable students to “critically examine the social construction of gender and its intersection with ideology, social structures and institutional processes” and “analyse and challenge patriarchal norms and gender biases within schools and society”. It further states that trainee teachers should be able to “evaluate classroom practices and enculturation norms through a gender lens” and “develop informed interventions that advance gender equity in educational settings”.

The syllabus is divided into three units. The first unit introduces students to key constructs in gender, including patriarchy, power, resources and opportunities, and the difference between gender and sex. The second unit focuses on the “need for feminism; feminism in everyday context”, “socialisation in family and at school”, and “occupation and identity”. This section also requires students to examine gender stereotypes circulating through media and literature and engage with the “discourse of LGBTQIA+” and questions of identity.

Under the practicum component of the course, students are required to analyse films, songs and advertisements in print and electronic media; conduct “an analytical study of textbooks published by different states, private publishers and NCERT”, or carry out “a study of data about girls from SC/ST, minorities and rural backgrounds from different sources”. The syllabus also allows for assignments like studying variations in the daily routine of children with different gender identities in the same family or presenting themes related to gender and school education. The reading list includes works such as “What Is Patriarchy?” and “Understanding Gender” by Kamla Bhasin, B R Ambedkar’s “Castes in India”, govt reports and policy documents.

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