Rajbiraj, July 2

Gender equality has become both a social and political issue in the country, and much have been said and done to bridge the disparity between men and women.

However, even today, girls are denied the same quality of education as boys, as is evident in Chhinnamasta Bhupendra Sanskrit Secondary School in Saptari, a public school where the number of female students far surpass the number of male students.

Parents enroll their sons to more expensive private schools that have better quality of education, while daughters are enrolled in local public schools, reflecting their belief that girls don’t deserve the same quality of education as boys.

Of the total of 715 students at Chhinnamasta Bhupendra Sanskrit Secondary School, only 275 are male students and 440 are female.

Acting Head Teacher of the school Rameswor Yadav said the number of girls exceed that of boys in almost all classes, specially so in Grade III, which has 50 girls as compared to nine boys.

The implication of this phenomenon is dark; such disparity in providing education means that the next generation of young women will be less equipped than their male counterparts, continuing the cycle of deprivation and discrimination.

A local Ashok Sharma claimed that even government officials only enroll their male wards at private schools in Rajbiraj and Biratnagar, among other cities. Teachers at the school reiterated Sharma’s comments, and complained that discrimination exists despite talks of gender equality on paper. A teacher said that the school management and teaching staff were doing everything possible to provide quality education to its students and requested parents/guardians to not be reluctant to enrol their wards, male or female, at the school.