Media Release
Udupi, Oct 23: A day’s workshop on 'gender sensitivity' was arranged in the Mother Theresa Hall of St May’s English Medium School (CBSE), Kannarpady, Udupi on October 23, Wednesday, in collaboration with CBSE, to meet the present day challenge of dealing with the children in terms of gender sensitivity.
60 teachers from 17schools of Udupi and Mangaluru became a part of this enriching and informative workshop.
At 9 am the workshop was formally inaugurated by invoking the blessings of Almighty and lighting the lamp. The formal function was presided over by Rev Fr Valerian Mendonca, the correspondent of St Mary’s Educational Institutions, Udupi. Fr Johnson Sequeira, Principal of the school welcomed all and introduced the resource person Dr Mahesh K, Principal, Edify School, Bengaluruto the gathering. ‘Knowing more about Gender Sensitivity is the need of the day and it is the ocean of new knowledge. Gender is socially constructed and sex is permanent and universal. The present society is male dominated one, so it’s very important to train the children to treat men and women with equal dignity. The concept of gender is going through changes. The transformation in teaching methods by adapting new technology may help us to deal with the concept of gender sensitivity and it can be achieved through perseverance, opined Rev Fr Valerian Mendonca in his presidential address. He asked the teachers to have a healthy interaction with students which resultsin the growth of both the teacher and students.
The speaker of the day Dr Mahesh K, began his sessionat 9:30 am through interaction wherein he said ‘children are demanding now a days as they are single at home and overprotected by the parents, which affects the concept of Gender Sensitivity everywhere. Gender and Sex are not the same. Sex is biological which you get by birth. Whereas gender is social and learned. It describes the role and relation between men and women in the society. It changes over time and cultures and refers to all aspects of life.The social inequalities are constructed on the basis of gender. So it’s a teacher’s responsibility to handle the children carefully he said. A number of real life situations were narrated, videos were shown on the concept and activities like role play was conducted wherein all the teacher participants actively took part and gained practical experience.
A formal valedictory ceremony started at 4 pm. Teachers from different schools came up with their feedback. The resource person was presented with a memento as a token of respect by the principal on behalf of the school. Divya Ganesh coordinated the programme. Dapsy from the host school expressed words of gratitude. Rita Quadros,vice principal of the school executed the workshop under the guidance of the principal of the school.