By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

A father going to work with a briefcase, and a mother seeing him off in a skirt and apron _ pictures like this, commonly found on school textbooks, are likely to disappear soon, following authorities' effort to provide more gender-equal education programs.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has recently ordered every elementary, middle and high school to come up with plans to enhance education in gender equality.

``We decided to abolish customary practices or rules in educational fields that used to implant stereotypes about male and female roles into students in order to provide a more balanced conception of each gender,'' an official of the educational authority said.

According to the measure, schools have to adopt educational materials that have more gender-equal content and should consider gender equality in supervising and counseling students.

Educational materials that will be avoided include, for example, pictures that show stereotypes of gender roles such as ``men are doctors and women are nurses,'' and history textbooks that focus on describing male figures in history.

Rules about school life will also be improved if they have discriminatory clauses. The educational office will recommend schools change rules that dictate that girls wear skirts at school and will allow girls to choose between skirts and pants.

The authority also plans to offer more education and training to teachers in charge of gender equality programs in an effort to increase their expertise.

Currently, schools do not have experts taking charge of such programs, but teachers or counselors in charge of sex education and sexual harassment counseling at middle and high schools teach the programs.

The office is also promoting the legislation of a law on education of gender equality, and will develop a manual evaluating gender-equal education by September.

``Such measures are hoped to help students develop a more balanced viewpoint about gender, not role models established by biological sex,'' the official said.