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.
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