The controversy and criticism triggered by the proposed educational reforms by Union Human Resource Development Minister M M Joshi isn't very surprising. But what definitely is most surprising is the thought and time to introduce subjects like Sanskrit and housekeeping. But the icing on the cake is that girls have been singled out for housekeeping as a subject in the school curriculum.Well, women welcome back to the dark ages. But isn't this a retrograde step, especially when more girls are breaking from their traditional roles and and acquiring skills and education that puts them professionally and socially at par or maybe even better than men. No this is not a feminist debate but a practical one. Don't men need housekeeping skills? And what do you perceive when you hear the word housekeeping?The first thing that probably comes to mind is cooking, cleaning and stitching. No, housekeeping has far greater connotations. It is the management of resources, odd jobs and surviving in these difficult times. So are men not competent enough to learn this, or are they too superior to share the burden?Isn't it high time the policy makers or the educationists broke the age-old shackles of traditional education and ventured out to courses which are job oriented and would assure educated young men and women to earn a living. What purpose will a subject like housekeeping serve? It will serve a purpose if chores like plumbing, electricity maintenance, vehicle maintenance, budgeting, cost controls, standardisation, tricks of fuel efficiency, quality control are taught. And definitely both men and women need this training.We talked to some students on the attempt to introduce housekeeping in the curriculum for girls. Most of them were highly critical about the whole issue and even offered some valuable suggestions.Jaspreet, a Class X student of GMSSS-16 was appalled at the suggestion. ``I have no words to describe how me and my friends felt about the whole issue. In one word, it is absolutely ridiculous. First the very thought of introducing a subject like housekeeping is ancient. And to make matters worse you suggest it only for girls. There are talks about getting geared up for the 21st century, and here we are trying to force women back to the shackles of the hearth''.``The proposal is absolutely unfeasible and is a step toward pushing women back to their traditional role. Not only this it also promotes inequality among the two sexes. While serious efforts one one hand are being made by educationists, social workers and parents towards liberalisation of women through education and financial independence, our own leaders make the whole effort redundant by these stupid policies and decisions'' says Neha a student of Class XII.According to Anupreeet of Carmel Convent, ``I think the way things are going the day won't be too far when the abolished customs like sati, child marriage, female infanticide and probably purdah for women will be back. What purpose does a subject like housekeeping serve in the job market? An if it is being introduced then why only for women? Men need to learn more about it than us. Reforms have to be for the betterment of the society, for progress and not for the worse as is the case here''.According to Manoj a student of St John's ``I certainly cannot adjust to the idea of housekeeping as a subject, when there are many more important things and subjects to study, which will ultimately help us in our careers. And if it has to be introduced it should be both for boys and girls. When women can go out and work and share the financial burden of the house why can't men help in the household chores. And as it is men are the best chef's in the world! A lot of innovation can be brought in this subject which can help in the all round development of the personality regardless of the sex''.Kudos to that Manoj!
