Boys Disengagement from Education

Education is a necessity for every individual regardless of their gender. We always talk about how we should educate girls and make them better people but we tend to neglect the other individuals of the society for the same. Recent UNESCO reports stated that boys are more likely to drop out or repeat their primary school than girls. 

This is most probably because of the general views of boys in society which is rowdy and unruly. Studious and sincere boys are bullied and tagged as ‘sissy’ or ‘girly’. The society goes by the way boys can do whatever they want to just because they are boys while girls are made to act in a certain ‘disciplined’ manner otherwise they are labelled as rude and tomboyish. Such views of society play a major factor in the dropping out rate. 

The other major factor that affects the dropout rates is that guys are made to think that certain subjects are ‘manly’ and others are not. In our class, there was only one boy in the arts section out of 16 people whereas in the science and commerce sections, most of the students were boys. 

Boys are also more likely to be distracted by malpractices like drugs and violence partially because no one actually takes efforts in understanding them or paying attention to them during their formative years. This often leads them to fall into traps and redirect their lives on a wrong path. 

Falling for the wrong practices is not the only thing that leads to boys dropping out. The UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay stated ‘Poverty and child labour leads boys to drop out of the schools.’ This is another major social stigma that has this result. Boys are thought to be the breadwinners of the house while girls are the bread makers. This leads to boys working at a very tender age to support their families. The education system should be tailored to help such boys too. They should have night or evening classes. The system can also conduct special sessions where such children are taught at least basics of all subjects and in case they are intrigued by it, they should be allowed to pursue those interests further.

Movies and social media can promote male education as well instead of solely focusing on female education. That is because the media is a very powerful tool to convey any message because it is viewed by a very wide range of audience irrespective of their educational qualifications. 

Men’s mental health should also be taken as seriously as women’s mental health. This will increase the attendance of boys in school and will help them to become better people, hence making the society a better place. We talk about equality in society but don’t actually practice it. Alongside ‘educate the girl child’ movements, we should promote ‘educate the boy child’ too.