Schools embrace inclusivity, adopt gender-neutral uniforms, language

Creating A Safe Space For Students To Form Their Personal Identity

- Mohua Das

No more “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!” at the annual day function at Birla Open Minds International School from now on. The school in Walkeshwar has decided to do away with its traditional greeting at events and meetings by replacing it with gender-neutral alternatives such as “Dear guests” or “Hello everyone” as a step towards inclusivity. Birla Open Minds isn’t the only one to bin gender stereotypes in school routines and practices.

The Aditya Birla World Academy (ABWA) is introducing gender-neutral uniforms for the upcoming academic year where students regardless of their birth gender can choose between trousers or ‘skorts’ (hybrid of a skirt and shorts) as their uniform if they so desire.

In an email to parents last month, principal Radhika Sinha described their new way forward as a move to “reduce gender differentiation in uniforms so that students of various genders, gender non-conforming, or questioning gender can feel safe discovering and expressing themselves at the school”.

The school in Tardeo — which made a significant stride last year by setting up Rainbow Club (an LGBTQIA+ support group led by the student body and guided by teachers) and currently glowing in its new identity as a “gender-inclusive school” — also laid out an action plan last week in celebration of the Pride month that lists LGBTQIA+ history and activism in classroom discussions, shifts in school norms such as allowing students to choose the length of their hair “as long as it is neatly tied up” and regular workshops with teachers and parents as part of what they call a “move away from the cis-heteronormative environment in the education world”.