The Ministry of Education has recently issued regulations and guidelines pertaining to the conduct of female students in schools. The long list of regulations tells girls what they should and shouldn’t do and says what kind of punishment violators of the rules will face.
Two things attracted my notice here. First, all the regulations are addressed exclusively to girls with no mention whatsoever of how boys should behave in schools and what punishments they can expect.
Second, the rules are so dogmatic that they put all the blame for any misfortunes, catastrophes and calamities — whether religious, political or cultural — on girls.
A number of points cry out for clarification here. Were the regulations meant to influence the conduct of all students, males as well as females, or were they written specifically for girls? If they were intended for girls, then they must be rewritten. Also, what is the exact purpose of the regulations? Were they introduced for some unknown reasons? The problem is that the focus is on one group — girls — while the other — boys — were completely ignored. This happens at a time when we are facing extremists who advocate terrorism and subversion. This should have been reason enough to expand the regulations to include male students so that they will not fall into error.
Education does not occur by means of threats and intimidation. The “do this” and “don’t do that” approach is not the best way to educate anybody. Some of the rules are simply ridiculous — such as the one warning girls against carrying weapons or poison. Readers of the regulations would think our schools have become battlegrounds with students constantly threatening their teachers.
It seems the ministry is trying to build a society of angels and, in order to do so, it insists on meting out severe punishment for violating its regulations. The irony is that the ministry and its regulations made no reference to teachers who may inflict serious injuries on students.
The regulations make no reference whatsoever to the role of female social counselors in resolving problems in girls’ schools. Instead, severe punishment is given precedence over advice and counseling. Does this mean we will produce a society of girls who abide by the law at school to escape punishment but will behave differently outside the school?
