HYDERABAD: In a good move to create awareness among students towards gender issues, the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTU-H) has introduced a new compulsory course on ‘Gender Sensitisation’ for second-year students of engineering, technology and pharmacy commencing this academic year.

To be taught from December onwards, the new course on ‘Gender Sensitization’ will be introduced as a Compulsory Foundation Course with at least three credits at 2nd year UG level for all branches of Engineering and Pharmacy. Hence, the paper will carry three credit points and students are expected to obtain a minimum of 40 per cent in the exam to pass.

Dealing with issues concerning the relationship between men and women, caste, declining sex ratio, struggles with discrimination, sexual harassment, new forums for justice, eve-teasing, etc., the course hopes to enlighten the students on gender-related laws.

In a run-up to the introduction of the course, nearly 200 teachers of various affiliated colleges of JNTU-H attended a two-day workshop about the tough task at hand.

Speaking about this new curriculum, Susie Tharu, joint editor of the textbook said, “We decided on a curriculum keeping in mind the concerns and interests of undergraduate students as well as issues that are alive in the public sphere. The course tries to create a culture where these issues can be discussed openly and rationally.” She further added that although questions of gender and sexuality are central to human experience, they are among the least open to rational study or exploration.

The assignments related to this subject will be based on practicality describing the incident, interviewing the people, reviewing the films, taking photographs, writing a poem or a story based on the gist of the subject, said Susie Tharu.

Keeping the wider dimensions of equality in mind, the lessons raise the gender question in tandem with other axes of inequality in the modern world: class, caste, religious affiliation and region,” says Susie Tharu talking about the book.

“We have been told not to stick to just English to teach the new course, as the native language is much more nuanced. The students we deal with are neither young nor old, they know a lot but the course aims to sensitise them about how to deal with the other gender,” said Lavanya Alaparty, who attended the workshop, representing MGIT.

“We are expected to inform the students about the changed laws where it is no longer ‘eve teasing’ but ‘sexual harassment’ and how the Nirbhaya Act makes it very simple for women to complain about harassment,” says another engineering college teacher. Interestingly, one of the lessons is called ‘Love and Acid do not mix’.

“Although students are taught about gender issues at school, this curriculum aims at empowering students with additional knowledge on struggles related to discrimination and solutions that can help deal with it,” says N Yadaiah, registrar of JNTU-H.

While educationalists view this as a welcome move, they say that textbook knowledge of gender issues alone cannot address the concerns of discrimination prevalent in society at present, but the course should be activity-based so that it leaves a strong impression on students over gender-related issues.

The textbook titled ‘ Half the sky: A bilingual textbook on gender,’ which is put together by a team of nine authors for this course will be available to students for Rs.145. According to sources, in accordance with Telangana government, the same curriculum will be introduced in all undergraduates colleges from the next academic year.