Breaking barriers: Navigating gender equality through life skills training in India

By Pauline Gomes

India is home to nearly 600 million young individuals, with 50 percent of the total population under the age of 25. This presents a goldmine of opportunities for India as it seeks to strengthen and unlock its economic potential. However, for this to happen, India would need to make concerted efforts to upskill the youth in the country. A skilled workforce will act as the bedrock of India’s economic aspirations in the next few decades. In recent times, there has been a greater acknowledgment of this fact and subsequent efforts are being made to ensure a future-ready population. The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2023 and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 strongly reflect this intent in all policy discourses, and proactive action, as a result, is being taken at school and college levels, to develop a skill-based curriculum program.

The need for a gendered approach to life skills education in India

Amidst the positive strides in life skills education, a critical area that needs specific attention early on is the integration of a gendered approach into life skills education. It is important to tailor life skills education to address gender-specific nuances and challenges, particularly in rural India. A gendered approach will better address the unique challenges faced by both young men and women, particularly in rural areas. A recent survey jointly conducted by Breakthrough, Quest Alliance, and Pratham, titled “The Voices Survey” covering six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand, revealed a significant gender gap in access to mobile phones, with a higher proportion of females lacking access compared to males.

It is important to understand this gap and its implications for assessing the intersection between technology access, gender, and life skills education for girls and women. Mobile phones, for example, are powerful tools for accessing information and educational resources. A higher percentage of males having access to mobile phones may mean that they have greater opportunities to benefit from online educational materials, skill-building apps, and other resources that can contribute to life skills development. This is therefore a critical consideration to keep in mind while policies are being formed to promote and democratize life skills education in India.

Bridging the gender gap in life skills education

Bridging the gender gap in life skills education is a prerequisite for achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls in emerging countries like India. Life skills, encompassing essential competencies for daily living, decision-making, problem-solving, and effective communication, are critical for every individual and their overall well-being. For women and girls, this can particularly strengthen their agency and negotiation skills. Our interventions in the state of Haryana have contributed significantly to improving the lives of women and girls through our Taaron Ki Toli sessions. These sessions aim to empower women and girls with skills such as communication, negotiation, leadership, and presentation, among others.

For example, Nisha, a school teacher from Haryana’s Jhajjar became a torchbearer of transformative change after attending these sessions. Her exposure to the Taaron Ki Toli sessions made her aware of the importance of life skills. Nisha’s deepened awareness of domestic violence and gender biases reshaped her perspectives, fostering a ripple effect of change. In her classroom, Nisha’s teaching methods became more transformative, creating a space for empowering narratives. This enriched students with crucial life skills and set the stage for the confident pursuit of aspirations. Beyond academia, Nisha’s embrace of life skills challenged prejudices within her family, sparking open dialogues.

However, gender disparities in life skills education often hinder women and girls’ full participation in society and limit their opportunities for reaching their full potential. These disparities often stem from deeply entrenched social norms and gender stereotypes that can potentially confine women and girls to traditional roles and responsibilities.

However, to bridge this gap, we need a multifaceted approach that tackles the root causes of gender inequality and promotes equitable access to quality education and training opportunities for women and girls.

The following steps would be critical to ensure a gender-inclusive skills education in India:

•             Equal access to technology: Technology is today a great equalizer and is a source of continuous learning, particularly in far-off places. It is therefore important to develop initiatives for digital inclusion, ensuring both young men and women have equal access to technology. This would mean distributing affordable devices, enhancing internet connectivity in underserved areas, and organizing digital literacy workshops, with a specific focus on girls and women.

•             Awareness campaigns and community outreach: The parental awareness about the criticality of life skills education is very low. The Voices Survey corroborates this, stating that awareness of life skills in India is very low, both among the youth and their parents. Therefore, it is important to launch campaigns emphasizing equal educational opportunities for all genders, and challenging stereotypes.

•             Designing a gendered curriculum: We need to develop a curriculum that empowers individuals with skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, financial literacy, and emotional intelligence. Such skills will be highly helpful for women and girls in patriarchal societies to negotiate and pursue their aspirations. Breakthrough, for example, is currently running a gender-sensitive education program in Punjab and Odisha in partnership with the state governments. The ultimate objective is to build a gender-equal world.

•             Embracing diversity on the path to empowerment: As we continue to make life skills education accessible for all, it is important to recognize the intersectionality of gender in the context of race, class and sexual orientation. The curriculum should be conceptualized and designed, keeping these intersections in mind. This can become a great enabler for ensuring inclusive and equal access to all for life skills education.

The integration of a gender lens into life skills education will yield strategic benefits for the youth in India, particularly young women and girls. Life skills education can play a critical role in empowering and supporting individuals to navigate the challenges of the modern world. More importantly, India’s aspirations to become an economic power hinge largely on how well it can upskill and equip its youth to address the evolving and diverse skill requirements of the world. A comprehensive approach to gender-inclusive life skills education is a sine qua non, for achieving New India’s aspirations.

[Pauline Gomes, Deputy Director SPSU at Breakthrough and Project Manager for LSC and Voices Track]