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Delhi schools to teach boys not to misbehave with females
Under the scheme announced on Friday, Arvind Kejriwal said girls in schools and colleges will be asked to ensure that they make their “brothers” take the same pledge.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said his government has given an in-principle approval to a scheme under which boys enrolled in schools and colleges in the city will be periodically administered oaths saying they will not misbehave with or harass any woman.
Under the scheme announced on Friday, Kejriwal said girls in schools and colleges will be asked to ensure that they make their “brothers” take the same pledge. The scheme, the roll-out date and modalities of which are yet to be chalked out, will also include periodic group discussion sessions in classrooms on incidents of crime against women, the chief minister said in a press conference at the Delhi secretariat.
The chief minister added that men who misbehave with or indulge in violence against women should be boycotted by women in their families. “Violence against women is a sign of mental depravity and society should also take some initiatives to deal with the situation,” he said.
“We have decided to introduce a campaign to change the mindset of the people. In every school and college in Delhi, boys will be given an oath to not misbehave with any woman. This oath will be given at regular intervals. This will help boys understand their responsibilities. Girls will be asked to talk to their brothers and ask them not to misbehave with any woman.”
“And if the brother does not listen and misbehaves with a girl, the sister should say she has no relations left with him. The mothers should tell their sons that too,” Kejriwal said.
While the scheme can be directly implemented by the government in schools and colleges run or aided by them. For private schools and colleges not under its ambit, it will issue advisory. “There is no reason why anyone would say no to implementing this initiative,” said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
Earlier in the day, address a gathering of women entrepreneurs in the city, Kejriwal said if his government could end corruption in its 49 days’ rule (after the Aam Aadmi Party had formed government with outside support from the Congress in December 2013), they can make the city safer for women too.
