Gender-Neutral Uniforms Are The Norm At This Mumbai School

With the battle for gender equality still well underway sometimes we find ourselves wondering where to begin teaching people about the issue, and the obvious answer that presents itself - at school. Gender bias is a learned behaviour that when carried through to adulthood presents itself in offensive and occasionally malicious ways but by eradicating the issue at a young age you’ll be looking at a gender-neutral future.

At the Tridha School in Mumbai they have found their own way to combat the issue of gender disparity and implemented a genderless uniform of a short cotton kurta combined with their choice of trousers because they believe that every child, regardless of any factor deserves to be treated equally.

They follow the Steiner philosophy of education which is based on a more humanistic approach to learning, that doesn’t believe that rote learning will get you very far in life. Rather, they believe in holistic teaching which ensures that music and art layer more theoretical subjects like science and math to help children reach ‘a deeper understanding of relative concepts’. At the end of their schooling, all students are geared towards the IGCSE examination, but their method of getting there is different to most others who are doing the same.

Their idea of inclusion stretches across all aspects of their curriculum. Children of all genders perform and partake in classes including handiwork, dance, music, gardening, cooking and carpentry. There are many schools both in India and across the world that follow the Steiner philosophy but even for schools with different ethos, the idea of gender-neutral uniforms should be considered. Clothes are one of the biggest divisive factors between the sexes and by removing that visual cue, you allow children to grow up knowing that differences and similarities come for more than just assigned genders.