University Co-Education [Archives:2007/1075/Community]
By: Mohammed Saleh Ali Almoqri
A student at Sana'a University
Faculty of education
[email protected]
As a matter of fact, in most Yemeni schools and universities boys and girls usually study together, in the same room, but individually. This habit came as a result of the lack of girls' special schools and universities. We have been accustomed to this situation since grade one and so one. It was something normal for us to study side by side with girls as brothers and sisters regardless of those weak psyche people who are against that.
Actually, everything has positives as well as negatives and every side has its supporters. For example, in classrooms boys are on one side and girls are on the other one, and as soon as our dear Writing teacher suggested boys and girls to work together in groups, voices shouted no o, and of course these voices came from that side. And the strange thing is that not just girls who refused but also two boys. The teacher was immediately shocked and started to explain the benefits of cooperation and working together to exchange ideas and opinions in respective to studying.
When she asked both of the two refusing students about the reason of their objection, one said “it is a shame”, the other ironically responded “my father asked me not to speak to any girl”. Therefore, the teacher immediately said to him “so do not talk with me”.
Obviously, I can tell as there are positive people, surely there are negative ones, and it is rare to find those negative people in educational places, and if so, we just can judge logically and look at the environment asking ourselves, did we come to study? Did we come to avail ourselves?
In fact, most of boys and some girls did not reject that. For, they have their own reasons. When I asked one of them “why don't you have a problem with that?” he responded “We are academic students, and we are in need to exchange ideas and perspectives, aren't we?”
For those who are saying that co-education is a shame, one of my colleagues has said “shame and shyness should not be considered in the places of knowledge. Though we have spent one year and a half studying in the same class, unfortunately most of the girls and some of the boys did not know what academic fellowship means.
In brief, girls and boys should work together to make the benefits bigger. And, working as a team of ten or more is not a problem but the problem is the lack of cooperation and communication among students. So, try now to ask others to help you and see the emerging benefits. For me, boys and girls should work together in order to get real avail. However, the teacher was right when she insisted on the students to work together, to be on the way of success.
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