Education and equal opportunity: a study of state initiatives towards gender sensitisation for sustenance of a responsible society

Equity or equal opportunity in education has remained a focal point of study for recent researches on inclusion. An inclusive society which is said to overlook caste, status, gender, religion, etc., is much cohesive in nature and accepts all individuals for their real identities. There is an urgent need of imparting gender sensitive education at school level in India, in order to, build an inclusive society which aims at respect for all individuals and their equality. The purpose of the study is to map the perceptions of school going students towards various gender and equality related variables and mapping their relationships in light of the steps taken by the government. The study was conducted on 160 students out of which students representing three social-economic status (SES) namely low-income group, middle income group and high-income group were considered. Multivariate analysis (MANOVA) and correlation techniques were applied for data analysis.