Co-education refers to the system of education in which both men and women attend the same institution or classes. In co-education boys and girls study in one class room, share their knowledge and cooperate with each other in various aspects. The concept of co-education is now growing very fast in different countries of the world and in those places where it was regarded as social or religious crime.
There are various merits and demerits associated with the system of co-education. Some of the important merits of co-education are given below.
In co-education boys and girls compete with each other. Girls try their level best to get a position in class and improve the image of girls in class. On the other hand boys do their struggle in achievement of this goal. So a trend of competition starts between them which lead to healthy educational activities.
Co-education increases the level of confidence of boys and girls. In different colleges and universities where there is co-education, different kind of activities such as festival, cultural shows, functions etc are conducted periodically. Such activities increase the confidence level of both genders. In case of co-education both genders feel different environment to perform which is a good advantage of co-education.
Another merit of co-education is that it decreases the government expenditures on educational institution. In case of co-education government has to build only one building and provide staff to it whereas in case of separate education the government has to make double expenditures in shape of separate buildings for boys and girls. It also has to provide necessary staff to both buildings including other expenses.
Due to co-education boys and girls can share knowledge with each other. There are some subjects in which girls know better than boys so they can share their knowledge with boys. Similarly boys can help the girls in different subjects.
In co-education boys and girls co-operate with each other. They share their problems and try to find their solutions. Due to this co-operation they know better about each other which will help them in future to become a good wife or husband. Also they will not face any problem in real life when they will get a job in which they have to work together.
There are some demerits of co-education which are given as:
Due to co-education boys and girls become very close to each other. They start doing other activities and leave their studies. It means they make the institution as a date point where they can meet easily. Such things are disastrous for the educational institutions and have a negative impact on the life of the students.
Another demerit of co-education is the ego problem. This problem is high especially in boys. In educational institutions if a teacher insults a boy, the boy does not take it seriously but if he is insulted in front of girls in co-education he will feel it and there will be ego problem. Ego problem sometimes create very negative results such as beating or abusing the teachers.
Co-education also creates problems for the teachers during the process of teaching. There are some subjects such as psychology and various biological subjects which are difficult for teachers to teach them together. Teachers cannot explain the things clearly in front of both genders which create teaching problems.
In co-education girls cannot fully participate in different activities such as festivals, sports, functions, seminars etc. They cannot avail the various facilities of university such as Jim, swimming pool etc. This creates a sense of desperation among the girls.
It should be acknowledged that the society of twenty first century is changing very rapidly where girls have to work in collaboration with boys. Coeducation provides a platform to boys and girls where they could mix freely and better understand one another. In this way both genders would be able to work together in professional organizations which would be beneficial for the success of a country.