Prime Highlights:
- Maharashtra government makes co-education mandatory, ending separate schools for boys and girls.
- The move aims to promote equality, inclusivity, and better interaction among students.
Key Facts:
- Schools with separate sections for boys and girls on the same campus must merge immediately.
- The Commissioner of Education, Maharashtra, will oversee implementation, and schools can submit proposals to shift to co-education.
Key Background:
The Maharashtra government has announced that all schools in the state will now have both boys and girls studying together. The decision officially ends the decades-old system of separate schools for boys and girls.
The School Education and Sports Department issued a directive confirming that the state’s single-gender schools will be merged into a unified schooling structure. According to the government, the move is in line with the Bombay High Court’s guidance in Petition No. 3773/2000, which recommended discontinuing separate schools for girls. The directive is being implemented across Maharashtra, affecting both existing boys’ and girls’ schools.
Officials highlighted that co-education fosters equality, improves interaction among students, and prepares them for real-world social and professional environments. “Allowing boys and girls to study together will help them develop mutual respect, communication skills, and social understanding,” a government statement said.
The official order highlighted that co-educational schools allow equal participation in both academics and extracurricular activities, while also reducing gender divisions from an early age. Schools that have separate sections for boys and girls on the same campus must merge right away to make the change easier.
This change will make Maharashtra’s schools more modern and inclusive, where students, teachers, and staff can learn together without separating boys and girls.
The Commissioner of Education, Maharashtra, will oversee these changes. Schools that want to switch to co-education can send proposals for approval.
Experts say this change will help students grow both socially and academically while promoting gender equality. With this step, Maharashtra joins other states in India to provide students with a complete and inclusive learning experience from an early age.
