Brains over brawn

Girls outshone boys as per the results of the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) examination 2023 for both High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) and Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate(HSSLC). It has become almost like an annual feature where girls do better than boys in the NBSE exams since the past few decades. Overall, out of a total of 17130 qualified, 9350 were girls and 7780 were boys. In the top 20 merit list, out of a total of 99 candidates, 66 were girls and 33 were boys. In HSSLC examination, the girls again proved their mettle as per the results of different streams. In Arts, the pass percentage was girls (86.27%) and boys (78.44 %). In Commerce the pass percentage was girls (90.34 %) and boys (82.47 %). In Science, the pass percentage was -girls (90.39 %) and boys (82.51 %). In the top 10 list in Arts stream all 18 positions were held by girls while boys drew a blank. In Commerce, there were eight girls and four boys while in Science there was gender equality with nine girls and nine boys. The achievements of girl candidates during the past few decades convey a strong message that they are capable and dependable. Perhaps this could be due to paradigm shift in society that once was heavily loaded in favour of boys. It is a welcome change since progress is about partnership and no critical segment can be ignored for whatever reasons. Society has acknowledged that when it comes to consistency, girls can be trusted to do that. According to findings , girls today are purpose driven as they have become more confident of their abilities in getting better-paid professional jobs. Even in sports, women are proving their mettle in sports and the military. It is also found that girls are more attentive and can sit for longer periods than boys and therefore, are able to engage in process-oriented thinking while the boys engage in a lot of physical activity and are more inclined to goal-oriented thinking. Perhaps most telling, however, is how the genders are raised during childhood. Males are raised to be independent thinkers, while females are raised to be thinkers capable of arriving at a decision that’s good for a group, rather than an individual. In a male-dominated society like Nagaland, the imbalance in investment in education that favor boys over girls, has shifted though changes that are slowly taking place. As against political quota, it is time to walk the talk in giving women quota in employment. Unless there is significant change in attitude in this regard progress would be incomplete. A dramatic shift is needed when one considers the fact that in addition to child bearing, women are the main work force in the state and contribute much to the economy. Perhaps the old adage proves true- educate a man, and you educate an individual. Educate a woman, and you educate a nation. In this day and age, women are no longer content to play second fiddle as they have proved that anything men can do, women can do better.