The mother of all trades

There has been popular opinion that the lockdown has taught many men how hard women have to work, juggling housework and professional responsibilities.
The mother of all trades

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While the debate regarding women having to make professional sacrifices if online education is made the new learning mode is already underway, Women’s Incubation Business Programme (WIBP), an initiative launched by entrepreneur Asha Jomis, is initiating discussions seeking policy recommendation. The suggestions collected from various women’s groups will be submitted before the state to ensure that a gender-neutral solution is reached.

There has been popular opinion that the lockdown has taught many men how hard women have to work, juggling housework and professional responsibilities. But online classes started for CBSE schools in April and government schools and colleges joined the league from June 1 onwards. Children are confined to home, hooked to their smartphone or other gadgets. But with younger children at home, it is mostly working mothers, who are forced to ensure that the kids learn, while working full time from home.

These working mothers will also be asked to visit the office whenever their job demands it in due course. Flexible working hours in private companies may be demanding. Asha Jomis, Policy Fellow, European University Institute, Italy had initiated a debate regarding this on ‘Her Trivandrum’, a private social media group having more than 8,000 women professionals. 

“Over the last few days I have been hearing from my male friends that in the long run, traffic can be reduced with women staying indoors with children. This is a wrong assumption. Like gender budgeting, gender perspective should be included when the government considers this aspect of women being asked to make professional sacrifices,” says Asha who has enabled several women to launch their businesses in the digital space.

Anjali Manoj, founder of ‘Her Trivandrum’ also feels that the stress will be on mothers when it comes to staying and taking care of the children’s online study. An online English teacher herself, Anjali is already facing this issue where her service is sought by her grown-up children when they encounter login issues. “I will be in the midst of my online classes when my children complain of their login issues. They immediately approach me,” says Anjali. 

Even though Covid -19 has overhauled the family’s functioning, financially deprived families are the worst affected. G Rejitha, a social worker, recalls that since she is working from home, she asked her maid to not come to the house anymore. “It is women who are going to make professional sacrifices depending on what type of job they do for a living.

Men are not going to sit at home and take care of the children. In some exceptional cases, depending on their salary, the couples might take a call on who will sit at home and address the children’s needs,” says Rejitha.There are recommendations that online methods should come up with innovative ways to keep the children interested and motivated. At the same time, if the schools provide flexible learning times with pre-recorded sessions and digital learning opportunities, it might turn out to be a boon to working mothers.

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