CONCEPT OF CO-EDUCATION

DEFINITION:
“CO-EDUCATION is a system in which boys and girls are study at a same place and share each other’s ideas and thoughts.”

Co-education is still a living issue in Pakistan and indeed in many other countries also. In America, where co-education has been largely practiced, there are voices raised against it. In Soviet Russia, where it was practiced on an equally large scale but where it was abandoned for some time, it has been fully re-introduced. In Pakistan, the number of co-educational institutions have been growing, though many are very strongly prejudiced against this.

Many object to co-education because of their moral scruples. They think that morality and especially sexual morality, can be preserved only on the basis of the segregation of sexes – that is by keeping men and women apart. They think that bringing men and women and especially young boys and girls together mean inviting trouble. Boys and girls are bound to err when they come into each other’s contact. They are like gun-power and fire and must be kept apart. They imagine all co-educational institutions to be hot beds of sexual corruption. Some of them may be heard declaring that no girl in a co-educational institution can escape contamination.

While modest behavior varies from person to person, guidelines do exist in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The code of modesty for both men and women includes:

• Lowering the gaze and avoiding flirtatious speech and conduct;

• Avoiding close physical contact with unrelated members of the opposite sex;

• Observing modest or Islamic dress according to the Qur’an and Sunnah;

• Not drawing unnecessary attention to oneself.

• In addition, women should:

• Avoid wearing perfume or cosmetics in front of unrelated men (and related men who are eligible for a woman to marry);

• Avoid drawing attention to jewelry and other hidden adornments.

Modesty is part of a broader spirituality

Obviously, such fears are much exaggerated. They are certainly not based on facts. Such moral lapses do occur, but they are the exceptions, not the rules. Such moral lapses occur even where there is no co-education, indeed, many psychologists and sex scientists point out that segregation of sexes leads to more moral corruption than free mixing of the sexes. For a boy who has never been face to fact with a girl, every girl is a source of attraction as well as fear and vice versa. But when we see the other sex at close quarters, not many would appeal to us that way. Other factors such as competition in studies or other activities, come normal rule, boys behave in a more mannerly fashion and girls shed that abnormal and unnatural shyness which otherwise over power them. Relations there are more healthy and moral.
A big factor that goes in favour of co-education in Pakistan is the lack of funds for education. Funds available for education are limited. The major burden of education is being borne by the people directly. The result is that only a limited number of institutions can be started. If separate colleges have to be built for men and women, the expenses would go up. Very often a single institution would be enough to serve both boys and girls. If this is not done, one of the two things is bound to happen. If equal opportunities are to be given to boys and girls, there will be fewer colleges on the whole. Two schools would have to be opened where one would be enough, or, colleges would be opened mainly for boys. Thus lack of co-education would often mean lack of female education.

Doctor Zakir Naik says about the co-education in his lecture that:

“Do you want to send your child to a school to get educated, or do you want to send your child to the school, to pick up illicit techniques, or be harassed? Then if it is the first, I would advise you to put them in Unisex schools... and there is several of the kind in the city.”

From many occasions it has been cleared from from hadith that when a woman had ask some questions they had asked in the presence of Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) so in this point it is also clear that the woman or a girl can ask questions in the presence of man. But it does not meant that man and woman start mingling with each other like nowadays.

For instance:
“Hazrat Ali(R.A) said that; our companions never find any difficulty to ask any question from Mother Ayesha(R.A).”

But gaining a knowledge in co-education and mingling of sexes in co-education are different things, Islam not encourages this system but allowed to gain knowledge for both man and woman

ANALYSIS:
“The most important fact about the co-education is that ,that it is against the natural philosophies.The boys and girls are comparatively unaware and unusual from each other and it’s against the nature.”

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