Educating toddlers: Not just a job for women after all

Women question if men have the aptitude for child-care, irrelevant as unemployment has forced them into the job.

MANSEHRA: Ibrars’ bed ridden diabetic father sighed with relief after hearing the news that his son had been given a job at a nursery centre, run by a non-government organization (NGO). Ibrar had been selected as a teacher (caregiver) for children between the ages of three to fiver years old and his family was thrilled to hear that he would now be contributing to the household income.

But the women of the family, his wife and mother, wondered if this was a man’s job, as looking after pre-school toddlers has always been an occupation that women have undertaken.

His family was concerned at how he would look after young children when he himself had not been actively involved in his children’s upbringing. Typically women in the area took over these duties while the men were busy working.

Ibrar and five other young men, however, rejected this stereotypical perception when a month back they joined the nursery, after having been jobless for over a year, in the Mansehra region where the post-earthquake devastation still persists and family incomes have been hit hard by the destruction of properties and death of earning hands.

The nursery is being run by an NGO in the Siren valley that prefers to hire teachers from the community, especially local women. But in this case only one girl applied for the position and later refused to join when she learnt she will have to do training with male colleagues.

The six young men who were finally selected look hardly the type to take care of small children.

Siddiq is the village mosque cleric with a beard that looks like a senior seminary student. Khalid and Mian Gul are tall and gaunt shy, Ibrar, the son of the ailing ex-butcher, is no different. Only Waqar Shah, washed, combed and laundered gives the impression of being able to handle the task.

The question if they have the aptitude for this kind of work is irrelevant as unemployment has forced them into this job.

They grew up barely making ends meet, helping their parents on farms, knowing little about life outside the valley. The October 8, 2005 earthquake changed their lives.

Various NGOs trained them to run shelter schools set up to help the children who had been traumatized from this experience. When the NGOs moved out and withdrew support, they became jobless.

The post quake interventions had left behind a culture of dependence. Parents were unwilling to pay for what was being offered free to their children. But some among them having learned new skills wanted a break from their hard past. They are improving their education and now long for a changed life with more choices to earn a living.

The current job bringing them Rs4, 500 a month will last but for a year when the NGO will fold its mission. They will be jobless again.

Will the government schools will be ready to benefit from their experience and provide them the opportunity to hone their skills further in this line or leave them to hunt for some other odd job? That question is already bothering people.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2010.