Talk by Ms. Kalyanwala for Class 9
3rd February, 2014

Ms. Shweta Kalyanwala, a professional social worker, spoke to all students in the CBSE batch of class 9 on the quality of population in India. She has been engaged in the development of children, education of teenage girls and healthcare of women after completing post graduation in this field. She commenced the talk by introducing the concept of the census carried out periodically in our country, its functions, and the challenges involved in conducting it. Ms. Khandelwala also expounded on the increase in the population of our country and elaborated upon its causes. She maintained specific focus on inter-state disparities and regional differences in the literacy rate and education received by members of the population. Moreover, she authenticated the existence of gender biases in the nation using statistics and figures, adequately establishing the unavailability and inaccessibility of education and healthcare facilities for girls. Ms. Kalyanwala described the concept of ‘Sex Selection’ and its various manifestations in education, literacy and child marriage. She culminated the interaction with an activity wherein, she read out different stories and situations concerning gender-related stereotypes, making the talk interesting and thought-provoking for all the students. Toward the end of this talk, everyone was compelled to turn their attention to the issue of unjust gender biases and ways to eradicate them. Overall, this interaction with Ms. Kalyanwala was an extremely rewarding and useful experience for all of us.

Ashraya Harish and Nikita Dhawan (IX A CBSE)