What is Equity?
By: Learning Support Coordinator, Mrs Sunita Agarwal
A Hindi-speaking lady dressed in a saree and flip-flops came out of a taxi to stop by the nearby elementary school to enrol her daughter in a kindergarten. The staff member at the front desk asked for her ID and proof of residence. The lady produced her card and an electricity bill which she knew would be sufficient. The front desk worker apologized. The school wanted to know where her husband worked and insisted on seeing his salary slips in addition to the electricity bill. Four days later, the lady came back in a fancy SUV, dressed in fashionable designer wear. She had the required salary slips, but this time, the person working at the front desk asked only for proof of residence. Her daughter was enrolled within minutes.
Some may wonder if it did any harm! Although the mother successfully got her daughter the admission, there was a minor hitch! It may be seen as inequity—an example of bias that is all too common around us. It is unclear if the mother’s social status and clothing influenced the treatment she finally received. However, what is clear is that she may have wondered why was she targeted and whether her daughter would receive fair treatment in this school.
A fair treatment—that’s what all parents and students expect from their schools. While some may not mind a little special treatment, everyone believes that, at the core, schools have to be fair.
What it means for schools to be fair has changed drastically though. It was considered fair to have separate schools for boys and girls and segregate students based on their gender and ability at some point in history. Today, fairness is not seen as equal but equitable. While equal means everyone gets the same treatment and services as everyone else, equitable means each person gets what they need to succeed. For example, in an equal situation, everyone sitting the exam will have 45 minutes to complete the test paper; in an equitable one, everyone sits the same exam, but some get 60 minutes with rest breaks since they have difficulty focussing their attention for more than 15 minutes. In an equal school situation, we build staircases that learners can climb to higher levels of achievement; in an equitable one, we make sure to build ramps alongside those staircases.
