In a bid to acknowledge the contributions of women in the society and pay tribute to their achievements in various social, economic, cultural, and political fields, Canadian International School (CIS), Bangalore celebrated International Women’s Day around the theme #BalanceForBetter by making a call to action for creating a more gender balanced world.

To mark International Women’s Day 2019 on March 8, the school organised an activity where men were dressed in pink and women in blue to educate students about gender parity and promote the message among them that collective action and shared responsibility for driving a gender-balanced world is key. Canadian International School has been celebrating equal rights year after year and has been taking several initiatives to curb gender bias at the school. One such initiative is CIS Allies whose goal is to eliminate discrimination against women, LGBTQ, people from various socioeconomic backgrounds and religions, and students from other countries. The initiative is the brainchild of IB students that work towards educating fellow students and teachers on various issues through presentations and activities.

“This year’s International Women’s Day is rightly themed as #BalanceforBetter as it is high time that we voice out for both gender equality and equity of our genders. Gender equality is a fundamental right for all and providing women with access to equal choice of work and pay, access to education, healthcare, adequate political and economic representation. That is what makes a nation most empowered and it should begin right from the school. We should treat our students equally irrespective of their gender and teach them to have equal respect for both men and women. It is important for them to stand up for equality as they are the backbone of our future and can pave way for a balanced and a better world. Happy Women’s Day to all. Hope we attain equal height with equal right,” said Shweta Sastri, managing director, Canadian International School.