Teachers are the most efficient agents of social change, and their involvement will surely result in a more genderequal society. During the preschool socialization process, which involves observation, modeling, and being rewarded or punished, children learn to adapt to and internalize the roles expected of them based on their gender. By the time they start school, they have already exhibited gender-based thinking and behavior. The School provides a new and original way of reinforcing family sex-role patterns. The teacher's conduct and school culture play a significant role in reproducing gender inequality. The Global Gender Gap Index 2021 was released in March, with Iceland topping the list with a score of 0.892 out of 156 countries, while India ranks 140th with a 0.625 score. Although society is moving towards gender neutrality, some people still hold onto stereotypical mindsets.

The role of teaching in the transmission of gender stereotypes and attitudes varies according to different viewpoints on the role of teachers in this process. According to one view, teachers play only a passive role in teaching students gender stereotypes and sexist attitudes since these attitudes are already present in students before they even enter school (Eccles & Blumenfeld, 1985). According to this viewpoint, in order to be effective change agents, teachers should receive training in gender equality and related instructional strategies during their professional development (Baba, 2007; Owens et al., 2003).

The lack of education often leads to a series of problems for women. A mother who lacks education may not know the best nutritional choices for her child and may have little control over food choices and access to healthcare facilities. This can lead to malnutrition and anemia among both children and mothers (Lawrence et al., 2009). Without proper education, women lack the confidence and knowledge to make wise choices regarding education, careers, and marriage. This can result in early marriages, as is the case in India, where there are nearly 24 million child brides, accounting for 40% of the 60 million child marriages in the world (Lawrence, 2009; Wodon, 2014).

The National Curriculum Framework (2005) emphasized the contradictions in education. A paper titled "Gender Issues in Education" highlighted that schools reinforce gendered inequalities in socialization and social control, thus limiting possibilities. Several textbooks, curricula, and methods of instruction exhibit a gendered worldview. Gender concerns were also highlighted in school education by NCF (2005). As a result, the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (2010) proposed that teachers take a course on gender, school, and society. It is believed that teachers are the most efficient agents of social change, which would undoubtedly result in a more gender-equal society. This would require improving the self-esteem and academic performance of girls in the classroom (Alan et al., 2018; Lavy, 2008; Spencer et al., 1999). Similarly, someone's gender role expectations create an automatic, selfreinforcing flywheel effect (Dijk & Engen, 2019). In the case of teachers' gender role expectations, they shape the allocation of jobs, tasks, and responsibilities to their students and colleagues. The behavior of perceivers, including students, fellow teachers, and community members, is also affected.

Culture and society influence the behavior, choices, and expectations of men and women when humans live in stability (Esteves, 2018). In the time of fairy tales, a handsome and brave prince has always rescued a forlorn princess from the hands of demons or witches (Rayaprol, 2011). As children already acquire gender stereotypes before they join schools, teachers play only a passive role in reinforcing them (Ellemers, 2018). It has been found that the school climate impacts students' participation in curricular and extracurricular activities differently for female and male students (Coker et al., 2018). When girls learn in a discriminatory environment, they tend to perform poorly in school. Due to gender bias in the classroom, girls are discouraged from achieving their full potential, which negatively impacts their adult life decisions. With time, girls' self-esteem drops as they attend school. As long as students recognize equality in the classroom, all teachers should eradicate such practices as much as possible (Frantz, 1994). According to the perception of teachers, boys achieve more than girls due to their abilities. The best male students were perceived as being more competitive, logical, and adventurous (Lubinski et al., 1990).

Teachers' attitudes towards girls are often unfavorable, with some believing that girls are less logical than their male peers despite achieving the same level of academic success. Additionally, teachers have reported that girls require more effort to reach the same level as boys and respond more slowly to teacher efforts (Tiedemann, 2000). The study also found that teachers were generally unaware of the nature and influence of gender stereotypes. Therefore, it is recommended that teacher training courses or seminars on gender selfawareness be provided, as some teachers unconsciously perpetuate gender stereotypes in the classroom (Gray & Leith, 2004; Tatar & Emmanuel, 2001). Furthermore, classroom interaction models show that the school environment encourages female students less than their male counterparts to participate in both curricular and extracurricular activities (Esen, 2013).

Several courses on gender sensitization should be included in teacher education curricula, both during preservice and in-service education, to ensure that preservice and in-service teachers are equipped with gender-sensitive knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This can help them be gender-friendly in their classroom interaction, use of resources, assignment of different responsibilities to students, discipline, and classroom language (Ifegbesan, 2010; Lavy, 2008). The masculine gender role expectations of teachers were found to be related to student gender, not student achievement. Teachers' feminine gender role expectations varied across grade levels teacher gender, student achievement, and student gender (Schwendenman, 2012). The teacher profession should focus more closely on gender equity issues while developing educational resources (Luongo, 2012).

Cultural and social norms, economic structures, or socioeconomic status may result in a lack of necessary resources for full participation, which can be inferred as injustice through uneven distribution (Sawyer, 2013). While teachers can contribute to an oppressive, inequitable environment at school, they can also serve as role models and support marginalized students (Levtev, 2013). In the school education system, interactions between each gender show that girls receive more academic interaction than behavioral interaction, while boys receive more behavioral interaction than girls overall (Stevens, 2015). Teachers must strive to provide equal opportunities to girls and boys in curricular as well as cocurricular activities (Agrawal & Shukla, 2017). It is important to design the education system with a gender equality perspective and provide teachers with necessary support in acquiring a more gender-free attitude (Tahseldar, 2018).

Gender differences in educational attainment were fully mediated by traditional gender role beliefs (Safavian & Eccles, 2019). It conveys implicit messages to youth regarding the structure and organization of social relations and the beliefs that society values through these beliefs. Schools play a vital role in promoting the intellectual, physical, social, emotional, moral, spiritual, and aesthetic development and well-being of students, as well as ensuring the nation's ongoing economic prosperity and social cohesion (Hasan, 2015; Tahseldar & Emmanuel, 2001). Low household income, performance of household chores, distance from the learning place, parental education, and knowledge of relevant literacy, adult literacy, or lifelong learning are reasons behind gender disparity in education (Rosline, 2017).

Teachers are introduced to gender, school, and society in their teacher training program to become more gendersensitive and gender-free. Prospective teachers are encouraged to develop a positive attitude towards both genders, apart from society's stereotyped or biased prejudices ingrained in them. During a school internship, the prospective teachers' gender role perception is studied based on the topics covered in the course gender, school, and society that they studied as part of their teacher training program.

The method used in this study is the descriptive survey method. A self-made statement schedule has been prepared, and expert validity has been established with the help of 13 experts from the Central University of South Bihar. The Delphi method has been used for this purpose, where an expert panel answers multiple rounds of questionnaires based on the results of the Delphi method for forecasting.

In the schedule, there were 23 statements containing options for boy, girl, and anyone on which Male Prospective Teachers (MPT) and Female Prospective Teachers (FPT) provided responses for analysis. Table 1 shows the statements and their analysis.

Table 1. Statements and their Analysis

Countries where pervasive gender equality has been achieved show no difference in achievement across genders. It is better to remove the burden of proof from those who may be disadvantaged. This makes it less dependent on their ability to recognize unequal treatment and their willingness to complain. In fact, the identification of whether and how gender stereotypes may bias individual evaluations and result in unequal opportunities is more powerful and effective when done by those who are advantaged. It is better to educate people about the descriptive and prescriptive nature of stereotypes. The majority of teachers hold gender stereotypes and are guilty of gender stereotype practices in schools.

Gender stereotypes are still prevalent among prospective teachers, both male and female, and that these stereotypes can have negative implications for the education system as a whole. The study aimed to analyze the gender role perceptions of male and female prospective teachers during their school internships. The descriptive survey method was used, and a self-made statement schedule was prepared with the help of 13 experts from the Central University of South Bihar. The Delphi method was used to establish expert validity. The study found that the majority of prospective teachers held gender stereotypes and engaged in gender stereotype practices in schools. Therefore, it is essential to include courses on gender sensitization in teacher education curricula to ensure that pre-service and in-service teachers are equipped with gender-sensitive knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The education system should be designed with a gender equality perspective, and teachers must provide equal opportunities to girls and boys in curricular and co-curricular activities. It is better to remove the burden of proof from those who may be disadvantaged and educate people about the descriptive and prescriptive nature of stereotypes. FPTs are more gender-neutral than MPTs. Perhaps they faced gender biases during their schooling, but now they are on the path to making the world a better place. MPTs are following the same path, but they are slightly behind FPTs. Society is benefiting from these positive changes, which are evident in their classroom practices. Promoting both genders is always a priority. However, as the roots of gender biases are deep, it will take some time to make education completely gender-neutral.

The findings from this study have great implications for classroom practice and school administration. There is a need for heightened awareness of gender issues in terms of professional development, gender-balanced curriculum, instruction, assessment, and school culture. Therefore, it is recommended that teachers learn to recognize and eliminate gender biases in their interactions with students both inside and outside the classroom. Seminars and workshops should be organized for in-service teachers, administrators, and parents to sensitize them to gender issues and their consequences on students. Teachers should avoid language that limits one gender or another in classroom interactions and learn to be selective in their language.