GENDER AND EDUCATION FOR RURAL PEOPLE

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• GENDER AND EDUCATION FOR RURAL PEOPLE
• (FAO/ UNESCO / ADEA SEMINAR)
• 7-9 September 2005,
• Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• By
• Prof Penina Mlama Ph.D
• Executive Director, Forum for African Women
  Educationalists (FAWE)

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INTRODUCTION

• Enormous challenges to achieve MDGs and EFA
• More challenges in rural areas
• Added challenges from gender factors

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Factors behind gender inequality in Education

• Poverty.
• Cultural values, attitudes and practices
• Early marriage
• Sexual harassment
• Unequal Division of labour
• Disregard for the girl child

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Factors behind gender inequality in Education
Cont

• Lack of gender responsiveness in education
  systems
• Teachers
• Teaching methodologies
• Curriculum and teaching/learning materials
• School physical environment
• School management systems
• Social environment and surrounding community

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Gender inequality challenges in rural areas

• Accommodative environment
• Deeply rooted patriarchal structures
• Cultures, identities protection
• Practices e.g. early marriage widely practiced
  and tolerated.

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Existing efforts to address gender issues in
education

• Positive gender climate overall
• Historical achievements in gender in development
  and in education
• Conventions and declaration on gender ratified.
• MDGs and EFA specific goals on gender equality in
  education.
• Governments have incorporated gender in education
  policies and plans

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Strategies with potential for sustainable results

• Strategic Partnership
• All stakeholders
• Emphasis on community
• Emphasis on students (girls and boys)
• Example Kajiado district Kenya

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Strategies cont

• Systemic Mainstreaming of best practices in
  national educational systems.
• Examples
• Creating a gender responsive school environment
  CoEs (Kenya, Tanzania)
• Empowerment of girls and boys for gender
  equality TUSEME (Kenya, Tanzania)
• Management of sexual maturation (Kenya)

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Strategies cont

• Multi-dimensional approaches
• addressing economic, social, cultural factors
• Example Child-friendly schools (UNICEF)
• Centres of Excellence(CoES) (FAWE)

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Examples of best practices in enhancing gender
equality in education

• Govts, civil society taken various successful
  interventions. Examples
• (a) Addressing Poverty
• Free and Compulsory education
• Scholarship for needy girls and boys
• School feeding programmes
• Income generating activities for parents
  (Swaziland)

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Best Practices Cont

• Combating harmful cultural practice
• Community sensitization
• Legislation against harmful
  practices
• Creating a gender responsive learning
  environment
• Schools close to homes (Burkina Faso)
• Flexible timetable ( Ethiopia)
• Mothers clubs ( Gambia, Zambia )

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Best practices cont

• Boarding facilities (Many countries)
• Community libraries ( Ghana)
• Safe water and sanitation (many countries)
• Separate toilets for boys and girls (many
  countries)
• Provision of sanitary wear (Kenya)

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Best practices cont

• Management of sexual maturation (Kenya, Ghana,
  Uganda)
• Gender sensitization of parents, community
  members, teachers, students (many countries)
• Review of curriculum, teaching and learning
  materials, methodologies for gender
  responsiveness (many countries)

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Best practices cont

• Institution of legislation to combat sexual
  violence (South Africa)
• Scholarship schemes for the needy, orphans (many
  countries)
• Girls clubs (many countries)
• HIV/AIDS protection clubs (Burundi, Namibia)

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Best practices cont

• Creating child friendly schools ( UNICEF)
• Re-entry for pregnant school girls( Zambia)
• Special education programmes for conflict
  situation( Sierra Leone)
• Non-formal / second chance education (many
  countries)

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Examples of best practices from FAWE

• FAWE Centres of Excellence (CoEs)
• Transforming a school into a gender responsive
  environment
• A holistic intervention package includes
• Community gender sensitization
• Training into gender responsive pedagogy
• Empowerment of girls and boys
• Sexual maturation management

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COEs cont

• Protection against HIV/AIDS
• Scholarships
• Gender responsive infrastructure
• Promoting participation in SMT
• Guidance and Counseling
• Gender responsive school management system
• Community involvement for girls education

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COEs cont..

• Results
• Community support for girls and the school.
• Teachers support for girls performance.
• Improvement in girls performance
• Increased confidence, self esteem for girls
• Boys support for gender equality
• Overall gender supportive school environment.
  
• Reference Centres of Excellence manual for
  Educators, FAWE 2005.

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b) Gender Responsive Pedagogy

• Gender responsiveness in
• Lesson planning and teaching methodologies
• Teaching and learning materials
• Classroom set up and interaction
• Language use in/out of classroom interaction
• School management system
• Attention to sexual maturation issues
• Combating sexual harassment
• Reference Gender Responsive Pedagogy Manual,
• FAWE 2005

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(c) Empowerment of girls through the TUSEME Model

• Empowering girls with skills to solve gender
  based constraints to their development
• The TUSEME process involves the girls in
• Understanding the gender construct
• Identifying problems to their academic and social
  development
• Analyzing root causes of the problems
• Speaking out about the problems and taking action
  to solve them.
• Reference TUSEME handbook for Teachers, FAWE 2005

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Challenges to ERP in gender and education

• How to build on what exists
• How to forge strategic partnerships
• How to ensure translation of policies into action
  on the ground in the rural areas.

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Conclusion

• Great potential for ERP to succeed because
  experience shows gender equality issues in
  education in rural areas can be successfully
  addressed