WUNRN
EDUCATION FOR GIRLS - UNICEF
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UNICEF/ HQ99-0627/ Pirozzi |
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Ikhlas Fadel, 8, raises her hand to be called on by the
teacher in a classroom. |
BASIC
EDUCATION & GENDER EQUALITY
Quality education remains a distant dream for millions of children across the globe. 93 million children, the majority of them girls, are being denied this fundamental right.
THE CHALLENGE OF EDUCATION FOR ALL
Countries around the world have committed themselves, through the Millennium and Dakar Declarations, to the international goals of universal primary education and the elimination of gender disparities in all levels of education by 2015. Since 2000, the number of children out of school has been substantially reduced. Enrolment rates are rising rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa, South and Western Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, and the gender gap is narrowing. Yet quality basic education remains elusive for millions of children.
The latest figures on enrolment from the 2008 EFA (Education For All) Global Monitoring Report suggest that 72 million children were out of school in 2005 (57 per cent of them girls), compared to 96 million in 1999 (59 per cent girls). Yet when attendance figures are factored in, the actual number of children out of school may be as high as 93 million. This reflects children who may be enrolled but are not attending class. For international education goals to be achieved, all children must not only enrol in school but also complete the required years of schooling.
Almost 80 per cent of the world’s out-of-school children live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The median rates of children transitioning to secondary school in 2004 were close to 90 per cent in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa (where only 63.2 per cent of children attend). Within regions, the variation can be substantial. The level of participation in secondary education worldwide is much lower than the level of participation in primary school. The gross enrolment ratio in 2005 was only 60 per cent for developing regions; for sub-Saharan African countries it was 32 per cent.
Twenty-nine countries are at risk of not achieving gender parity by 2015.
What is basic education?
Basic education provides the knowledge, values and skills that form the foundation for lifelong learning. Education can be either formal or non-formal, with elements that include literacy, numeracy and life skills. While the core of basic education is primary school, it also extends to the lower years of secondary school in a number of countries.
A quality basic education is child-centred and gender-sensitive. It is based on a curriculum that is relevant to the needs and reality of all learners, and relies on professionally trained teachers equipped with appropriate learning materials. School is held in a child-friendly environment – one that is safe, clean and conducive to learning and play.
What is gender equality in education?
Gender equality in education means more than equal access to school for girls and boys. It combines the right to education (in terms of access and participation) with rights within education (gender-sensitive educational environments, processes and outcomes) and rights through education (relevant education outcomes that connect quality education to a wider process of gender justice in society). Achieving this goal means confronting unequal power relations between boys and girls and men and women in the education system and seeking redress, when necessary, through a human-rights-based approach to educational policy and practice. It means adapting equally to the learning needs and interests of girls and boys, creating a school environment that is friendly to both sexes and representing women as well as men in teaching, administrative and educational leadership positions.
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http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/index_access.html
Equal Access to
Education
UNICEF’s long-term goal is for all children to have access to and complete an education of good quality. The international goals related to girls’ education are:
Dakar Goals (World Education Forum)
- Ensuring that by 2015 all children -- particularly
girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic
minorities -- have access to and complete free and compulsory primary
education of good quality.
- Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary
education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015,
with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement
in basic education of good quality.
- Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and
girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
- Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary
education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later
than 2015.
A World Fit For Children Goals
- Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary
education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015,
with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement
in basic education of good quality.
The international community will not reach these agreed upon goals if it sticks to a business as usual approach. Therefore, UNICEF is directing resources towards bringing girls into the classroom and keeping them there until they complete their basic education. With a mandate to serve the most marginalized groups, UNICEF focuses on girls - the largest group excluded from education. Out of an estimated 115 million children not in school, 62 million are girls. Ultimately, when schools are girl-friendly they are child-friendly.
In countries where the net enrolment rate of girls is less than 85 per cent, UNICEF programmes help governments to formulate policies, procedures and practices that will significantly reduce the number of girls who are not in school.
UNICEF’s strategies to support access and reduce the number of girls out of school are adapted to the local situation. Interventions typically include:
- Outreach to locate excluded and at-risk girls and get
them into school;
- Policy support and technical assistance to governments and
communities to increase access for children who are hardest to reach
or suffer most from discrimination;
- Programmes to eliminate cultural, social and economic
barriers to the education of girls;
- Support for the development and implementation of specific
actions to reduce the gender gap, while increasing overall enrolment and
attendance;
- Assistance in preparing for and responding to conflict
and other crises so that affected children’s rights to basic education are
fulfilled in safe, stable and gender-sensitive environments;
- Promoting quality in education as a means to encourage
access.
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Quality of
Education
Quality education is key to overcoming poverty in a single generation. Quality education is fundamental in creating a future for human security, community development and national progress. It is an enormous challenge. It is also an immense opportunity.
Girls and boys have the same right to a quality education. But the “gender gap” becomes painfully evident when looking at who is in the classroom. In 1990, 20 per cent of the world’s primary-school-aged children were out of school, two-thirds of them girls. 2002 estimates indicated that the number of children out of school had been brought down to about 115 million worldwide; 62 million were girls. And while there were more children than ever in the world’s primary schools, far too many remain absent – the majority girls.
Quality is essential for closing the gender gap in basic education. Girls in particular face discrimination and challenging circumstances that keep them out of school or keep them from learning effectively. There is little point in providing the opportunity for a child to enrol in school if the quality is so poor that she will not attend, become literate, numerate, or become equipped with skills for life.
Parents with limited resources say that the quality of education plays an important role in their decision of whether or not to put or keep their daughters in school. If girls are not learning, if what they learn is not useful, or if the school environment is not safe for them, parents will not invest in sending their daughters to school.
Improving quality must be high on our agenda if we expect to get girls into school and keep them coming back.
An expanded view of quality
There are at least five key elements that affect quality education: what learners bring, environments, content, processes, and outcomes. Quality education begins with an adequate number of schools, books, pencils and trained teachers. It looks at the number of children who finish school. It moves beyond this to consider what goes on inside and outside of school, noting that good programming, whether in education or any other sectors, is gender sensitive.
UNICEF has developed a framework for defining quality in education. It answers questions within five dimensions that allow us to think about effective programming for girls' education and provide a baseline for monitoring quality.
1. What students bring to learning. Does the child have a positive, gender-sensitive early childhood experience within the family, the community and pre-schooling institution? How different is the language of the home from the language of the school? Has the child been affected by emergencies, abuse, daily labour or HIV/AIDS? Has the child been sufficiently oriented to the rhythm of schooling? What experiences do girl learners bring to school and what particular challenges do they face?
2. Environments. Are they healthy, safe, protective and gender-sensitive? What is required to create healthy, safe, protective and stimulating learning environments that enable girls to achieve?
3. Content of education. Are the curricula and materials relevant? Do children acquire basic skills, especially in literacy, numeracy, life-skills and knowledge in such areas as gender, health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention, peace, or other national and local priorities? How does the content of curriculum and learning materials include or exclude girls?
4. Processes. Do trained teachers use child-centred teaching approaches in well-managed classrooms and schools? Do teachers make skilful assessments that facilitate learning and reduce disparities? What processes of teaching and learning and support for learning achievement – from the communities, parents, supervisors, and teachers – enhance or undermine girls’ learning achievement?
5. Outcomes. Do they encompass knowledge, skills and attitudes, and are they linked to national goals for education and positive participation in society? What outcomes of basic education do we expect for girls? How can we document how well girls are learning, and what pathways are opened up for further learning and fulfillment of their potential
UNICEF focuses on the single largest group denied the right to education –
girls. By providing quality education for girls, boys will benefit, too.
UNICEF adapts its education programmes to girls’ learning styles and the
environments that promote their learning. For the most part, programming is
intersectoral. The UNICEF in Action section describes a number
of programming areas such as education in emergencies, child-friendly schools
and life skills-based education.
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