WUNRN
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsId=52231#.ViFZN63ovmI
Direct Link to Full 57-Page Report: GENDER &
EFA-Education for All – 2000-2015 – Achievements & Challenges:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002348/234809E.pdf
GENDER PARITY IN EDUCATION ACHIEVED IN LESS THAN HALF OF THE WORLD’S
COUNTRIES - UNESCO
Schoolchildren in Chowrapara, Rangpur, Bangladesh. Photo:
UNICEF/Tapash Paul
12 October 2015 – A new gender report compiled by United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), shows that fewer
than half the countries have achieved the goal of ensuring gender parity in
both primary and secondary education before 2005.
The new report Gender and
Education for All (EFA) 2000-2015, compiled by UNESCO’s Global
Monitoring Report (GMR) and UN Girl’s Education Initiative also revealed that
no country in sub-Saharan Africa has been able to meet the gender equality
goal. “Educating a girl educates a nation. It unleashes a ripple effect that
changes the world unmistakably for the better,” said Irina Bokova, the
Director-General of UNESCO, in a news release
on the report, which was released in time for the International
Day of the Girl Child, which is marked 11 October every year.
She noted that the international community has recently
agreed a new ambitious agenda to
achieve a sustainable future. “Success in this endeavour is simply
not possible without educated, empowered girls, young women and mothers,” she
said.
According to the report, girls continue to face
challenges in accessing primary school. Almost 15 million girls will never set
foot in a classroom compared to over a third of boys who are out of school.
The report shows that although the divide in gender
inequalities in secondary education is reducing, the gap still remains wide.
The Arab States and sub-Saharan African regions record the highest numbers in
gender disparity. In the Central African Republic and Chad in 2012, half as
many girls as boys were in secondary school.
The report also indicated that boys were more likely to
drop out of secondary education than girls. Since 2000, it has been recorded
that only 95 boys for every 100 girls complete upper secondary level.
Additionally, the report states that gender disparity
gaps in youth literacy are gradually narrowing. However, less than seven out of
every 10 young women in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to be literate by 2015.
The report also revealed that two thirds of adults who lack basic literacy
skills are women. This astounding lack of progress in literacy has remained
unchanged since 2000.
The report also added that gender based violence in
schools is a factor in holding back education attainment. Also, child marriage
is another terrible manifestation of gender discrimination which acts as a
persistent barrier to girls’ education. As per the report, almost one in five
women who got married in 2012, were aged 15 to 19.
“Lacking any other way of measuring gender equality, we
have focused on getting equal numbers of boys and girls in school. But we will
never achieve this unless we tackle the roots of imbalance: social barriers and
entrenched discriminatory social norms,” said Aaron Benavot, Director of the
Education for All Global Monitoring Report.
“Unless we begin to understand equality as a much broader
concept, girls and young women will never be able to reap the full benefits of
education,” she added.
The report also produced an online interactive tool
which shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest girls are almost nine times
more likely to set foot in a classroom than the richest boys. In Arab States,
one fifth of the poorest girls have never been to school, compared to one tenth
of the poorest boys. However, in Latin America and the Caribbean, 55 per cent
of boys as compared to 62 per cent of girls in rural areas complete lower
secondary education.
However, the report, notes that even though the goal of
gender parity has not been met by all, the progress achieved so far is one of
the biggest education success stories. Since 2000, number of countries that
have achieved the goal of gender equality in both primary and secondary
education has risen from 36 to 62. The report also states that although 62
million girls are denied basic right to education, the number of out-of-school
girls has declined by 52 million in the last 15 years.
Acknowledging the progress made, the report recommends
that in order to achieve gender parity education must be ‘really free.’ It
further urges that policies be designed to address issues faced by boys and
girls in accessing and completing education. They also recommend providing
secondary education options should be provided for out-of-school adolescents.
The report also urged to integrate gender issues into all aspects of policy and planning in order to achieve gender equality. For this, a mix of legislative change, advocacy and community mobilization must be initiated. The report also calls for the governments, international organizations and education providers to work together to tackle school-related gender based violence. Further, governments should recruit, train and support teachers effectively to address gender inequality.