Educating
girls and women
[PDF]
Why do girls
and women need special attention
Though everyone has an equal right to education, girls and
women lag far behind boy and men. Two out of three of the
110 million children in the world who do not attend school
are girls - and there are 42 million fewer girls than boy
in primary school. Even if girls start school, they are
far less likely to complete their education. Girls who miss
out on primary education grow up to become the women who
make up two-thirds of the world 's 875 million illiterate
adults.
Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa
have the widest gender gaps. A six-year-old girl in South
Asia will typically spend six years in school, compared
with nine years for a boy. Living in the countryside widens
the gap; a girl living in a rural area is three times more
likely to drop out of school than a city boy.
Yet education is not only their fundamental right, but an
effective way of achieving higher economic growth as well
as social well-being. Educated girls marry later, have fewer
children, and feed and look after themselves and their family
better. Their survival rate is higher, and their daughters
are themselves more likely to go to school. Studies have
shown that women with some education are more productive
than those with none, for example in agriculture.
Why do girls miss out?
The reasons are often related to poverty or traditional
beliefs and practices -in some cultures, girls 'education
is regarded as less important than boys; the female role
remains tied to marriage and child-rearing, and girls are
often given household and childcare duties instead of an
education. Sometimes parents remove their daughters from
school at puberty fearing sexual harassment by a pupil or
teacher, an unwanted pregnancy, or early marriage, or because
there are no toilet facilities. Over-aged girls often cannot
enter formal school.
Educational costs, such as fees, uniforms and books, often
deter parents from educating girls; sending a daughter to
school means she cannot work to earn money.
Even if they do attend school, many girls fall behind because
of poor educational quality, gender discrimination in schools,
and in curriculum choice and learning materials as well
as bias in teaching methods and teachers ' attitudes. National
indebtedness or low priority for education funding can mean
too few school places or inadequate facilities (such as
lavatories),leading to exclusion of girls.
What is the
EFA commitment?
The Dakar Framework
for Action set the goal of eliminating gender disparities
in primary and secondary education by 2005,achieving gender
equality in education by 2015 and ensuring that girls are
not denied their right to education. To this end, the United
Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, launched a 10-year
flagship programme, the UN Girls ' Education Initiative
(UNGEI), at Dakar.
What is UNGEI?
A partnership between thirteen UN entities to help governments
meet their commitments to ensure that all girls receive
a quality education. Led by UNICEF, this
initiative also involves bilateral agencies, civil society,
NGOs, the private sector and governments.
Its five core strategic objectives are to:
- build political and resource commitments for girls 'education;
- end the gender gap in attendance and completion;
- eliminate gender bias within national educational systems;
- support girls 'education in areas affected by or recovering
from armed conflict, natural disasters or external shocks;
- eliminate social and cultural discrimination that limits
the demand for girls 'schooling.
Co-operative activities in girls 'education are taking place
in more than seventy countries. For example, Egypt 's Education
Minister made a commitment to close sizeable gender gaps
in basic education, beginning with two pilot projects which
include reaching out-of-school children.
In Nepal, where the girls ' enrolment rate lags 19 per cent
behind that of boys, a new
initiative to promote girls 'education is focusing on health
education, community owned schools and capacity building
of female teachers. Others are providing education to girl
children of bonded labourers.
In Malawi, interventions have aimed at stemming the rise
in girls 'drop-out rate, targeted youth participation and
HIV/AIDS prevention, and promoted vocational training and
cognitive and psycho-social skills for teenage girls.
Do other approaches exist?
While supporting the school-based elements of UNGEI, other
agencies such as the World Bank, the World Food Programme
(WFP)and a number of bilateral partners address the situation
of out-of-school girls and women. UNESCO, for example, helps
many countries to open up access of girls to education in
non-formal settings and build bridges between them and the
school. This gives girls who have dropped out a second chance
and the opportunity to reintegrate the formal system. UNESCO
also conducts advocacy with governments. Its "Working
Document on Gender Equality in Basic Education: A Strategic
Framework "provides countries with guiding principles
on gender equality in education.
UNGEI partners
UNICEF (lead agency)
(Programme Division/Education Section)
www.unicef.org
DGO (Development Group Office) www.undg.org
International Labour Office (ILO)
www.ilo.org
The World Bank www.worldbank.org
UNAIDS unaids.org
UN-DAW/DESA (Department of Economic and Social Affairs)
www.un.org/esa/desa.htm
UNESCO www.unesco.org
UNFPA (UN Population Fund) www.unfpa.org
UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees)
www.unhcr.ch
UNIFEM (UN Development Fund for Women)
www.undp.org/unifem
WFP (World Food Programme) www.wfp.org
UNDP www.undp.org
WHO (World Health Organization) www.who.int
