Saturday, October 29, 2016
Reflections on Girls’ Education and Gender Equality
Girls’
Education and Gender Equality
The right to
education is protected under the United Nations Charter, which states that
education may not be denied under any circumstance, to any person, on the basis
of discrimination of gender, age, disability, legal status or otherwise[1]. The
right to equal opportunity in education is furthermore outlined in Articles 10
and 28 respectively, of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Charter states that education is a fundamental human
right to which every girl and boy everywhere in the world is entitled. By
signing onto human rights treaties, countries agree to the terms of the
treaties, and commit to works towards implementing its guidelines. Human rights
treaty bodies, or committees of experts, exist to monitor and evaluate countries’
implementation in meeting the goals laid out in the core treaties. Yet despite
the UN’s efforts to hold countries accountable to adhering to the treaties, millions
of children, particularly girls, continue to miss out on school worldwide.
The numbers:
Girls continue to suffer disproportionate disadvantage and
exclusion in education systems throughout their lives.
-UNICEF cites that 31 million primary school age girls and
32 million secondary school age girls were out of school in 2013.
-Only two out of 35 Sub-Saharan African countries have
achieved education parity (equal enrollment rates) for boys and girls.
-In South and West Asia, 80 per cent of out-of-school
girls are unlikely to ever start school while this is only true for 16 per
cent of out-of-school boys[2].
-The UN reports that 103 million youth worldwide lack
basic literacy skills, and more than 60 per cent of them are women[3].
-There are
still 58 million children out of school globally and around 100 million
children who do not complete primary education. Inequality in education has
increased, with girls, the poorest and most disadvantaged shouldering the
heaviest burden. Further more, the poor quality of learning at primary level is
responsible for millions of children leaving school without basic skills. Today,
gender disparity remains in almost a third of the countries with data[4].
There are many factors that contribute to educational inequality
and disparities in school attendance. Some factors include cultural norms
favoring the education of boys, lack of family resources for school supplies,
irrelevant and gender biased textbooks, violence, exploitation and discrimination
by teachers and peers, conflict and war, and unsafe schools.
UNICEF notes that when education lacks relevance and
quality, and when girls are discriminated against, education has little to no
effect. The quality of education directly affects outcomes and enrollment
numbers. Quality of education and gender equality in education are closely
intertwined. Thus, by addressing issued of quality in education, greater parity
in school enrollment can be reached. UNICEF notes furthermore, that quality
education is essential to real learning and human development. Here again,
quality plays a critical role in closing the gender gap in basic education[5].
Education has the power to lead to the development
of successful and productive societies and individuals, and it can positively
influence generations to come in a trickle-down manner. But in order
for it to be relevant to, safe and attractive for all children, it must be
rooted in human rights and gender equality[6].
Who is doing what?
Two examples of work that the UN and it’s partners are
undertaking to address the issue of gender equality in education, is UNICEF’s
work through the UNGEI Initiative and their Child Friendly Schools model, and
the Education for All Movement (EFA) led by UNESCO.
Empowerment
UNICEF supports governments in the reduction of gender
disparities through interventions at national, local and community levels aimed
at empowering girls. UNICEF serves as lead agency to the United Nations Girls’ Education
Initiative (UNGEI), which supports the rights of girls and helps countries
achieve change and gender equality in education. Leading UNGEI, UNICEF empowers
girls by supporting their life skills, basic education and improving learning
outcomes.
One way they are doing this is through their Child-Friendly
Schools model. CRF is a UNICEF-created educational model aimed at helping
schools achieve safe, healthy and protective environments that meet the varied
needs of children. The CFR model promotes inclusiveness, gender-sensitivity,
tolerance, dignity, personal empowerment and an overall gender-sensitive
environment that is conducive to learning. Child-Friendly Schools are places
where human rights and gender equality are taught and encouraged, text books
are revised for gender biases, teachers are fully trained and qualified, and
female teachers are hired to act as role models for girls. Furthermore, the CFS
model seeks to ensure that the learning environment operates in the best
interests of the child. This means that educational environments are designed to
be safe, nurturing places, with adequate resources and appropriate physical,
emotional and social conditions where all children feel safe and empowered to learning[7]. Child-friendly schools
have become the main approach through which a network of international and
national partners is promoting quality education for all children. Currently,
it is used 93 countries to ensure children their right to quality education[8].
Resources
UNGEI reports and publications, such as The Gender Review
2016, serve to inform the global community, partners, governments and teachers
about global and regional trends in achieving parity in education access. Program
outcomes and data on education, gender and sustainable development are revealed
and implications discussed, including suggestions for ways forward. These
publications serve to inform teachers, governments and civil society
organization on best practices in education and assist them in meeting their
educational goals.
Inclusive and equitable education for all
The Education for All (EFA) global movement, led by UNESCO, aims to provide
quality basic education for all children, youth and adults. At the 2000 World
Education Forum in Dakar, 164 governments pledged to achieve EFA goals and
identified six goals to be met by 2015. Goal 5 aims to eliminate gender
disparities in primary and secondary education, and goal 6 aims to achieve
gender equality in education, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access
to basic quality education. Not all goals have been met by the 2015 deadline. However, in September 2015, at the United Nations
Sustainable Development Summit, Member States adopted the 2010 Agenda for
Sustainable Development with goals set for 2030. This new agenda includes an
education goal (SDG 4) that aims to ensure free, inclusive and equitable
quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. It seeks
to eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all
levels of education and vocational training for vulnerable populations, and to ensure
skills are learned which promote human rights, gender equality and non-violence.
Furthermore, much like the Child-Friendly Schools model, EFA promises to
benefit all children while also addressing gender disparities by aiming to build
and upgrade education facilities that are child-friendly and gender sensitive,
and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments.
Resources:
In parallel to its work with EFA, UNESCO produces the The Global Education Monitoring Report. The GEM Report monitors progress towards the education targets in the
new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework. This and related
publications and online tools are produced to enable teachers, policy-makers
and civil society to benefit from the research UNESCO and its partners
undertake.
EFA Implementation
As the lead EFA agency, UNESCO is mandated to coordinate its partners
(UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank), and bring together Governments, the
private sector, civil society, the United Nations system to facilitate a global
engagement in support of the reaching and implementation of EFA goals and
targets. UNESCO focuses its activities on five key areas: policy dialogue,
monitoring, advocacy, mobilization of funding, and capacity development. These
activities ensure, among other things, that program progress and challenges are
identified, awareness is raised and dialogue is sustained, finances are
harmonized and coordinated, and national capacities are strengthened.
Achievements and Shortcomings:
The status of education globally has seen positive
achievements since the agreements in Dakar in 2000. The number of out-of-school children and
adolescents has been halved, with 34 million more children attending school as
a result of progress since Dakar. Gender parity in primary education has seen
significant improvements, though gender disparity is still widespread[9].
Much work is
to be done to ensure that all children have equal access to quality education.
The conventions, interventions, guidelines and initiatives outlined above,
serve to keep governments and the international community on track in ensuring
their goals and commitments for achieving quality education and gender equality
in education are met. Education remains under-financed and remains
underfinanced by most governments[10].
In
order to close the gap in the disparity in education, national governments must
first of all stay true to their commitments to the Human Rights Treaties.
National and international budgets must prioritize funding for education. A
human rights-based approach to education must be implemented in schools, so as
to ensure its relevance to and effectiveness for all children. The needs of
girls must be prioritized with a focus not just on equal access, but also on
the quality and relevance of their education. With these measures in place,
girls have the potential to become fully empowered global citizens through
education, and will be able to lead productive, meaningful lives.
Sources:
UNESCO, 18
October, 2016. General Education Monitoring Report.
https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/
UNESCO. Education. Education for All Movement. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education
UNGEI. Vision and Mission: http://www.ungei.org/whatisungei/index_211.html
UNGEI. Vision and Mission: http://www.ungei.org/whatisungei/index_211.html
OHCHR. Human Rights Treaties. http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/hrc/pages/hrcindex.aspx
UNICEF. Girls’ Education and Gender Equality. http://www.unicef.org/education/bege_70640.html
UNICEF. Child Friendly Schools. http://www.unicef.org/cfs/
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/education
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/education
[1] UNOHCHC,
2016. UN Human Rights Instruments[1]. Retrieved
from
http://ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/UniversalHumanRightsInstruments.aspx
[2] UNICEF, 23 July, 2015. Girls’ Education and Gender
Equality. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/education/bege_70640.html
[4] UNESCO,
2014. Global Education Monitoring Report. About Us.
http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/about
[6] UNICEF. Girls’ Education and Gender Equality. Retrieved
from http://www.unicef.org/education/bege_70640.html
[7] UNICEF, 18, November, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/education/index_focus_schools.html
[9] UNESCO, 18
October, 2016. General Education Monitoring Report.
https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/
[10] UNESCO, 18 October, 2016. General Education Monitoring Report.
https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/
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