1. Gender and Development: Issues in Education
Mercy Tembon
Senior Education Specialist
Human Development Network
Global Issues Seminar Series
November 1, 2006

2. Overview of the Session
Broad theoretical Approaches
Key Gender Issues in Education
Theoretical explanations for inequalities in education
Relationship between poverty gender and schooling
Lessons learned
Conclusion
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3. Broad Theoretical Approaches
Women In Development (WID)
Gender and Development (GAD)
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4. Women in Development - WID
WID issues arose from the understanding that women’s contributions and development needs were being ignored and that their failure to account for women’s needs and possible contributions led to the failure of many development projects.
The conceptualization of development projects therefore frequently only involved women as participant and beneficiaries.
“Integrationist” approach
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5. Gender and Development - GAD
Focus shifted from women as a group, to ‘socially determined’ relation between men and women.
GAD focuses on social, economic, political and cultural forces that determine how men and women might participate in, benefit from and control project resources and activities differently.
“Agenda setting” or transformative approach
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6. Some Gender and Development Issues…..
Women account for two thirds of the 1.2 billion people currently living in extreme poverty
Every year more than 500,000 women die from pregnancy and childbirth complications
Women account for 48% of the 40 million people currently infected with HIV&AIDS. In SSA females account for 55% of infected adults and 80% of year olds.
Almost 60% of the world’s illiterate population are women
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7. 2. Out of School Children and Dropouts
More than 100million children are out of school
55% of out of school children are girls
23 million girls out of school in Sub-Saharan Africa distributed across 40 counties.
22 million out of school girls in South and West Asia concentrated in India and Pakistan.
150 million children are estimated to drop out before completion, at least 60% of them are female
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8. Regional Primary Completion Rates
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9. Student flows in Benin
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10. 3. Progression from primary through secondary and tertiary
Only 22% of 118 countries are expected to reach gender parity by 2015.
Less than 50% of secondary school aged girls are enrolled (30% in sub-Saharan Africa, 47% in South Asia
In Guinea, girls represent 43% of all enrollments at the primary level, 27% at the secondary level, and 12% at the tertiary level.
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11. 4. HIV/AIDS
Half of all newly-infected are between the ages of 15 and 24, majority are women.
In the year old age group, in the worst-affected areas of sub-Saharan Africa, 5-6 girls are infected for every boy infected
Infected parents keep children, especially girls, out of school for economic and social reasons.
Family illness/deaths increase girls’ household responsibilities
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12. Why do these gender disparities persist?
Social institutions
Norms, customs and law
Markets and Economic Policy
Household decision making
Who controls resources, bargaining power
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13. Poverty, the single largest cause of gender disparities in education
Out-of-school girls, overwhelmingly from poor households, in poor countries.
Rationed enrolment opportunities unequally allocated between boys and girls.
Girls’ enrolments soar when poverty related interventions are implemented e. abolition of fees
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14. Direct costs of schooling too high Child Labor Required Insufficient
Low Income
Poor Households
Poor States
Direct costs of schooling too high
Child Labor Required
Insufficient
School Places
Low School
Quality
Some Children do not attend School
Gender relations in
Household
Labor Market
Society
School
Fewer Girls than Boys attend School
Girl’s Learning Outcomes lower than Boys’

15. Strategies that have worked to reduce gender disparities in education
Address direct and indirect costs by providing targeted scholarships and free, quality textbooks
Provide water and sanitation facilities in school
Reduce distance to school
Improve educational quality by making the curriculum relevant, Upgrade teacher skills
and provide gender sensitivity training,
Introduce bilingual programs
Remove gender bias from textbooks
Build community and parental involvement in schools
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16. Unprecedented opportunities…
Enthusiasm for gender equality in Education for All is increasing steadily
More governments have demonstrated strong political commitment
The international community has expressed a strong desire and commitment to support countries with good policies – EFA-FTI, G-8
We have a better understanding of what works.
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17. “No nation can develop half-free and half-chained
“No nation can develop half-free and half-chained. Empowerment of women through their full participation in education, employment, political and social life is vital for every nation.” Late Mahbub-ul Haq, Architect of the human development Report
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