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p. 9 of 11 BACK | NEXT Purpose of the checklist Why is gender important in education projects? Key questions and action points in the project cycle Strategies for gender mainstreaming in education Appendices Selected References

Gender Checklist: Education

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Strategies for gender mainstreaming in education

Make schools more accessible

Shortening the distance to school will encourage girls’ enrolment in particular. Girls’ safety and social reputation are less at risk when schools are closer to communities. Ensure that separate facilities and closed latrines are available.

Improve the quality of teachers and increase the number of female teachers

Set minimum quotas for female teachers. Because relatively few women meet standard teaching requirements, active local recruit-ment is essential, especially in rural areas. Bringing training closer to communities often attracts women who might otherwise not consider teaching because of cultural constraints on female mobil-ity, lack of housing, or family responsibilities. Incorporate gender awareness in the teacher-training curriculum.

Lower the costs to parents

In many societies, parents regard schooling for girls to be less affordable than that for boys. In their view, the direct costs (e.g., tuition and textbooks), hidden costs (e.g., uniforms and supplies), and opportunity costs (e.g., for girls’ household tasks, agriculture responsibilities) of educating girls outweigh the benefits. Scholarship programs can be introduced to cover certain costs, such as tuition, textbooks, uniforms, and boarding facilities. Stipends can lessen opportunity costs (see Secondary Education Development Project, Bangladesh, Box 2).

Develop relevant curricula

Girls will be attracted to and benefit from a curriculum that is relevant to their lives, that links education with agriculture and productive activities, addresses health and nutrition issues, employs the local language, seeks out the potential in the given setting, and at the same time eliminates gender stereotyping.

Increase parental and community understanding through participatory approaches

In many communities, there is a need to change attitudes toward the education of girls. The support of influential community members and religious leaders can be harnessed to encourage parents to send both male and female children to school. The involvement of parents and communities in planning, management, decision-making, and advocacy efforts has a positive effect on girls’ education.

Promote decentralization in administration and management

When school management functions are transferred from the state/provincial level down to the district and local levels through education or development committees and other local management mechanisms, there is usually also an attempt at fairer distribution of female and male membership in the school committees.

Design systems that meet students’ gender-specific needs

The specific cultural and other issues that constrain girls’ and boys’ educational activities and achievements should be studied so that meaningful programs can be designed. Flexible forms of schooling, such as half-day primary schools, part-time primary schools, and primary schools established in poverty-stricken areas, could make schools more accessible to girls with domestic responsibilities as well as boys with competing activities in the marketplace.

Design multiple delivery systems

Formal education alone cannot achieve the objective of providing universal basic education. Education for boys and girls, men and women should be delivered through a variety of channels. Nonformal educational alternatives are often also useful.

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