THE GENDER EYE


The Gender Eye issue 5 is out please come get yourself and e- copy today by giving us your email address on gendermoes@gmail.com
http://www.education.go.ug/data/mreports/31/The%20Gender%20Eye%20Issue%205.html

This issue of the Gender Eye therefore, is dedicated to Innovations for Girls Education in Uganda.

This is also the theme for the International Day of the Girl Child (2013) which will be celebrated on 11^th October.  I hope you find it interesting. 

The International Day for the Girl Child: Theme for 2013: Innovating for Girls’ Education

On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare 11 October as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.
For its second observance, this year’s Day will focus on “Innovating for Girls’ Education”.

The fulfilment of girls’ right to education is first and foremost an obligation and moral imperative. There is also overwhelming evidence that girls’ education, especially at the secondary level, is a powerful transformative force for societies and girls themselves: it is the one consistent positive determinant of practically every desired development outcome, from reductions in mortality and fertility, to poverty reduction and equitable growth, to social norm change and democratization.

While there has been significant progress in improving girls’ access to education over the last two decades, many girls, particularly the most marginalized, continue to be deprived of this basic right. Girls in many countries are still unable to attend school and complete their education due to safety-related, financial, institutional and cultural barriers. Even when girls are in school, perceived low returns from poor quality of education, low aspirations, or household chores and other responsibilities keep them from attending school or from achieving adequate learning outcomes. The transformative potential for girls and societies promised through girls’ education is yet to be realized.

Recognizing the need for fresh and creative perspectives to propel girls’ education forward, the 2013 International Day of the Girl Child will address the importance of new technology, but also innovation in partnerships, policies, resource utilization, community mobilization, and most of all, the engagement of young people themselves.

All UN agencies, Member States, civil society organizations, and private sector actors have potential tools to innovate for and with girls to advance their education. Examples of possible steps include:

·         Improved public and private means of transportation for girls to get to school—from roads, buses, mopeds, bicycles to boats and canoes;

·         Collaboration between school systems and the banking industry to facilitate secure and convenient pay delivery to female teachers and scholarship delivery to girls;

·         Provision of science and technology courses targeted at girls in schools, universities and vocational education programmes;

·         Corporate mentorship programmes to help girls acquire critical work and leadership skills and facilitate their transition from school to work;

·         Revisions of school curricula to integrate positive messages on gender norms related to violence, child marriage, sexual and reproductive health, and male and female family roles;

·         Deploying mobile technology for teaching and learning to reach girls, especially in remote areas.

 

 For more gender resource materials  please visit:
www.mglsd.go.ug/eresource

THEME: CREATING A SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNERS

 

Gender Unit

True education is holistic; it develops head, heart and hand—academically, spiritually, socially and physically. It is with the purpose to educate holistically that the point cannot be over-emphasized: if real learning is to occur, the learning environment should be safe, psychologically, sociologically and emotionally. Children, as well as their teachers and support staff deserve to be in a safe learning environment.

 The school must be safe from accident and potential dangers. In this era with the many challenges that face educationalists, creating and maintaining a safe learning environment should be a priority.  Children that enroll in any school come from diverse backgrounds with different social and economic challenges.  The school is the uniting factor for all these children and as such measures should be put in place by both the school administration and   stakeholders in the Education System to create a non-threatening, protected environment for children and young people of all ages.

 

What then can the stakeholders do to ensure a safe learning environment?

 

Head teacher, Deputy and Teachers

School administrators have a very important role of ensuring that the school environment is not only safe for children alone but for all staff both teaching and non-teaching staff. The onus is upon the school administrators’ i.e the head teachers and his/her deputy to ensure that school buildings are environmentally safe. Schools should not be constructed near areas that are designated for the dumping of refuse/garbage; building materials should be properly tested and pass safety.

 Second, the administrators should build a good rapport with the community; solicit their help in keeping the school environment safe by setting up a “neighborhood watch” program; schedule meetings where community members (other than parents) can give suggestions towards a safe environment; keep the community informed about the school’s programs.

Third, the teacher should ensure a classroom environment that is comfortable and welcoming.  It should be best suited to the needs of the children; be sensitive to the personal, developmental, academic, social and emotional needs of the children. The expectation is that the teacher is nurturing and encouraging, providing positive support rather than negative reinforcement. 

 The teacher should also help children to feel accepted—feel free to be themselves and to express themselves without the fear or threat of rejection, ridicule or isolation; also be understanding of their learning styles, abilities and skills.  Some pupils/ students perform better when they work individually, others need group support. It could be a tall order to meet the diverse learning needs of all the children in the class. A cooperative rather than a competitive classroom (although some healthy competition is good) contributes towards a safe learning environment.

The community

The Community which includes church organizations should share concerns about the safety of the environment; make helpful suggestions for improvement of safety measures; assist in “watchdogging” the school’s neighborhood; support the school’s efforts at creating a safe learning environment; encourage members of the community through meetings to be positive role models for children; offer seminars and workshops in family life topics for parents and school personnel e.g., parenting, discipline, literacy and other topics e.g human rights: roles and responsibilities of duty bearers; pray for the safety of the school etc.

Children’s safety to and from school is very important

When everyone in the school feels safe, then perhaps effective teaching and learning can take place without fear; there will be less discipline problems, and educators can be engaged in the business of creating better quality schools in this country, preparing products that are second to none.

This issue of the Gender Eye is therefore dedicated to creating Safe Learning Environments for Children.

It is the responsibility of everybody in society to ensure a safe learning environment for our children. Below is a string of linkages to the roles and responsibilities that we all have to play to ensure a safe learning environment:

(Source; Ministry Of Education and Sports SAFE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT)

 

 

 

THE GENDER AGENDA: TIME TO ACT./THE PARTICIPATORY GENDER AUDIT

The Ministry of Education and Sports in the month of January 2013, undertook a Participatory Gender Audit with staff from the different sub-sectors and members of the development partners and civil society organizations.

The audit revealed that Ministry of Education has been involved in pushing the gender agenda forward but no resources or budgetary allocations have been put in place to support gender initiatives in the sector.

Given the nature of gender as a cross cutting issue, somebody knows everybody will do it, everybody knows somebody will do it, ultimately nobody does it.

Time has come for us to walk the talk and push the gender agenda with support and budgetary allocation of resources towards gender initiatives in the sector.

Below are some of the priority actions that need to be addressed by the sector in the short run:-

·         Allocate a percentage of the overall MoES budget to gender with a 2% to start with, in order to ensure the sustainability of the Gender Unit and its programmes.

·         Solicit and get support of all Top Management and strive to bring them on board as Gender Champions.

 

·         Engender the draft communication Strategy for MoES, in terms of establishing guidelines on gender responsive content, images, graphics and language, use of case documentation of success stories on achieving gender equality.  This would enhance and boost the public image of MoES on gender issues.

·         Strengthen already existing monitoring and evaluation matrices to capture gender progress and to ensure that gender mainstreaming in reality remains a high priority in implementation of all programmes and activities throughout MoES.

·         Conduct contextualized capacity and expertise to development across the entire Ministry and among stakeholders for gender integration into all dimensions of implementation through emphasis on use of gender analysis and survey tools that are gender responsive.

Gender equality must be a lived reality in the Ministry of Education and Sports.

 

 

 

FACT BOX

Gender Mainstreaming

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy to make women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic and societal spheres [ECOSOC]

Importance of gender mainstreaming.

It makes women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.

The Ten Steps for Gender Mainstreaming includes:

1. A Mainstreaming Approach to Stakeholders: Who are the Decision-Makers?

2. Mainstreaming a Gender Agenda: What is the Issue?

3. Moving towards Gender Equality: What is the Goal?

4. Mapping the Situation: What Information Do We Have?

5. Refining the Issue: Research and Analysis

6. Deciding on a Course of Action: Designing Policy Interventions and Budgets

7. Arguing Your Case: Gender Matters!

8. Monitoring: Keeping a (Gender-Sensitive) Eye on Things

9. Evaluation: How Did We Do?

10. En-Gendering Communication

Speaker Kadaga fundraises for girls' education

The Speaker, Ms Rebecca Kadaga presided over a fundraising dinner in which over Ushs 40 million was raised in support of the Forum for African Women Educationalists - Uganda Chapter (FAWEU) Higher Education Scholarship Programme.

The ceremony that  took place on Friday, 21 September at Imperial Royale Hotel, Kampala, was attended by FAWEU members, girl child advocates, Former FAWEU Beneficiaries and several corporates including: Bank of Uganda, Stanbic Bank, FINCA, Makerere University Business School (MUBS), DFCU Bank, Red Cross, National Association of Women with Disabilities (NUWODU), Mehta Group, Palin Diagnostics, among others.

The Speaker in her address, appealed to the corporates to support girl-child education if they are to meaningfully contribute to the development of Uganda, and appealed to them to realign their budgets towards supporting the cause.

She launched the fundraising by lighting the candle for girl-child education that is moving around Africa to raise awareness about the continued need to educate the girl-child. The candle is symbolic of the light that FAWE has brought into the lives of girls in Africa. It is also a commemoration of twenty years since five women ministers of education in Africa set-up FAWE as a forum to remove barriers to girl-child education and bridge the gender gap in education, in Africa.

The FAWEU Chairperson, Mrs Rose Izizinga, expressed her gratitude to the Speaker and all those who had supported FAWEU in the struggle to educate the girl-child and, who continue to support girl -child education and emphasised that the struggle continues.

She said that FAWE was commemorating twenty years of educating the girl-child in Africa and had since made major strides in closing the gender gap in education in Africa, although the barriers to girl-child education in Africa was still faced with challenges which included  among others backward cultures, poverty and conflicts/ insecurity that orphaned the girl-child.

She added that the fundraising dinner was one of FAWEU's activities to raise awareness on girl-child education and it was one of the events organized during the girls' education week held annually. This year the week took place from 17th to 21st September 2012, and included: A press conference held on Monday 17th, girls conferences held at Mengo Senior Secondary School and which hosted schools from Eastern, Northern and Central, and another girls conference held in Kyenjojo which hosted schools from western Uganda . The theme of the week was:

FAWEU Executive Director, Ms Christine Semambo Sempebwa, highlighted the strides made by FAWEU in educating the girl-child. She observed that FAWEU had educated over 4, 000 girls in secondary education since 1997, when the organisation was launched , and was now supporting 26 girls at university and in other tertiary institutions. The challenge, however, she said, was to raise at least Shs 500,000,000 to enable the girls transit from secondary to higher institutions of learning, and to complete university and training in tertiary institutions.

Such a Long Way

 

Girl child education scraped through the 1950s, 60s and the 70s. Even with the opening of girls schools such as Gayaza Junior and Gayaza High School (1905), Mt. St. Mary's college Namagunga (1942), many girls were unable to go to school; largely because of prevailing unfavourable societal cultural attitudes of educating girls.

"This was a time of intractable cultural attitude that girls were supposed to be homemakers; people to be married off and produce children," says Namirembe Bitamazire, former minister of education. Bitamazire was among the lucky girls to go to school in her time. "There were only 12 of us in class in 1949," she recalls.

The first attempts at promoting girl child education in Uganda were made by the 1963 Castle Commission. "The Commission highlighted the need to expand girl's education in the country," notes Doris Kakuru Muwhezi, in her paper on gender sensitive education policy and practice in Uganda.

However, very little progress was made as the Government Education Plan (1971/2- 1975/6) formed to implement the suggestions did not have the manpower and facilities to accomplish the job.

Serious reforms to boost girl-child education resumed with the Government Education Policy Review Committee of 1987 which sought to among other issues address inequalities in our education system. The subsequent 1991 publication of a Government White Paper on Education set out benchmarks against which important programmes to attain parity in education would be implemented.

"One of the key elements of this White Paper was the need to democratise education; to provide equal opportunities to Ugandan children regardless of age, gender, religion and other identities," says Aggrey David Kibenge, former undersecretary in the Ministry of Education and Sports.

These reforms led to the introduction of Affirmative Action in University admission, ensuring that all female applicants get 1.5 points added onto their university entry marks. In 1997, Universal Primary Education was introduced offering more opportunities for girls to attend school.

Several government interventions such as the National Strategy for Girls education and the Promotion of Girl's Education and several other programmes have been implemented to ensure that more girls access formal education. Through initiatives like the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI), the Girls Education Movement, many girls from poor families have been empowered.

The results have been good. According to the World Bank Gender Gap report 2012, the female-male divide in school enrollment has narrowed significantly and in some cases exceeded expectation.

At primary level for instance the gap is 92:90, indicating that there are more girls attending primary school, while in secondary schools it is 15:17 and 4:5 at tertiary level.

According to the education ministry, the net enrollment for girls at primary level increased from 82.3% in 2000 to 97.2% as today.

While that of boys moved from 88.8% for boys in 2000 to 96.3%. Gender parity has grown from 48:51 in 2000 to 50:51 today.

Policy Weaknesses

Despite all this, girl child education has not been without challenges. With about 20% of all girls that enrol in primary school unable to complete their education, there is concern over the significantly high drop-out rates of girls at this level and beyond.

According to a 2010 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's Global monitoring report on marginalisation only 31% of all girls that enrolled for secondary education were able to complete O' level education compared to 39% for boys. 31.1% of the girls were able to join A level compared to 41.3%.

Early pregnancies, poor sanitation facilities in schools and absence of support mechanisms especially for girls have contributed a lot to girls dropping out of school. The situation is often worse in rural areas.

A 2011 New Vision field visit to Kasese district discovered that on average young girls drop out of school between ages of 12 and 15; to find boyfriends and husbands.

Masika Kulthum Moshi, the district inspector of schools and focal officer for girl-child education in the district at the time, blamed this trend on poverty.

A number of gender parity programmes initiated to support the girls were either poorly attended or no longer functional. Some district education officials blamed this poor support from the district on lack of sufficient facilities.

"These are serious hindrances to girls education for which we are to yet find solutions," says Tonny Mukasa Lusambu, the assistant Commissioner primary education.

Challenges Abound

Several unresolved issues also remain, in regard to policies meant to promote girl-child education. For instance, the policy on affirmative action does not favour the unique circumstances of young women in rural, marginalised areas who are unable to access higher education because of their difficult circumstances," says Solome Nakawesi Kimbugwe, an independent international consultant on gender and human rights. The policy, she says, needs to be more responsive to the needs of such girls.

"It is also a problem that the education policy does not spell out measures to deal with parents that 'sell off' their young daughters into marriage and those that do not provide lunch to their children."

Nakawesi also points out that many education policies lack strategies that bring boys on board on matters of equality.

"For many boys that do not regard girls as equal partners, this creates a backlash once the girls in their environment thrive," she adds. The policy, she argues, needs to enable boys understand the importance of equality.

Margaret Watuwa, a head teacher at Kololo Secondary School says that gender parity policies have gone a long way in increasing enrollment; but more needs to be done to sustain girls in school.

A lot remains to be done, particularly in equipping schools with critical facilities to support the stay of girls in schools.

A school without proper facilities

Lusambu says that the Government continues to devise means of supporting the girl children in school.

"We have strengthened the roles of Senior Women in schools and we hope that they will be able to support the girls in their needs. We have also provided sh4.5m to each District Education Officers to support monitoring activities and sh2.5bn, will be shared amongst all districts; for schools' inspections.

Perhaps more importantly, attitudes also need to be changed, towards more gender responsive actions.