Promoting

basic
education
for women
and girls
Pai Obanya

Four African Case Studies

 UNESCO, 2004

Ethiopia

Four african
m

Pai
Swaziland
a zil
z illa n

Pa Obanya
Mozambique
za
ammb
m biiq
qu
q for women
basic
Promoting

n case studies
and girls
Burkina
Burkin
in
na
n a Faso
Fa
aso
education
The designations employed and the presentation of material
throughout this publication do not imply the expression of
any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning
the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its
authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or
boundaries.

The author is responsible for the choice and the presentation

of the facts contained in this work and for the opinions
expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO
and do not commit the Organization.

Published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization,
7 place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris

Composed and printed in the workshops of UNESCO

© UNESCO 2004
Printed in France
(ED-2004/WS/17 cld 14435)
Swaziland
u k n Faso
Ethiopia
Mozambique
Contents

s
Preface 5
azil
Introduction 7

Burkina
Ethiopia: Women’s
o am issues are development
me issues 9

Burkin
Swaziland: Apparent gender
er balance 27

Mozambique: Inclusion and

d participation 37

Burkina Faso:
49
wa
Education–responsibility–empowerment
bil

General conclusions 61

Bibliography 65
w

Appendix: Persons interviewed

w
and organizations/institutions
ns visited 68
S waziland
Swaziland
urkina Faso
Ethiopia
Mozambique
Preface

s
b u
azila
T mb
he
he four case studies
es reported here are a follow-up
to the study entitled
ed “Promoting Basic Education

Burkina
for Women end Girls: A Survey of Structures,
Stru
Programmes and Activities in Africa”, whi
which has
zam
been published in this series.

Burkin
Four countries (Burkina a Faso, Ethiopia, Mozambique,
Swaziland) were involved in th the study, each selected for
a specific purpose: Ethiopia for fo its progressive women’s
department, with a unit represented
es in every government
department; Swaziland for its s rrecord on gender balance in
basic education; Mozambique e for
f its dynamic post-conflict
wa
education initiatives; and Burkina
ur Faso for the positive
contributions of its NGOs.
All the studies examinene developments in both the
oz
formal and the non-formal sectorss of basic education.
They all show bold steps undertaken
de to address country-
w

specific problems of girls’ and an women’s education and

Moo
draw attention to the immense ns challenges the countries
concerned are facing in their ir efforts to achieve gender
equality in education.
Particular attention should
ho be drawn to the chal-
M

lenges and the lessons highlighted

hl at the end of each
country report as well as to the conclusions of each
B
5
Swaziland
iland
na Faso
aso
Ethiopia
Mozambique
report. They include: thee pervasive influence of traditional

Faas
s
mbiqu
beliefs and practices that
at are harmful to the promotion of
girls’ and women’s status;
tu the under exploitation of the
immense possibilities of non-formal education; the slow
development of statisticscs that in addition are not gender
disaggregated, and insuffi fficient funding for girls’ and wom-
en’s education. These stu
studies have implications for our
on-going EFA process, andnd should be a golden opportunity
for us to draw appropriate
at lessons from today’s promising
practices for the challenges
ng we face in promoting girls and
women’s education.
I would like to express my appreciation for the
assistance provided by the UNESCO National Commissions

Burkina
in the four countries to the author and to ackno
acknowledge the
cooperation of various agencies that provided the infor-
mation that makes this report a good learning tool.

Aicha Bah Diallo

Assistant Director General for Education a.i.

6
Swaziland
aziland
rkina Faso
Faaso
Ethiopia
Mozambique

Mozambique: e:: The impact of a wide variety of

s
biiqu
innovative initiatives
ti for the promotion of basic
education for g girls and women.

Burkina Faso: so the contribution of NGOs to
the promotion n of basic education for girls and
women.
The study was carried o out
u in August-September, 2002. It
involved visits to each o of the countries, in the course of
which the following data ta collection methods were used:
(a) visits to projects; (b) in
interviews and focus group discus-
sions with policy-makers rs and operators of programmes;

zamb
(c) analysis of documentary tary materials; and (d) exchange of
views with national authorities
horities and other stakeholders on

Burkina
the major observations of the fact-finding exer exercise.
UNESCO National Commissions facilitated
facilitate the work
of the consultant in all the four countries. Valua
Valuable contri-

Burkin
butions of UNESCO cluster ter offices in Ethiopia, Mozambique
and Nigeria are also gratefully
ate acknowledged.
The report is presented
es according to the order in
which the countries we were visited: Ethiopia, Swaziland,
Mozambique and Burkina na Faso. While, the experience of
each country is unique, the t reports have followed a simi-
wa
lar pattern: (a) background
un information (or context), to sit-
uate the experiences studied;
ud (b) an outline of the policy
framework; (c) an assessment
ss of the performance of the
policy on the ground; an and (d) some concluding remarks,
drawing special attention on to the lessons to be learnt from
w

the experiences.

8
 Ethiopia
Ethiopi
Ethiopia:
Women’s issues are
a
development issue
issues

Background
and policy framework
We must do things with
instead of for women.

T he Ethiopian experience is rooted in the cou

country’s
Constitution (Proclamation number 1 of 1995), which
states in its Article 35:
“The historical legacy of inequality and discriminaThe
discrimi
historical legacy of inequality and discriminatio
discrimination suf-
fered by women in Ethiopia taken into account, women,
w
in order to remedy this legacy, are entitled to affirm
rmative
measures. The purpose of these measures shall be to
provide special attention to women so as to enable them
compete and participate on the basis of equality
equalit with
men in political, social and economic life, as wel
well as in
public and private institutions [Article 35.3].”
“Women have the right to full consultation in the formu-
f
lation of national policies, the designing and execu
execution of
9
EthiopiaWomen
projects, and particularly in the case of projects affecting
the interests of women [Article 35.6].”

en constitute approximately half of the popula-

tion of Ethiopia (see Table 1), and a concerted effort has
been made
made to give vent to the equality provisions of the
Constitution
titution in the form of a ‘National Policy on Ethiopian
Women’,
en’, which targets the following twelve priority
areas::
1. Women and poverty.
2. Education and training for women.
3. Women and health.
4. Violence against women.
5. Women and armed conflicts.
6. Women and the economy.
7. Women in power and decision-making.
8. Institutional mechanisms
for the advancement of women.
9. Human rights of women.
10. Women and the media.
11. Women and the environment.
12. The girl child.

Table
e 1: Ethiopia – projected population (1999)

Zone Total population Female (%)

Urban 9 074 000 50.4

Rural 52 598 000 49.7

Total 61 672 000 49.8

The objectives
bjectives of the policy are to:

Guarantee women equal rights with men.

Amend laws which adversely affect women’s
social, cultural and economic conditions.
10
EthiopiaGovernment

ments
rnment agencies operate at each of these levels of
government
nment and they all have women’s affairs depart-
s (the federal and Woreda
s (at the Kebele level).
points
a levels), and gender focal

The horizontal axis shows a system of co-ordina-

tion of gender-in-development activities among govern-
ment agencies, non-governmental and civil society organi-
zations,
ns, educational research institutions (particularly
Addis Ababa University), and a number of international
agencies,
ies, notably USAID, Save the Children, UNESCO,
UNICEF,
EF, WHO, FAO and the World Bank.

Ethiopia’s policy guidelines and the institutional

arrangements
gements for the implementation of the policy seem
to be guided by a coherent philosophy, whose underlying
principles
iples are:

Education for overall human development, with
very special emphasis on the integration of
women into the development process.

Gender-in-development, with the development
of women as the key element.

General guidelines, capacity-building, co-ordi-
nation at the federal level.

Practical development operational activities at
the level of the regions and other decentralized
administrative structures.

Inter-agency collaboration.

Close collaboration between government agen-
cies and all other development partners.

12
Ethiopia
14

Women’s Government
NGOs/Civil
International
Affairs Society Institutions
agencies Agencies
Departments Organizations

Prime Minister’s BEN: Addis Ababa USAID

Office Basic Education University UNICEF
Regions Education Network (Centre for UNESCO
Agriculture FAWE: Education Save the
Industries Forum for Research and Children
Environment African Women Training on WHO
Woreda Health Educationalists Women in FAO
Communica- CDRA: Development World Bank
tions Christian CERTWID)
Water Development
Resources and Relief
Kebele Labour and Association
Social Welfare
Youth, Sports
and Culture

Fig. 1. Vertical and horizontal co-ordination of gender-in-development activities

in Ethiopia
 Ethiopia
There is a system of annual co-ordination meetings
meetin at
various levels, at which ongoing activities are crit
critically
reviewed. The Prime Ministers’ Office organizes such
meetings with the regions and the sectoral ministries.
minis
Each sectoral ministry holds similar meetings with spe-
cialized bureaux in the regions, while the regions relay
rel the
co-ordination meetings to the Woreda, and the Woreda
Wore to
the Kebele.. NGOs and other development partners arear also
fully involved in these programme review meetings.
meetings

Formal education
An educated girl is likely to become
• A more competent mother.
• A knowledgeable family planner.
• A more productive and better
* paid worker.
• An informed citizen.
• A skilled decision-maker.
• A self confident individual
[By courtesy of UNICEF]

One major characteristic of the on-the-ground ope

operation
of the Ethiopian experience is that literacy and educa-
e
tion are considered as the bedrock of all programm
programmes of
women-in-development.
forma edu-
Low literacy rates and poor access to formal
cation are among the issues that Ethiopia has tried
tri to
address in the past decade through: (a) ETP: Educ
Education
and Training Policy (1994); (b) ESDP: Education Sector
S
Development Programme (1997–2001); and (c) ESDP ES II
(2002–2006).
These programmes have resulted in a progressive
progre
improvement in net primary enrolment over the yea
years, as
15
EthiopiaTable 2 illustrates. The table also shows that improved
net enrolment
gender
nrolment for both sexes has still not narrowed the
er gap. It has, in fact, widened it.
There are wide regional variations in gender parity
at the
e primary level: 0.5 in the Somali region, 1 in Addis
Ababa,
a, and 0.7 as the national average.
The system is also characterized by wide urban–
rural disparities. Girls tend to be more disadvantaged in
rural areas (primary net enrolment in 2001 = 45.5 per cent
urbann girls and 37.9 per cent rural girls). The figures for
net enrolment
nrolment for boys show an interesting trend: 54.6
per cent
ent urban and 62.1 per cent rural.

Table
e 2. Ethiopia – net primary enrolment rates
(percentage)

Year Boys Girls Total

1996/1997 29.5 20.0 24.9

1997/1998 43.0 28.0 36.0
1998/1999 44.9 31.9 39.5
1999/2000 51.2 36.6 44.0
2000/2001 55.7 41.7 48.8

Source: Education Statistics Abstracts: 2000-2001

Improving
oving the participation of girls in primary education
is an ongoing concern, and measures to address the prob-
lem fall
all into the following major categories:

Research and studies to enlighten issues and
guide policy and practice.

Awareness raising.

Dissuasion of traditional practices that affect
the education of girls (for example, marriage by
adoption, or MBA).

Policy interventions (example: the 1 : 1 textbook
ratio policy in favour of girls).
16
Ethiopia
Poverty reduction (including revenue genera-
tion activities for women).

Social and political empowerment (including the
promotion of access to decision-making positions).

Strengthening of women organizations (including
organizational/institutional capacity- building).

Improved participation of women in specific
sectors: industry, agriculture, education, cul-
ture, science and technology, politics, etc.

A synopsis
ynopsis of the areas of focus:
achievements and challenges of selected
agencies/institutions/organizations
involved in mainstreaming gender
into development activities in Ethiopia

Prime Minister’s Office

Responsibilities:
onsibilities: national level co-ordination, between gov-
ernment agencies, with all partners, and among the
three levels of government.
Achievements:
vements: the national policy on women, specific pro-
visions on women in the Constitution, family laws
at the federal level (laws at the regional level in
progress), gender mainstreaming in education and
all social sector development policies, civil service
reforms, incorporating maternity leave and affirma-
tive action in favour of women, and progressive
attitude change in society.
Challenges:
enges: Inadequate financial and human resources.

Ministry of Health
Responsibilities:
onsibilities: mainstreaming gender into the policies,
programmes and activities of the Health Sector.
18
 Ethiopia
Achievements: mainstreaming gender into the Heath S Sector
Development Programme (HSDP), advocacy/gender
advocacy/g
awareness and sensitization training and affirma-
tive action within the ministry, studies on jjunior
midwives, traditional birth attendants, and wwomen
traditional healers and care-givers.
Challenges: poor level of staffing, pockets of resis
resistance,
even among women.

Ministry of Water Resources

Responsibilities: promoting gender specific water iss
issues.
Achievements: regular training programmes tech technical
experts at the regional level on gender an analysis
techniques and gender and water issues generally,
gene
training of staff of the ministry on assertiv
assertiveness
and gender awareness.
Challenges: wrong perception of gender in the ministry,
min
departments sending ‘inappropriate staff’ for train-
ing programmes.

Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare

Responsibilities: addressing women-specific issues iin the
labour force (employment opportunities, work
workplace
hazards, and rights of women workers).
Achievements: a functioning network arrangement with
women’s affairs departments at the reg regional
level, compilation of Basic Statistical Data and
Women’s Profile, studies on HIV and the fa factory
worker, survey of women’s self-help groups
groups, and
NGO social services, production of an adv advocacy
manual.
Challenges: need for more in-depth training, limited finan-
cial resources.

19
Ethiopia Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture
Responsibilities:
onsibilities: Gender mainstreaming within the depart-
ment and its various organs and services.
Achievements:
vements: capacity building and gender awareness
creation, a wide variety of studies (women and
culture, women participation in journalism, stere-
otypes on women in oral literature, analysis of the
culture policy from a gender perspective, women
and reading).
Challenges:
enges: lack of appropriate follow-up to the studies.

Ministry of Agriculture
Responsibilities:
onsibilities: women farmers and women professional
agriculturists as primary targets.
Achievements:
vements: ensuring that women are specifically tar-
geted in the five-year development agricultural sec-
tor development plan, ensuring women participa-
tion — and that they do benefit as equal partners — in
agricultural extension services, baseline data to gen-
erate information for mainstreaming women issues
in agricultural sector activities, research and tech-
nology generation for the benefit of women farm-
ers, regular training programmes on gender issues
for agriculture sector staff, promotion – capacity
building – organization of women professional in
agriculture.
Challenges:
enges: ‘It’s not an easy job’.

Addis Ababa (regional) Education Department

Responsibilities:
onsibilities: promotion of girls’ education.
Achievements:
vements: annual scholarships for girls scoring a
GPA of 3.6 and above in primary school certificate
examinations – 94 awards in 2000 and 236 in
200l/2002, special tutorials by ninety-seven educa-
20
 Ethiopia
tion bureaux, to enhance the achievement of girls
in mathematics and the natural sciences.
Challenges: low level of awareness at the grass-roots level,
‘gender gap not getting narrower’.

Oromia (regional) Education Bureau

Responsibilities: working closely with women bureabureaux in
all other sectors to promote the education of girls.
Achievements: gender awareness training for teach teachers in
cluster schools, for relay to satellite schools,
schools and
even to mobile schools, assertiveness training
trainin for
women teachers, provision of desks to schoo schools, as
reward for promoting the retention of girls, tu tutorial
services to female students.
Challenges: retention still a major problem, regional
regiona dis-
parities in the participation of girls still strong.
stron

FAWE - Forum for African Women Education

Educationalists
Mission: high-level advocacy, social mobilization,
mobilization and
capacity-building in favour of girls’ and women’s
wo
participation in education.
Activities: a functioning national organization of committed
comm
women educationalists, research to enlighten gogovern-
ment policy, annual prize awards, bursary for girls
(some 1,200 awards over the years), promotion of
o girls’
participation in mathematics and science, counselling
couns
and assertiveness training for girls and women.
Challenges: ‘There is still a lot more to be done’.

CRDA - Catholic Relief and Development

Association
Mission: an umbrella organization of 215 local and inter-
national NGOs providing a more enabling en
environ-
ment for NGOs to work effectively.
21
EthiopiaAchievements:
vements: capacity building for members, function-
ing networking arrangements for improved gov-
ernment–NGO relationships, task force on PRSP
– poverty reduction strategy programme, gender
working group as a cross-cutting concern, regular
training programmes on a variety of gender issues
(reproductive health, gender analysis, lobbying
skills, rights-based approach to human develop-
ment, leadership skills for women).
Challenges:
enges: ‘Capacity building is not an easy task’.

BEN - Basic Education Network

Mission:
on: a forum for experiences and ideas sharing for a
collective voice and action in the realization of the
EFA agenda.
Achievements:
vements: networking of some twenty member organi-
zations (local NGOs), working on a variety of
special-need areas: the disabled, pastoralists, the
urban poor, rural communities, etc.
Challenges:
enges: resource constraints.

CERTWID - Centre for Education Research and

Training g on Women in Development
Mission:
on: research and training to enhance capacity to pro-
moting the full participation of women in develop-
ment.
Achievements/activities:
vements/activities: (a) research – a research agenda
covering women in the labour force, women and the
law, women in the media, women and education,
women, health, population and development and
rural women; (b) training: undergraduate courses
on gender issues, one credit master’s degree course
on the subject, (full-scale graduate programmes
in the pipeline), assertiveness training to women
22
 Ethiopia
students, regular open forum on gender issuissues; (c)
grants to bachelor’s and masterss degree stu students
for projects on gender-related topics; and (d (d) lob-
bying of academic departments to integrate g gender
into their programmes.
Challenges: limited capacity, due to lack of full-time staff
and high staff turnover.

Conclusions and major lessons

T he most interesting point about the Ethiopian expe-

rience is the government’s strong commitme
commitment to
women and gender issues, as seen in the promi prominence
given to these issues in the country’s Constitution, in the
development of a National Policy on Ethiopian Wo Women,
and in entrusting the co-ordination of women-in-dev
women-in-develop-
ment programmes to the Office of the Prime Minister.
Ministe
Related to this is the fact that women’s and girls’
education is being promoted as an integral part o of the
nation’s development agenda, hence the full integration
integ
of women-in-development issues into the work and pro-
grammes of all sectoral departments and at all levels
lev of
government.
Ethiopia has also come up with an ambitious co-ordi-
co
nation mechanism, which seeks to consolidate the e efforts
of all partners, in different places and at different levels.
lev
Above all, Ethiopia has had a long-serving W Woman
Minister of Education, who is a founding member of FAWE
(Forum for African Women Educationalists) and an activist
ac
on girls’ and women’s education.
This situation has certainly worked in favour
favo of
Women’s and Girls’ Education, in that it has contributed
contribut to:
23
Ethiopia
Raising awareness among different classes in
society.

Building capacity at different levels.

Progressively narrowing the gender gap, espe-
cially at the basic education level.

Improving the level of awareness of the magni-
tude of the problems involved in enhancing the
status of women in general, and in improving
the participation of girls and women in educa-
tion in particular.

Above everything else, putting women-in-educa-
tion to its proper policy pedestal, that of a high
priority area of national development.
Negative attitudes to the
emancipation of women
can also be feminine.

The Ethiopian
thiopian experience is, however, still facing a number
of challenges.
allenges.

Co-ordination with NGOs would require a great
deal of improvement. While the major NGOs are
making efforts to co-ordinate their activities,
and while a good number of them have built up
capacity for operating at the grass-roots level,
they seem to have a strong feeling that govern-
ment is not fully utilizing their potentials. This
feeling is strongest in the case of government
activities outside the formal education sector.

The research activities of the sectoral depart-
ments seem to have yielded knowledge that
can be ploughed back to the process of cur-
riculum material development. Those respon-
sible for the research admitted, however, that
these research projects were not carried out in
24
 Swaziland
ndd
Swaziland:

n
apparent gend
gender
balance
balan

The context

T he situation of women and girls in educatio

education in the

az
az
Kingdom of Swaziland can best be understood
understoo in the
wider national context revolving around specific so socio-his-
torical and demographic factors.
Over the years, women in Swazi socie society have
become accustomed to being heads of househol

the basic skills needed for their changing roles. Th

wa
households, as a
result of the migration of the men folk to the m mines of
South Africa. They have, in the process, sought to acquire
They have
also in the process tried to pass on the same skill
skills to the
Sww
girl-child, as preparation for their own adult roles.
roles
Therefore, there has traditionally been a pra
practice of
driving girls hard in the course of their upbringing.
upbringi This
practice seems to have impacted on the ways in wh which par-
ents have pursued the formal education of the girl-child.
gir
A major political action taken over the ye years was
the attainment of Universal Primary Education as far back
S
27
Swaziland
iland
as 1985. The approach to the development of basic edu-
as
cation has, since then, been more or less ‘gender neutral’
cation
(i.e.. in terms of access), with most of the efforts on
addressing
dressing the problems of relevance and quality.
In terms of demography, there are more females
than
an males in all segments of the population, as shown in
Table
ble 1.

Table
ble 1. Swaziland – general population structure

Age Range Male Female Total Female (%)

zil
il
0– 4 67 529 68 868 136 397 51.51
5–14 137 176 139 556 276 732 50.43
15–29
5–29 113 207 141 764 254 973 55.60
30–49
0 –49 71 439 91 575 163 014 56.18
50–64
0–64 25 882 29 220 55, 072 53.06
65
5 and above 11 538 15 957 29 495 58.03

Total 440 154 489 564 929 718 52.66

waz

Source: Report of the 1997 Swaziland Population and Housing Census

Women and girls in education

The
he formal system

Enrolment
rolment figures for primary education (Table 2) give
thee impression that the gender gap is narrow. A more
fundamental
ndamental interpretation, however, is that girls are still
underrepresented
derrepresented in primary education. This is because
their
eir numerical superiority within the school-age popula-
tionn is hardly reflected in the overall primary enrolment
statistics.
tistics.
S

28
 Swaziland
nd
Table 2. Swaziland – primary school enrolment: 2000

azilan
Grade Boys Girls Total Girls (%)
G

1 20 033 17 675 37 708 46.88

2 18 678 16 401 35 079 46.75
3 18 625 16 544 35 169 47.04
4 15 820 15 343 31 213 49.32
5 14 097 14 187 28 284 50.16
6 12 592 12 600 25 196 50.03
7 10 599 10 738 21 337 50.33

Total 110 444 103 542 213 986 48.39

Source: Planning Division, Ministry of Education,

Educatio Mbabane

Table 2 provides some evidence of a higher attrition

attrit rate
for boys as well as a more impressive completion rate for
girls, a phenomenon which makes for an equitable gender
representation in the last three grades of primary educa-
tion. This point is, to a certain extent, supported bby Table

waz
3, which shows examination entry figures for the th years
2000 and 2001.
The most interesting points emerge from Table 4,
which shows the performances of boys and girl girls in the
terminal examinations at the end of primary and junior
secondary education. For both years, girls have a higher
success rate than boys.

Table 3. Examination entries for 2000 and 2001

Sw
Junior Junior
J
Primary Primary
Group secondary sec
secondary
(2000) (2001)
(2000) ((2001)

Boys 10 235 9 964 4 166 4 634

Girls 10 394 9 962 3 910 4 345
Total 20 629 19 926 8 076 8 979

Girls (%) 50.3 49.99 48.42 48.39

S
29
Swaziland
annd
Table
ble 4. Examination success rates

Group
(percentage) for boys and girls

Primary
(2000)
Primary
(2001)
Junior
secondary
(2000)
Junior
secondary
(2001)

Boys 82.90 82.40 76.81 73.50

Girls 86.30 85.51 81.61 77.91
zila
Overall 84.61 84.46 79.14 75.63

Source: Exams Council of Swaziland

Table
ble 5, which gives the latest available enrolment figures
for secondary schooling, shows a 50: 50 participation rate
for both boys and girls.

Table
ble 5. Trend in secondary school enrolment (1997–2000)
waz

Year Boys Girls Total Girls (%)

1997 29 020 29 177 58 197 50.13

1998 30 228 30 602 60 630 50.31
1999 30 741 30 825 61 566 50.07
2000 30 003 30 252 60 253 50.20

There is still the culture

and belief in many schools
that some subjectsare
strictly for girls while
others are for boys.

Apparent
pparent gender balance

To what extent does the picture just painted amount

to g
gender
ender balance in participation in basic education in
Swaziland?
aziland? Some operators of the system believe that the
S

30
 Swaziland
situation is one of ‘apparent gender balance’. In the early
years of secondary education, girls are in the majority, but
the table turns in favour of the boys in later years.
In the 1999 school year, for example, girls consti-
tuted 51.71 per cent of children in the first year of sec-
ondary education. In the fifth year, the proportion of girls
was 46.22 per cent. The corresponding proportions for
the year 2000 were 52.6 per cent girls in the first year and
48.60 per cent in the fifth year.
In addition, girls in Swaziland are still subject to
the negative influences on girls’ education, which are at
work in other countries of Africa. Thus, poverty, pockets
of resistance to Western education (and particularly nega-
tive attitudes to schooling for girls), gender stereotyping
in the choice of careers and areas of study, unwanted
pregnancies, etc., are still stark realities in the country. As
is very well known, these factors contribute to non-enrol-
ment, drop-out, irregular attendance, repetition, and poor

Swaz
performance among girls.

The threat of teenage pregnancy

Pregnancy continues to be a leading cause for dropping
droppi
of school of most teen-age girls. 27 per cent of hospita
wa
waout
hospital deliv-
eries are 15–19 year old girls. Efforts have been ma made by
different organizations working with youth, but the impact
im is
hardly measurable, as more girls drop out of school because
b
of pregnancy. Young girls are faced with many challenges
cha
as they follow their line of growth from puberty to teenage
te
stage and young adults. The home environment is n not sup-
portive. Proper education and counselling is something
somethin that
homes do not offer.

Extracts from FAWESWA, Needs Assessmen

Assessment
Report on Teenage/Young Mothers, November 2000
200
S
31
Swaziland
nd
Interventions
erventions and incentives
Like most African countries, Swaziland is pursuing
teady programme of encouragement to the education
a steady
of women and girls, and the following are the key areas of
intervention
ervention in that regard.

Bursary awards to children in difficult circum-
stances, with special attention to girls.

Guidance and counselling for both in-school and
out-of-school girls, comprising activities in the
areas of education, health (including HIV/AIDS),
psychological testing.

Parent counselling on the needs of the girl-child
(with the support of FAWE and UNICEF).

Public enlightenment, through radio pro-
grammes, leaflets, focus group discussions, etc.

Science, mathematics and technology clinics for
girls, with the assistance of FAWE (Forum for
African Women Educationalists).

Encouraging teen-age mothers to return to
school.

Regular exposure of curriculum developers,
school administrators and teachers to the ABC
of Gender.

The ongoing enrichment of curriculum materi-
als through the elimination of gender bias.

Development and encouragement of the non-
formal route to basic education.
w

The
he non-formal route

The
e provision of non-formal education in Swaziland is
exemplifi
emplified by the work of the Sabenta National Institute,
which
ich has been in existence for some forty years.
S

32
 Swaziland
azil nd
Many girls drop out of school before the last grade
of primary education. Many more do not go to school at
all. Poverty and early pregnancies prevent others
othe from
fitting into the formal basic education system. T The non-
formal route, provided by Sabenta, has been tryin
trying to fill
this vacuum for both boys/girls and men/women.
men/women
There are 222,000 Swazi
who are unable to read,
write and count – one
of whom could be your
relative. Ask for a form at
a
the information desk and
register as many people asa
possible with Sabenta, your
you
literacy provider.

Sabenta is a highly decentralized institution that o operates

in nine centres spread throughout the country. IIt is run
by regional officers fully utilizing the traditional admin-
istrative and political structure (traditional chiefs,
chief inner

waz
councils, rural development motivators, head tteachers,
and community leaders) in the development and conduct
of its programmes.
There are two parallel programmes (Siswati and English)
and these operate at three levels: (a) basic literacy; fu
literacy; and (c) AUPE (Adult Upper Primary Education).
Education
The functional literacy programme teaches a wide
range of life skills: sewing, carpentry, computer
wa
functional

compute opera-
tions, weaving, hair-dressing, poultry farming, h horticul-
Sw
ture, catering, etc. Available statistics show that th these pro-
grammes have been women dominated. In the year yea 2000,
for example, the total enrolment was 4,074 and 2,587 2, (i.e.
63.50 per cent) were women.
AUPE is intended to provide: (a) adults w with the
opportunity to progress beyond conventional literacyliter and
numeracy; (b) adults with the means of achieving a quali-
S
33
Swaziland
land
la fication equivalent to the Swaziland Primary Certificate
(grade 7), as a gateway to further learning; and (c) an
(grade
opportunity
portunity for children aged 13 and over to rejoin the
formal
mal education system.

Conclusions
onclusions
and major lessons

W hile enrolment figures show some cause for hope,

it can still not be said that gender balance has been
achieved
hieved in basic education in Swaziland.

There seem to be more girls out of school, at all
levels, even when the enrolment figures show
that there could be more girls in school.

In percentage terms, girls are performing better
than boys in primary and junior secondary cer-
tificate examinations. A larger proportion of the
girls however tends to withdraw before the final
examination years of high school.

Most girls are still restricted to studying the
‘soft option’ subjects, and this has limited the
access of girls to scientific and technical disci-
plines in higher institutions.

Poverty at the household level is still a hindrance
to access to basic education, and girls have
remained the sacrificial lambs in the hard choic-
es that parents have to make in deciding whether
the boy or girl child should go to school.

The non-formal route (particularly AUPE) is
fee-paying, and therefore portends a potential
obstacle to women from low-income families.

Teenage pregnancy and the spread of HIV/AIDS
S

34
 Mozambique
am qu
qu
Mozambiqu
Mozambique:
Inclusion
Inclusio
and participatio
participation

zam
The context

A fter gaining independence from Portugal in 1975,

Mozambique waged a bitter civil war that lasted
teen years. The country has been engaged, howeve
laste six-
however, in a
steady process of consolidation of democracy and socio-
economic reconstruction since the signing of a peace
accord, and the holding of the first multi-party elec
elections
in 1992.
An essential part of the reconstruction proces
oz
process is a
national education policy (Política Nacional de Educaçã
Educ o),
published in 1995, which identified basic education
educatio and
adult literacy as the ‘topmost priority of the governm
government’.
Mo
Mo
The policy has since given birth to an Education S Sector
Strategic Plan 1999–2003, the first priority of wh which is
‘increased access to educational opportunities, at a all lev-
els of the education system’.

37
Mozambique
mbiqu Expanded partnerships
The
he central goal is accelerated progress towards universal
q
primary
rimary schooling, with particular emphasis on increas-
ing
ng enrolment among girls. Accomplishing this goal would
require
equire the participation of all Mozambicans – parents, com-
munities, employers, NGOs, religious organizations – and
government’s
overnment’s international partners as well. In the future
the
he Mozambican educational system will comprise a diverse
array
rray of institutions – public and private, formal and non-
formal
ormal – supported by provisions from and governed in col-
laboration
aboration with stakeholders. This implies a new vision of the
Ministry of Education’s role, and greatly expanded roles of
other
ther actors as they assume a greater share of responsibility
in
n the system.

Extracts from Mozambique

Education Sector Strategic Plan, 1999–2003

The women-in-education policy

in practice
Formal education

Net enrolment figures for the seven years of primary edu-

cation (EP1, or first cycle – 5 years and EP2; or second cycle
– 2 extra years) for the year 2001 show that 46 per cent
of first-grade children were girls. The proportion of girls,
M

however, decreases steadily through the higher grades,

down to 39 per cent in the seventh grade (see Table 1).
38
 Mozambique
The drop-out rate is relatively high among the girls,
but the reverse is true of repetition rate. The 2001 school
survey recorded 641,072 repeaters at the primary level.
Of this figure, 284,536 (44.38 per cent) were girls.
Access to basic education is characterized by
regional disparities, as shown in Table 2. Regions with
relatively high enrolment rates also tend to record rela-
tively high girls’ participation rates. This phenomenon has
been explained in terms of a combination of socio-cultural
and historical factors.

In some regions, initiation rites are followed
by boys returning to school, while the girls are
considered ripe for marriage.

Some parts of the country were more intensive-
ly exposed to Christian missionary educational
influences than others.

Some areas also suffered more severely from
the post-independence civil war than others.

Table 1. Mozambique: primary school enrolment – 2001

Grade Total enrolment Number of girls Girls (%)

1 844 732 396 451 46.92

2 607 356 269 761 44.42
3 475 903 203 225 42.70
4 338 374 139 299 41.17
5 242 246 94 191 38.88
6 152 696 60 006 39.30
7 109 438 42 903 39.20

Total 2 770 745 1 205 836 43.52

Source: Annual School Survey – 2001

Gender parity is more noticeable in the larger cities. In the

M
capital (Maputo) and the administrative region around it,
there are in fact more girls than boys in primary schools.
39
Mozambique
qu
za biqTable
ble 2. Regional trends in net enrolment rates
(percentage) – 2001

Province M/F Boys Girls Difference

01
1 C Delgado 54.1 59.6 48.7 0.9
02
2 Gaza 71.7 72.0 71.5 0.5
03
3 Inhambane 71.0 71.4 70.6 0.8
04
4 Manica 58.1 64.3 52.2 12.1
05 Maputo 80.6 80.1 81.0 – 0.9
06
6 Nampula 47.3 51.1 43.4 0.7
07
7 Niassa 58.3 63.5 53.1 10.4
08
8 Sofala 54.3 60.8 47.8 12.0
09
9 Tete 55.9 59.9 51.9 8.0
10
0 Zambezia 61.7 68.3 55.0 13.3
11
1 C Maputo 86.2 84.8 87.6 – 3.2

Mai (mothers) and Pai

(fathers) drawn
from the local community
and from older students
have proved very effective
as counsellors.

Policy
licy interventions and incentives
za

Mozambique’s
zambique’s commitment to the promotion of girls’ and
women’s
men’s education is part of its adherence to an SADC
oz

declaration
laration to enhance women’s participation in educa-
tion,
n, in public life, and in decision-making positions. In
the basic education sector this commitment is pursued
through
ough a wide range of interventions and incentives:

Gender units, focal points, and working groups.
The Special Adviser to the Minister of Education
on gender issues leads a team of specialists
who constitute the gender unit at the central
M

level. Similar structures (known as gender focal

points) are at work at the provincial and district
40
Mozambique
Poverty reduction measures. Free tuition and
free books in primary schools, and in many
places, the provision of potable water to schools
and their host communities

Decentralization of the management of basic
education. Through the division of administra-
tive districts into a number of areas with iden-
tical education needs known as ZIPs (Zona do
Influenco Pedagógico), and the establishment
of school councils, intended to ‘devolve school
daily business o communities, parents, NGOs,
respected citizens and community leaders’.

Curriculum enrichment. A new curriculum is
being piloted in twenty-nine schools nation-
wide, and is expected to come fully on board
in 2004. Its objectives are to: (a) eliminate gen-
der stereotypes in the content and activities
of textbooks; (b) enhance gender sensitivity among
teachers; (c) enhance assertiveness among girls;
and (d) enhance gender awareness among boys.
Head teachers have to
acknowledge
that schools really belong
to the communities.
oz
oz

A tale of two pilot schools

The gender pilot schools concept is intended to boost the
enrolment
olment and retention of girls in basic education, and
Mo

the two examples below illustrate the joys and the chal-
lenges
ges of the experiment.

Muda-Mufo
da-Mufo
M

Originally
ginally (during the colonial period) a catholic mission,
one-teacher
-teacher school, Muda-Mufo was upgraded after inde-
42
 Mozambique
iqu
pendence by the Sofala provincial and the NhamataNhamatanda
district education authorities, with the support of UNE
UNESCO
and the World Bank.
It was closed between 1981 and 1984, due to the

biq
civil war. Reopened in 1995, it became part of a nati national
pilot project for the enhancement of the participatio
participation of
girls in primary education. The major thrust of the project
pro
was the involvement of the local community and the

mbi
sensitization of society to the need for girls’ educat
education.
Community involvement was in membership of the sch school

amb
council, the provision of six classrooms, using local m mate-
rials, the preparation of school meals.
There has been increased in enrolment over the
years In 1996, the school had 345 children, made up of:

zam
220 boys and 125 girls (i.e. 36 per cent girls). In 2 2002,
total enrolment was 1,298 – 834 boys and 464 g girls
(i.e. 36 per cent girls).
Learning activities in the school are closely lin
linked
with poverty reduction; hence students are involveinvolved in
practical work in the following areas: poultry farm farming,
green zone protection, sewing and typewriting.
Houses are provided for teachers on the sch
premises, while the school has a health centre and s oza
school
solar
electricity. Sixty-eight of the pupils (forty-eight boys and
oz
twenty girls) live in the boarding facilities provided within
the school.
wi

The school still faces the problems of shortage

shortag of
classrooms, while some children travel as much as 50 50–60
kilometres to the school. Only two of the eighteen teach-te
ers are women.

Estoril
M
The school is housed in rehabilitated structures a few kilo-
metres outside Beira, capital of Sofala province. It operat
operates a
43
Mozambique
iqu
double
ble shift system, and only at the senior primary level.
Its 1,565 pupils, 708 boys and 717 (i.e.45.8 % girls)
Its 1,565 pupils, there are758 boys and 717 girls
(i.e.45.8
45.8 % girls)
biiq
The headship of the school always conferred on women,
in keeping with government policy, and with the inten-
tion
n of providing role models for girl children. The school
has been adjudged successful in the mobilizing of the
community
mmunity for the maintenance of infrastructure, and of
mb
b
teachers
chers fully mobilized for the production/adaptation of
teaching–learning
ching–learning materials.
Muda Mufo is a rural environment while Estoril is
in the
he select suburbs of a provincial capital city. The 35
ozam
am

per cent girl participation rate in Muda Mufo is consid-

eredd an ‘improvement’ by persons familiar with the harsh
socio-economic
io-economic terrain of the school. Child marriages are
still rampant in the area. The school is also located along
the ‘Beira corridor’, a transnational trade route that lures
youngng villagers (including girls), in search of an escape
route
te from rural poverty, to the neighbouring countries
of Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as to the cities of
Mozambique.
zambique.
Moz

The
e non-formal sector

Mozambique
zambique has a national strategy for the literacy
Mo

and non-formal sub-sector (Estratégia do Subsector de

Alfabetizaç˜
abetizaç˜ao e Educação de Adultos/educação Não-
Formal)
mal)) that runs from 2001-2005, the priority areas of
which
ch are:

Continuous review of policies and strategies,
including systematic monitoring and evaluation.
44
Mozambique
Regular/professional teachers also used.

NGOs very active, especially at the grass-roots
level.

Diplomas are awarded as incentives – EP1 (fifth
grade equivalent), allowing persons who so
desire to rejoin the formal sector.
Literacy is not enough;
it must help to alleviate
poverty.
mb
b
The overall illiteracy rate for the country is 60.5 per
cent,t, while the illiteracy rate for women is 74.1 per cent.
Illiteracy
eracy is being tackled through a network of 1,162
literacy
racy and adult education centres. Women seem to be
zam

responding
ponding to the call to acquire literacy and life skills,
as they
hey form approximately half of registered students in
thesese centres (Table 3). The figures represent persons duly
registered
stered and attending classes as at June 2001.

Table
ble 3. Mozambique – Enrolment in adult education
and literacy classes – 2001
za

Year Total enrolment Women Women (%)

I 72 602 40 941 56.39

II 49 516 25 313 51.12
III 31 024 14 769 47.61

Total 153 142 81 023 52.91

NGOs for practical matters;

Mo

government for long-term

perspective guidance.

There
re has been a steady evolution in the approach
M

to the
he provision of adult literacy and non-formal educa-
tion.
n. Until 1978, the emphasis was on reading–writing–
46
Mozambique
Gender sensitization is an ongoing activity and the
level of awareness is believed to be steadily rising.

Girls and women are embracing literacy and non-
formal basic education and are more strongly
iq
q
represented in ongoing programmes than men.

The nation’s pursuit of gender equality in education is

also
o facing a number of challenges:

Regional disparities are a feature of the system.
Girls’ participation in formal basic education
is steadily improving, but this is related to the
extent to which schooling is embraced in spe-
cific localities. With the pilot projects, for exam-
ple, rural pilot schools are believed to be mak-
ing an improvement when barely 36 per cent of
learners are girls.

The pockets of resistance to Western education
and to schooling by girls are still quite strong,
while poverty is an inhibiting factor to decisions
by families to invest in the education of girls.

Resources are scarce, as the country has numer-
ous other areas of human welfare needing atten-
tion.
oz
oz

However,
wever, the fact still remains that Mozambican authori-
ties are seriously rebuilding the nation. Education (and
particularly
ticularly basic education for women and girls) is an
integral
gral element of this national rebuilding exercise.
Mo

The ongoing EFA master planning process should be an

opportunity
ortunity for consolidating the gains already made, for
designing
igning a frontal attack strategy on the major challenges
and,, most especially, the question of regional disparities
M

in attitudes
ttitudes to education in general and to the education
of girls and women in particular.
48
 Faso
as
The
T
na Fa
Girls’ Education Conference of FAAPE: Federation
of African Parents-Teachers Associations (2001).
he International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education
in Africa (CIEFFA) has since taken off, with Ouagadougou
in
(the capital of Burkina Faso) as its headquarters.
Available statistics show that access to basic edu-
cation
c ation is still low in Burkina Faso. Only 901,291 of the
F
school age population of 2,110,395 (i.e. 42.7 per cent) are
school
in school, and only 36.2 per cent of these are girls. The
gender gap is approximately 10 percentage points in the
urban centres and 12 in the rural areas. There are wide
regional variations in access to primary education. The
net enrolment rate in the province around the capital city
Burkina
ina

is 20 per cent, while that of the most under-schooled prov-

ince (Komandjari) is a mere 13.5 per cent.
Burkina Faso also has one of the lowest literacy
rrates
ates in the Africa region. UNESCO’s estimates for 1995
kiin

show a national average illiteracy rate of 80.8 per cent

– 90.8 per cent for women and 70.5 per cent for men.
The challenges of bridging the wide gender gap in
access
a ccess to education were recognized in the ten-year action
plan of 1993, which addressed the issues from six fronts,
as follows:

Action-research, involving insightful analyses
of the major problems and the search for viable
solutions.

Sensitization and mobilization, with the involve-
ment of NGOs.

Teacher education, including gender-sensitivity
training.
Bu

Special incentives: free textbooks for girls,

improvement of the school environment, special
admission quotas, housing for teachers, etc.

Collaboration with other government depart-
B

50
 Faso
as
s
Organizational competence
An element of the beauty of the NGOs visited in Burkina
Faso is their simple (flat) organizational structure. Even
na Fa
a
the relatively large NGOs, with a wide geographical and
the
activity coverage (e.g. Promo Femmes) have very few per-
sons on their permanent pay roll, and seem to depend as
much as possible on volunteers.
F
The NGOs have also ingeniously adopted the tradi-
tional Groupementt concept, thus using as rallying points
the social structures already in place. This enables them
to use the real beneficiaries of their programmes also as
agents of change. It also makes participatory management
possible. The ‘Groupement’ is also the basis for organizing
Burkina
na

women into ‘co-operatives’ for the management of their

own development projects.

Outreach capacity
kin

The NGOs studied target the social classes that are in

greatest need, women in general, but more particularly
poor urban and rural women, the handicapped, widows,
the unskilled, the unemployed.
urki

A second angle to the outreach capacity of the

NGOs
N GOs lies in the wide range of activities they are engaged
in: promoting literacy, developing women’s organizations,
improving skills for income generation, health promotion,
food security, nature and water conservation, etc.
ur

Emphasis on the social,

political and economic empowerment
of girls and women
Bu

The wide range of activities carried out by Burkinabé NGOs

in favour of women is geared towards the goal of educa-
tion for self-development and empowerment, in all its
ramifications. Thus, there is emphasis on human rights,
B

52
 Faso
the financial independence of women, and the acquisition
acquisit
of knowledge and skills.

Close link with local communities and their cultural mi

milieu
The Groupement concept is utilized to its fullest. IIt is
the nucleus for the establishment of groups. It is also the
major determinant of the activities carried out in specifi
spec c

F
locations. It also determines the choice of facilitators for
specific activities, and the methodology for the condconduct
of such activities.
Peasants are also experts
in their own right.

Burkina
Moreover, training programmes are carried out in tradi- tr
tional structures (homesteads, fields, traditional assembly
assem
points, etc.), while the calendar of activities is made to fit
into women’s traditional free time.

Direct access with decentralized structures and with donors

don
The larger international NGOs (e.g. Catholic Relief Servi
Services,
Oeuvre Suisse d’Entraide Ouvrière, Promo Femmes)) do
receive direct subventions from their external sponsors,
spons
even though they also raise funds from other sources.
The interesting point here is that the smaller NG
are also able to enlist the support of the in-country m
sions of donor agencies: ILO, FAO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNIC
NGOs
mis-
UNICEF,
ki
ki
women and church groups in industrialized countr countries,
and various diplomatic missions. There are, in fact, exam-
ex
ples of NGOs serving as executing agencies for eterneternally
funded girls education projects.
Bu
A good case here is Promo Femmess which, in 2002,
20
successfully made a bid for the management of a cou couple
of schools built for the state with World Bank ass assist-
ance. Promo Femmess also had an interesting co-operation
co-operat
B
53
 Faso
as
s
arrangement with ILO, which involved: (a) schooling for
100 orphaned young girls from very poor families; and (b)
non-formal education (literacy, gardening, poultry, other
na Fa
a
income-generating skills) for 100 over-aged, but not yet
income-generating
marriageable girls.

Whatever the size, the functions, and the level of compe-

F
tence of these NGOs, they have been able to enlist the sup-
tence
port of persons and institutions responsible for governance
at the local level. These include traditional and religious
leaders, public servants, and elected representatives.

A culture sensitive approach to the gender question

Burkina
kina

Family values are considered very important, and most

NGO women education and empowerment programmes
preach the gospel of ‘Peace in the family’. The men folk
are made to accept the fact that an educated woman in an
asset to the family, and the women who become economi-
cally empowered are encouraged to use their resources to
support their families.
rki

A development-oriented view of literacy and education

The NGOs studied promote the development, the eman-
rk

cipation, and the full empowerment of women. However,

literacy and education are seen (correctly) as the founda-
tion and the bedrock of it all. This view has informed the
hierarchy of women’s learning needs that most of the
NGOs have tried to promote, namely:

Basic literacy in the mother tongue, for the
rapid acquisition of reading–writing–calculation
Bu

in the language of the women’s daily life.

Basic literacy in French, for exposure to the official
language of government business in the country.

Functional literacy: reading–writing–calculation
B

54
 Faso
as
s
for parent–teacher associations to ensure that 40–60 per
cent of pupils are girls. In addition, these schools are pro-
vided with separate toilet facilities for boys and girls.
a Fa
a
Catholic Relief Services: Its Education Support
Programme (Programme de Soutien à l’Éducation - ESP)
aims at raising the rate of school enrolment, encourage
school attendance (particularly by girls), reducing drop-
F
out rate, raising the level of success in primary education,
out
and sensitive parents to their role in ensuring the educa-
tion of their children).

In 2001, the organization intervened in the following

areas:
Burkina

School feeding. To encourage school attendance

and to improve performance of both boys and
girls. Working in collaboration with the Ministry
of Basic Education and Literacy (MEBA), the organ-
ization distributed 16,000 tonnes of foodstuff to
400,000 children in 2,344 primary schools.

School health and nutrition. The distribution
of micro-nutrients, basic medicines to primary
school children, and the promotion of heath/
nutrition education, and the supply of medicine
kits to schools.

School infrastructure. Mobilizing local communi-
ties through a ‘food for work’ arrangement. Twenty
primary schools were thus constructed in 2001.

‘Take Away’ Ration. At the end of every month,
Girls who attain 90 per cent school attendance
are given 10 kg of wheat flour, intended to help
Bu

the family in periods of food scarcity and to

raise self-confidence in girls as being useful to
the family. 4,000 girls, drawn from 135 schools,
benefited from this bonus in 2001.
B

56
 Faso
s
Conclusions
na Fa and major lessons

T
ttion
here is certainly a high level of awareness of the
need to bridge the wide gender gap in basic educa-
ion in Burkina Faso. This awareness is captured in the
F
government’s ten-year strategic plan for the development
government’s
of education. It is also taken as an area of concern by the
numerous NGOs operating in the country.
NGOs are helping to extend the scope of coverage of
basic education activities, and are complementing the work
of government in a number of ways. They seem to have a
Burkina
ina

very strong potential for reaching the ’unreached’. They

also seem to have acquired experience in linking basic
education to overall human development activities, using
traditional organizational structures and collaborating with
kin

both local authorities and external support agencies.

They have, above all, approached the gender ques-
tion in a culture-sensitive manner, and they seem to be
winning, for as most of them said in the course of inter-
views, ‘the men are also involved’.
At the same time, to enhance the sustainability and
the positive impact of the interesting activities currently
going on, attention would have to be paid to a number of
major challenges:

Geographical coverage is still a problem. All
actors attest to the fact that some parts of the
country (among them areas in dire need) are
not covered by NGOs, while some other areas
Bu

(among them regions that are better off in terms

of access to basic education) experience an
over-concentration of NGO activities.

There is a general feeling that co-ordination and
B

58
Burkina Faso
as
s
The work to be done in Burkina Faso, to attain the goals
of EFA (and more particularly, the gender equity–gender
equality goal – goal number V), is enormous. It requires
a
that all hands must be fully on deck. The EFA master plan-
that
ning process is a wonderful opportunity to make this hap-
pen, in an impactful manner.
Bu
B

60
S waziland
Swaziland
urkina Faso
Ethiopia
Mozambique
General

s
zamb u
azil n
conclusions
o

Burkina
E
ven though each of the four studies focus focused on
a specific angle to the enormous task inv involved
in promoting the education
ducation of women and girls,

Burkin
there is a common thread
hread running through them.
The following elements of this hi constitute the major les-
sons to be learned from the on ongoing experiences.
1. The education of w women and girls are really
part and parcel off a nation’s educational and
overall social development
elo issues. This holistic
wa
view places every m micro-experiment in a wider
national developmental
men context.
2. The existence of a broader
ro policy framework (such
oz
as a national constitution
st making appropriate
provisions for women’s
me issues, a national policy
w

on women-in-development,
op a strategic education
Mo
development plan that
th targets the real concerns
of women and girls in education) helps to provide
a clearer focus for th
the development and manage-
ment of girls’ education
at programmes.
3. A data and research-generated
ch knowledge base
is essential to ensure
ur that programmes address
B
61
Swaziland
aziland
urkina Faso
aso
sso
Ethiopia
Mozambique ue
the real issues,
ues, and that they are relevant to the

qu
needs of specifi
ecific groups of girls and women in
society.
4. Promoting the he education of girls and women is

Fa
a multi-sectoral
toral undertaking. Work done in all

biiiq
other development
opment sectors help to reinforce the
work done in n the education sector, since they all
work towardsds the common gaol of mainstream-
ing women and gender issues in development.
5. Promoting the education of women and girls
is also a multi-agency, multi-interest-group

mbb affair. The challenge

hallenge here is to design appropri-
ate strategies
es for harnessing the potentials of

Burkina
every stakeholder.
ho
zam6. The primary y beneficiaries – women and girls –
are the numberber one determinants of the orienta-

Burkin
tion and content
ntent of programmes. The more they
– and their immediate
mmediate communities – are treated
as ‘experts in
n their own rights’, the better.
7. Mainstreaminging gender in education is likely
to be more e successful when ‘men are also
involved’, since
ince the promotion of women is the
wa

promotion of both sexes.

8. In the African
an context, poverty is a stark real-
ity, and all efforts to promote the education
oz
of women and girls must take poverty in its
stride.
Sw

9. Communication
ation is a major problem. It inhibits
o

communicationtion and collaboration among stake-

holders and d between African Member States.
Since there are a lot of opportunities for inter-
learning on n ongoing activities, the area of
M

communicationtion and networking deserves very

special attention.
nt
62
Swaziland
aziland
rkina Faso
aso
Ethiopia
Mozambique ue
10. Age-old habits and atattitudes die hard. Sensitizing

s
qu
the populace (and
the d this includes women and
persons who have b benefited from modern edu-
cation) has not bee been an easy task. A major

Fa
challenge for the fu future is evolving innovative

biiiq
strategies for social al mobilization in favour of
the education of wo women and girls.
11. Education (and most os especially education for
women and girls) is seen to be beneficial when
it directly and positively
sit impacts on the qual-

General conclusion
ity of life for the direct beneficiaries, as well as

zamb
to their families and immediate communities.
Thus, another major or challenge for the immedi-

Burkina
ate future is the search for innovative strate-
gies for linking education
ducation with poverty reduc-
tion, alleviation andnd overall human well-being

Burkin
programmes.

In spite of the many ongoing ng activities in the region, a

great deal still has to be done
ne to attain gender equity in
primary education by 2005, anda gender equality in sec-
ondary education by 2015, as s rrecommended by the Dakar
wa
EFA Forum of April, 2000.

There is, however, an opportunity

o that the Africa
oz
region should not allow to slip
ip by. This is the ongoing EFA
master planning process thatt should be used to develop
w

appropriate national strategies

es for moving the education
o
of girls and women to its desired
sir destination.
B
63
 Bibliography

Ethiopia
ETHIOPIA. 1995, The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia.
ET H I O P I A . 1994. Education and Training Policy.
ET H I O P I A . 2001, Gender Perspective Guidelines.
ET H I O P I A . Ministry of Education. Department of Women’s Affairs, 1995
Some Considerations on Girls, Education.
— 2002. Partnership between Government and Non-Government
Organizations to Promote Basic Primary Education.
— 2000. Alternative Routes to Basic Primary Education.
— 1999. Improving Retention with a Special Focus on Girls.
— Educational Management Information Systems – EMIS. 2000.
Education Statistics Annual Abstracts: 2000–2001.
ET H I O P I A . Ministry of Water Resources. Women’s Affairs Department 1998.
Women’s Participation for Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation
Development. (Brochure.)
ET H I O P I A . Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Women’s Affairs
Department. 1999. Women’s Profiles (Some Basic Statistical Data on
Women in Ethiopia).
Oromia Education Bureau 2001. Gender Analysis of Primary School
Textbooks in Oromia.
— 2002. Education Statistics Annual Abstracts, 2000/2001.

65
 Rose, P. et. al. 1997. Gender and Primary Schooling in Ethiopia. (IDS
Research Report, 31.)
Transitional Government of Ethiopia. Office of the Prime Minister. 1993.
National Policy on Ethiopian Women.

Swaziland
Central Statistical Office. Mbabane. 1998. Report on the 1997 Swaziland
Population and Housing Census. 3 vols.
Forum for African Women Educationalists – Swaziland – FAWESWA. 2001. The
Participation and Performance of Girls in Science and Mathematics and
Technical Subjects in Primary and Secondary Schools in Swaziland.
— 1999. Female Education in Mathematics and Science.
— 2000. Needs Assessment Report on Teenage Young Mothers.
— n.d. Parent’s Guide on Effective Communication with Children.
Kingdom of Swaziland. Ministry of Education. 1999. National Policy
Statement on Education.
Macwele, M 2002. The Promotion of the Education of Girls and Women in
Swaziland. (Unpublished manuscript.)

Mozambique
Governo Da Provincia De Safala. Direccáo Provincial De Educacão. 2002.
Informacáo.
— 2002. Educacão Da Rapariga.
Republic of Mozambique. Ministry of Education. 2001. Educational
Statistics, Annual Survey – 2001.
— Council of Ministers. 1995. National Education Policy and Strategies
for Implementation.
— Ministry of Education. 1998. Education Sector Strategic Plan: 1999
– 2003 (Reviving Schools and Expanding Opportunities).
— 1997. Género, Desenvolvimento e Educação: Manual do Formador.
— 2000. Estratégia do Subsector de Alfabetização e Educação de
Adultos/Educação Não-Formal, 2001 – 2005.
66
Burkina Faso

A.P.E.E. 2002. Amélioration des Conditions d’Insertion des Enfants

Déficients Intellectuels au Burkina Faso.
Association Duddal Leydi Men. 2002. Projet d’Alphabétisation de Base et
de Formations Techniques Spécifiques.
BU R K I N A F A S O . Ministère de l’Économie et des Finances. n.d. Répertoire
Synoptiques des ONG.
— Ministère de l’Enseignement de base et de l’Alphabétisation /
Ministère des Enseignements Secondaire, Supérieur et de la
Recherche Scientifique (1997), Plan Stratégique Décennal 1997–2006
de l’Éducation.
— 2000, 2001. Statistiques Scolaires 1999/2000 and 2000/2001.
— Ministère des Enseignements Secondaire, Supérieur et de la
Recherche Scientifique (n.d.), Données Globales sur les Enseignements
Secondaire et Supérieur (Année Scolaire 2001–2002).
Catholic Relief Services. Programme du Burkina Faso, Rapport Annuel
d’Activités. 2001.
International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education. 2000. General
Report of the Meeting of the Committee of Experts, Ouagadougou,
12–14 July 2000.
Ouedraogo Salimata. 2002. Communication sur l’Égalité des Sexes dans
l’Éducation de Base, UNESCO, Réunion Régionale des Pays de la
CEDEAO, Accra, 18–20 février 2002.
Tamboura Adama. 2001. Rapport sur les Structures, Politiques, Programmes
Spécialement Conçus pour l’Éducation des Filles et des Femmes.

67
 Appendix:
Persons interviewed
and organizations/
institutions visited

Ethiopia
Hon. Gifti Abasiyya, State Minister, Women Sub-sector, Prime Minister’s
Office.
Nuria Ahmed, Department of Women’s Affairs, Oromia Education
Bureau.
Bogalech Alemu, Head, Women and Development (WAD), Ministry of
Agriculture.
Konjit Alula, Head, Women’s Affairs Department, Ministry of Health.
Rahel Bekele, Head, Policy, Advocacy and Family, CCRDA.
Kassaw Checkole, Co-ordinator, Basic Education Network (BEN).
Kassech Demissie, Women’s Affairs Department, Ministry of Education.
Lakesh Haile, Head, Women’s Affairs Department, Ministry of Water
Resources.
Martha Mangesha, Deputy Secretary-General, National Agency for
UNESCO and in her capacity as executive member of FAWE
(Ethiopia Chapter).
Allemayeu Minas, Secretary-General, National Agency for UNESCO.
Mexia Mohammed, Women Sub-sector, Prime Minister’s Office.
Enebet Mulugeta, Director, CERTWID, Addis Ababa University.
68
Mergerssa Negasa, Women’s Affairs Department, Addis Ababa
University.
Musie Tamir, Team Leader, Factory Women in the Industrial Sector,
Ministry of Industries.
Fananesh Tilahun, Women’s Affairs Department, Ministry of Education.
Almaz Witensaye, Addis Ababa Women’s Affairs Officer.
Yelfign Worku, Chair, Women Education Association of Ethiopia (FAWE
Ethiopia Chapter).
Aster Zewde, Head, Women’s Affairs Department, Ministry of Youth,
Sports and Culture.

Swaziland
Atticia Dladla, Acting Director, National Curriculum Centre.
Thulsile Dladla, Chief Executive Officer, SEBENTA National Institute.
Bernard Dlamini, Chief Inspector (Tertiary).
Peterson Dlamini, Principal, Ngwane Teachers’ College.
Zweli Gamedze, Assistant Registrar (Computer), Exams Council of
Swaziland.
Faith Khumalo, Inspector of Schools (Examinations), Exams Council of
Swaziland.
J-G Kunene, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Education.
Dorothy Littler, Secretary-General, National Commission for UNESCO.
Musa Macwele, Assistant Chief Inspector (Adult Education).
Thembinkosi Mamba, Directorate of Industrial and Vocational Training.
Jane Maseko, Head of Department of Agriculture, Ngwane Teachers’
College.
Christobel Mkhonta, Chief Inspector (Secondary).
Sibusiso Mkhonta, Director of Education, Ministry of Education.
Della Nsibande, Guidance and Counselling Unit, Ministry of Education.
Bongie Potsoa, University of Swaziland.
Martha Shongwe, Senior Inspector, Ministry of Education.
Israel Similane, Chief Inspector (Primary).
Nomcebo Similane, University of Swaziland.
69
 Dr. Sukati, University of Swaziland.
Hebron Sukati, Principal, Swaziland College of Technology (SCOT).
Lineo Vilakazi, Guidance and Counselling Unit, Ministry of Education.
Nomsa Zindela, University of Swaziland.

Mozambique
Eninelinda Adelino, Deputy Head of the Maputo Provincial Department
of Education.
Raul Salomad Benzane, Head Teacher, Escola Primaria Centro Educacional,
Maraccueme.
Susana Betrossi, Head Teacher, EP2 do Estoril, Beira.
Alvos Manuel Cagana, Chief of Pedagogical Department, Safala Provincial
Education Department.
Adelino Castigo David, Head Teacher, EPC de 25 de Juanho, Tica, Safala
Province.
Paula Encstina, Head, Centro de Desenvolvimento Commnitaria de
Machanote, Dondo District, Safala Province.
Soaguina Yosé de Higueino, Gender Co-ordinator, Dondo District Education
Office.
Virgilio Juvane, Director, Planning Department, Ministry of Education.
Manuel Francisco Lobo, Adviser to the Hon. Minister of Education.
Chota Marulino Maisne, Dondo District Education Office.
Herminio Malate, Gender Unit, Ministry of Education.
Mouzere Alberto Manuel, Programme Officer, Beira City Education
Department.
Martins Jaoa Mateus, Adjointo Pedagogico, EP1 (Dondo District Education
Office).
Francisco Itai Mecque, Director, Safala Provincial Education Department.
Qestattina Francisco Moiene, Gender Unit, Ministry of Education.
Francisco Eugenio Mutambe, Head of School Support Unit, Marracuene
District Education Department.
Januario Mutaquiha, Secretary-General, UNESCO National Commission.
Mario Nhabaga, Adjointo Pedagogico, EPC, Muda-Mafa.
70
Felisberto de Jesus Antonio Nhapulo, Director, Basic Education, Ministry
of Education.
Teresa Paulino Mafage Nhoana, Co-ordinator (Gender Unit), Safala
Provincial Education Department.
Naissone Pedro Nogueira, Adjointo Pedagogico EP2 (Dondo District
Education Office).
Augusto Nunes, Programme Officer for Sciences, UNESCO National
Commission.
Henriqueta Anibal Oveamaz, Co-ordinator (Gender Unit), Marracuene
District Department of Education.
Anastasia Quitane, Co-ordinator (Gender, Reproductive Health, and HIV/
AIDS Prevention Education), Maputo Provincial Department of
Education.
Da Gracia E Sambine, Gender Unit, Ministry of Education.
Anthónio Tacarinda, District Education Director, Nhamatanda.
Fernando Tembe, Department of Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal
Education, Ministry of Education.
David Uamusse, Basic Education Department, Ministry of Education.
Domingos Ushavu, Head of Planning Maputo Provincial Department of
Education.
Fernanda Wachave, Gender Unit, Ministry of Education.

Burkina Faso
Emile Bambara, Association Pag-La-Yiri.
Fatoumata Bambara, FAWE–Burkina.
Rasmata Barry, Focus group discussion with Association Duddal Leydi Men.
Sidiki Belem.
Rita Campaore (Treasurer), Focus Group Discussion (Association Féminine
pour l’Entraide au Développement Durable).
Sibry Conde.
Marguerite Coulidiaty, FAWE–Burkina.
Korotouma Gariko, Focus Group Discussion with Association Duddal
Leydi Men.
71
 Emiliene Ido, FAWE–Burkina.
Olga Ilbuodo, International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education in
Africa, Ouagadougou.
Valentin Konsianbo, Association des Parents et Amis des Enfants
Encephalopathes, Ouagadougou.
Kadiatou Kosarga, Directrice de la Promotion de l’Éducation des Filles,
Ministère de l’Éducation de Base et de l’Alphabétisation.
Maria Leugue, Association Pag-La-Yiri.
Anatole Niameogo, Technical Adviser on Education, Catholic Relief
Services.
San Ouattara, Education Department, UNESCO National Commission.
Clementine Ouedraogo, Director of Programmes, Promo Femmes.
Emmanuel Ouedraogo, President and Founder, Vivre le Berger.
Germaine Ouedraogo, International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s educa-
tion in Africa, Ouagadougou.
Jean Ouedraogo, Association des Parents et Amis des Enfants
Encephalopathes, Ouagadougou.
Salimata Sanou, EFA Focal Point, Ministry of Education.
Issiatou Sawadogo, Legal Affairs Officer, Promo Femmes.
Lassina Sessouma.
Kadidia Sidibe, Secrétaire Permanent de la Commission Nationale pour
l’Education des Filles.
Abdoulaye Soulgane, Association des Parents et Amis des Enfants
Encephalopathes, Ouagadougou.
Cecile Thiombiago, President, Focus Group Discussion (Association
Féminine pour l’Entraide au Développement Durable).
Marie-Magdalene Toure, President, Comite National des Femmes
Aveugles.
Blaise Toubré, Co-ordinator, Association Generation Montante, Ziniare.
Susanne Ware, Association Pag-La-Yiri.
Isabelle Yameogo, Association des Parents et Amis des Enfants
Encephalopathes, Ouagadougou.
Bernard Yonli, Secretary-General, UNESCO National Commission.
Patricia Zagré, UNESCO National Commission.
72