Anika Siraj (Planning, Information collector, & Creative designer)
Sarjana Iqbal (Information Collector, Presenter)
Jerin Sultana (Information Editor)
Dillruba Hoque (Presenter)
Saddam Hossain
• Introduction:
Gender inequality or gap in education has a significant negative impact on economic growth and appears to be an important factor contributing to Africa's and South Asia's poor growth performance over the past 30 years.
In addition to increasing growth, greater gender equality in education promotes other important development goals, including lower fertility and lower child mortality. Gender inequality in education has a direct impact on economic growth through lowering the average quality of human capital. Economic growth is indirectly affected through the impact of gender inequality on investment and population growth also.
Gender inequality may have adverse impacts on a number of valuable development goals.
First, gender inequality in education and access to resources may prevent a reduction of child mortality, of fertility, and an expansion of education of the next generation.
To the extent that these linkages exist, gender bias in education may thus generate instrumental problems for development policy-makers as it compromises progress in other important development goals.
Secondly, it may be the case that gender inequality reduces economic growth.
This is an important issue to the extent that economic growth furthers the improvement in well-being. Gender gap in education prevents progress in reducing fertility and child mortality rates, thereby compromising progress in developing countries.
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Gender gap scores for 2002/2003 calculated with enrollment data from UNESCO on 3/20/2006. Gender gap scores for 1985 and 1995 are from a 1998 Population Action International report, Educating Girls: Gender Gaps and Gains. Fertility data from United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision
Educating Girls And Women in Developing Countries :
Education of girls may seem an odd topic for an economist to address. But enhancing women’s contribution to develop is as much an economic as a social issue .Economics, with its emphasis on incentives, is useful to understand why so many girls are deprived of education and employment opportunities. And recent research and concrete calculations show that educating females yields far- reaching benefits for girls and women themselves , their families, and the societies in which they live. Investment in the education of girls may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world.
The most dramatic indicator of the social problems women face is found in the most basic of all national statistics- the demographic composition of the population. One might expect that the proportion of females in a population would be a biologically determined constant. Yet a survey of worldwide statistics reveals large differences in this proportion. Whereas women comprise 52.5 percent of the population in the industrial world, they account for only 51 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa, less than 48 percent in East Asia, and less than 47 percent in South Asia.
Although some of the differential in the female composition of the population may be caused by census biases and the effects of migration, the overwhelming reason why 100million women are missing is excess female morality. In industrial countries, where basic necessities are available to all, women outlive men by an average of six years. But in many developing countries the spread is lower, and in large parts of South Asia a baby boy can actually expect to live longer than a baby girl.
Differential mortality of women and girls is only the most dramatic manifestation of systematic discrimination against them. Women and girls are more likely to be impoverished than men and boys. Studies have found evidence that girls are taught less than their brothers. And it can come as no surprise that female literacy falls far short of male literacy.
|In 1990 in Jomtien, Thailand, at the World Conference on Education for All, world leaders agreed that “the most urgent priority [was] to |
|ensure access to, and improve the quality of, education for girls and women, and to remove every obstacle that hampers their active |
|participation”. A deadline was set: universal access to, and completion of, primary education should be achieved by the year 2000. |
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|By the year 2000, this “urgent priority” had not been realized. In the World Education Forum, held that year in Dakar, new deadlines were |
|fixed: all children should complete “compulsory primary education of good quality” by 2015, and participants once again expressed specific |
|concern about gender disparities in education, pledging to eliminate them by 2005. At the UN’s Millennium Summit, heads of state adopted |
|these targets as two of the eight Millennium Development Goals for reducing world poverty. |
The Global Campaign for Education, an international coalition of NGOs and trade unions, states that “because education is so crucial to improving health and increasing incomes, the girls’ education goal has a domino effect on all of the other Millennium Development Goals. Failure to achieve it will set us up for almost certain failure on the other MDGs”.
Some experts claim that there is “no chance whatsoever” of reaching the target.
Some civil society organizations, however, are working hard to prove otherwise. The Global Campaign for Education claims that if donors and governments fulfill their commitment this objective can be achieved. “The problem is not over-ambition, but lack of ambition,” they say. And they are carrying out an international campaign to raise awareness and pressure governments.
Poverty is one of the major factors that undermines girls’ right to education. School fees and expenses relating to transport, clothing and books widen the gender gap: as families cannot afford to educate all their children, girls are the ones that stay at home, helping with household chores. Other barriers have to do with the sexual harassment to which girls and women are exposed, both on the way to and inside schools, early marriage and adolescent pregnancy.
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• Why is girls' education important?
There are several compelling benefits associated with girls’ education, which include the reduction of child and maternal mortality, improvement of child nutrition and health, lower fertility rates, enhancement of women’s domestic role and their political participation, improvement of the economic productivity and growth, and protection of girls from HIV/AIDS, abuse and exploitation. Girls’ education yields some of the highest returns of all development investments, yielding both private and social benefits that accrue to individuals, families, and society at large by • Reducing women’s fertility rates: Women with formal education are much more likely to use reliable family planning methods, delay marriage and childbearing, and have fewer and healthier babies than women with no formal education. It is estimated that one year of female schooling reduces fertility by 10 percent. The effect is particularly pronounced for secondary schooling. • Lowering infant and child mortality rates: Women with some formal education are more likely to seek medical care, ensure their children are immunized, be better informed about their children's nutritional requirements, and adopt improved sanitation practices. As a result, their infants and children have higher survival rates and tend to be healthier and better nourished. • Lowering maternal mortality rates: Women with formal education tend to have better knowledge about health care practices, are less likely to become pregnant at a very young age, tend to have fewer, better-spaced pregnancies, and seek pre- and post-natal care. It is estimated that an additional year of schooling for 1,000 women helps prevent two maternal deaths. • Protecting against HIV/AIDS infection: Girls’ education ranks among the most powerful tools for reducing girls’ vulnerability. It slows and reduces the spread of HIV/AIDS by contributing to female economic independence, delayed marriage, family planning, and work outside the home, as well as conveying greater information about the disease and how to prevent it. • Increasing women’s labor force participation rates and earnings: Education has been proven to increase income for wage earners and increase productivity for employers, yielding benefits for the community and society. • Creating intergenerational education benefits: Mothers’ education is a significant variable affecting children’s education attainment and opportunities. A mother with a few years of formal education is considerably more likely to send her children to school. In many countries each additional year of formal education completed by a mother translates into her children remaining in school for an additional one-third to one-half year.
Across the globe, nearly 70 million children are deprived access to a basic education. A 2008 estimate states that 60 percent of these children are girls. Among developing nations, “the gender gap between boys and girls in primary school completion rates is greater than 10 percentage points.” An additional 100 million girls worldwide that begin primary school do not finish. The numbers are even starker for secondary education, which is unavailable to more than 200 million children and in which we see even more extreme disparity in enrollment and completion between boys and girls.
Girls’ education and the promotion of gender equality in education are vital to development, and policies and actions that do not address gender disparities miss critical development opportunities.
Gender inequalities tend to be greater among the poor
One of the striking patterns from data across countries is that gender disparities, especially in basic indicators of wellbeing and development, are greatest on average in poorer countries. And within countries, these disparities tend to be greatest among the poorest households.
Does poverty cause larger gender disparities, or does gender inequality lead to poverty? This is a question that the report addresses. And the evidence suggests that the relationship goes both ways. Reducing poverty will go some way towards reducing harmful gender disparities. But neither gender disparities nor poverty can be eliminated without addressing gender issues directly. Recognizing that poverty and gender inequality are intertwined can help us formulate more effective development strategies.
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• SHOCKING STATISTICS ABOUT GENDER GAP IN EDUCATION
At roughly 50 percent, Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world, coupled with a gross disparity when broken down by gender. For females, it’s about 35% as compared to approximately 62 percent for males. (In Pakistan, the standard for “literacy” is met if one can read a newspaper and write a letter in any language.) Given these literacy rates, it’s hardly surprising that a Pakistani girl receives, on average, just two and a half years of education; for boys, it’s double. If a girl lives in a rural area, she is three times less likely to complete primary school than is a boy in the same area. Likewise, in rural areas, the female literacy rate is 25 percent and only one in five girls is enrolled in school. Secondary education is a luxury in Pakistan for all children, but even more so for girls, for whom enrollment drops by nearly 90 percent from 1st grade to 12th grade.
Of course, these facts are devastating in their own right, but this devastation is painfully exacerbated by the costs associated with not educating women and girls in the developing world. Indeed, studies have shown that efforts to address the abysmal gender disparity have rippling effects that stretch far beyond the classroom. Research has demonstrated that such investments can strengthen families and lift them out of poverty, save the lives of young children, improve the health of populations, reduce unemployment, help combat epidemics, dramatically increase a country’s agricultural productivity and overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reduce the instances of female genital mutilation, and contribute to an increase of women in parliaments—thereby making a developing society a more developed one.
In many developing countries, girls take a back seat to boys in access to schooling drop out more often, whether to help out at home, to get married, or because of pregnancy. The resulting low levels of education contribute to high rates of infant mortality and to a lack of real choices for women in both the reproductive and productive aspects of their lives. Parents in many countries give priority to sons in education because of the limited number of places in schools or because of a lack of financial resources. Among other factors contributing to the education gender gap are a widespread perception among parents that educating sons will bring greater economic benefits than educating daughters, and cultural concerns about sending girls away from home, according to PA.
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• The steps taken in developing countries to educate women:
World Education has a long history of successfully working with local partners to design, execute, manage and evaluate participatory, community-based initiatives to advance the conditions of girls and women. World Education's programs help girls enroll and stay in school and help women gain access to or create new educational, financial, and social resources in their communities. World Education programs help girls and women improve their own lives, the lives of their families and the conditions in the their communities. For parents - and especially mothers - this means creating conditions that ensure their daughters have equal access to basic education, are able to make informed decisions about their futures, and are able to protect themselves from trafficking, sexual exploitation, HIV and AIDS, for example.
By improving educational opportunities for girls and women, World Education helps women develop skills that allow them to make decisions and influence community change in key areas. In turn, these programs have a positive impact on some of the most profound issues of our time: population growth, HIV and AIDS, peace and security, and the widening gap between the rich and poor.
Higher education in Tanzania
In Tanzania, higher education is defined as that proportion of tertiary education that leads to an advanced diploma or degree. The last decade or so has seen a significant expansion of higher education in Tanzania. Whilst up to the mid 1980s there were only two universities and a handful of other specialist higher education colleges, by 2005 there were a total 30 universities, the majority of these being private. In addition, there were 15 additional public Institutions of Higher Education including 6 professional institutes, 2 institutes of technology, a wildlife college and a business college.
Studying abroad: Unesco show that sub-Saharan Africa, of which Tanzania is part, sends proportionately more of its higher education students abroad than any other part of the world. On average, 5.6% of these students go abroad for their studies. That is 1 in 16 of all higher education students. In 2005, Tanzania had just over 51,000 enrolled students within its local universities and other institutions of higher learning.
Like many developing countries, there is a wide gender gap when it comes to higher education. Whilst there are no real problems of access to primary education, the trend towards fewer girls in education starts to appear at secondary school level and accelerates markedly in institutions of higher learning. This problem was historically quite pronounced but there has been significant improvement over the last 15 -20 years. [pic] • Gender gap in education in INDIA In the latest gender gap index report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) India keeps company with the worst in the world. Among the 128 countries that have been evaluated by the WEF India ranked 114 followed among others by Yemen, Chad, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Even China, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Botswana fare much better than us.
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The survey considers the proportion of resources and opportunities made available to women on educational, economic, political and health parities. It is only in the realm of political empowerment India has done somewhat ok ranking 21st. That is also thanks to a long spell of prime minister ship by Mrs. Indira Gandhi. It raises question as why women are at receiving end if they are politically empowered.
India is still largely a feudal and patriarchal society. In many parts of our country especially in UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab women are often treated as if they were a piece of property. In these parts the sex-ratio is most skewed because families often snuff out the lives of girl children before or immediately after they are born. In many parts of India women are viewed as an economic liability despite contributing in several ways to our society and economy.
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India's policies and projects for women are woefully inadequate. For instance the literacy rate for females is merely 48% against 73% for males. Public health is another area of failure. Hundreds of women in rural India die every year during child birth for want of medical attention. There are thousands more who do not even have access to a primary health centre. Importantly reforming property laws more vigorously so that gender parity becomes a reality must rank among the government's priorities.
While these changes are necessary they will amount to nothing if we as a society continue to deny our women the dignity, liberty and opportunities that are rightfully theirs.
• Gender gap in education in Pakistan Gender and Education: The educational status of women in Pakistan is unacceptably low, in fact, amongst the lowest in the world. The problem emanates at the primary level, as low participation and high dropouts at that stage prevent females from reaching higher education and equitable opportunities for such furtherance do not become available to the female gender. According to the Ministry of Women Development, only 19% of females have attained education upto Matric, 8% upto Intermediate, 5% a
Bachelor’s degree and 1.4% achieved a Master’s degree. 60% of the female adult population is illiterate. Of the 3.3 million out of school children, 2.503 million are girls. 73.6% of primary age girls attend school, compared with 92.1% of boys. Moreover, a sizeable majority of rural girls drop out of primary schools. Women in Pakistan do not form a homogeneous entity; their opportunities vary greatly with the social system that they are part of. In rural areas, patriarchal structures often combined with poverty, limit opportunities to women, while women belonging to the upper and middle classes have increasingly greater access to education and employment opportunities and can assume greater control over their lives. Although education has been seen to add value to a female worker, increase her productivity and make her less vulnerable to violence or harassment, it is often the economic productivity and security that are given as reasons that are used to hold girls back from schooling. Poor families allocate scarce resources to their sons’ education, expecting higher economic returns. Cultural limitations discourage parents from sending their daughters to mixed gender schools. However, the problem is not just of demand. There have been situations where girls are enrolled in boys’ schools even upto matric level, indicating that supply of quality girls schooling is falling short. Similarly poor physical environment or lack of basic facilities in schools also discourages parents from sending their girls to schools. To remove these supply side blockages, unwavering support and coordination between all stakeholders (politicians, bureaucrats, government departments, planners, implementers and community organizations) is required. Right from 1947 till 1998 the emphasis on girls education finds due articulations in the policy documents but the physical targets were not matched with financial and social investment in the cause of female education and hence the appalling state in which the underprivileged women of Pakistan find themselves. This historical skew in access is getting rapidly corrected. As of 2006, 32% of students in universities and other institutions of higher learning were female, still inequitable but a marked improvement from before. At a post-graduate level, the problem remains more pronounced with only 21% and 19% of Masters and PhD students in public universities being women. Interestingly, the proportion in private universities is higher though still far off the expected 50%.
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• Gender gap in education in BANGLADESH The government of Bangladesh and its people understand the value of an educated population. As such, over the last decade, many projects have been undertakes to educate the people of the nation. Yet, there still is a large gender gap in Bangladesh when it comes to education. Similar to many developing countries, women's education in Bangladesh lags far behind compared to that of men.
The fact that women are less educated than men is largely due to ancient tradition and common mentality. The reasons why women are seldom as well educated than men lie outside the education system. Ideas about the appropriate roles for women in the labor market or in society, about the biological unsuitability of women for science, and about the gender-based division of work in the household and on the farm influence decisions about schooling.
The school participation rate is defined as the percentage of individuals who have ever been in school. In Bangladesh, 58 percent of male attended school whereas only 41 percent of female attended school.
However, the recent commitment of the government and non-government agencies to decrease the gap between genders is working very well. Today, for those under 20, about 64 percent of males and 57 percent of women have attended school. This is a 10 percent increase for men and a 39 percent increase for women. At the postsecondary level, the transition rate, from secondary school towards higher education, is generally higher among girls than among boys. In fact, at the country level, some 23 percent of females of all ages, who complete the secondary level, move on to the postsecondary level, compared with only 25 percent of males. The transition level gap for the younger generation is even wider where 28 percent of female go on to higher studies compared to merely nine percent of boys. This tremendous improvement of female education is largely due to an organization called BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) which introduced its Non-Formal Primary Education Program (NFPE) in 1985. This program emphasized mainly on the education of girls in rural areas giving them the opportunity to attain higher levels of education by providing flexible learning hours and scholarships depending on educational performances. The program started with 22 experimental schools. Today, the number of schools surpasses 34,000, catering over 1.1 million students where 70 percent of them are girls. BRAC teachers are chosen among the most educated the village. Teachers must have at least nine years of schooling to be employed.
Presently, 97 percent of all teachers are women. Each year, almost 90 per cent of the students who graduate from the BRAC schools go on to the formal schools in higher classes. Additionally, BRAC has also undertaken projects to provide villages with libraries and community centers. The organization offers all this to villagers with funds from foreign countries and by collecting minimal fees from the students to supply them with books and other materials.
BRAC's education program has earned an international reputation and its system of management and teaching methodologies are being replicated in a number of countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. In fact, UNICEF (United Nation's Children Education Fund) has adopted this model of education throughout the world.
Enrolment in higher education: Enrolment into higher education is still quite low. In a country of over 40 million people, the gross enrolment ratio remains around 1%. Whilst the expansion of private higher education enrolment has had a significant impact in boosting access, these universities are relatively small and as of 2005, almost 90% of students were in Public universities and other institutes of higher learning. The Private higher education sector is, however, continually expanding and its proportion of intake can only go up.
• Recommendations
• Give opportunity to raise voice. • The Govt. should build various work sources so that the women can work for their higher education. • Take actions to consolidate a sector-wide system for public expenditure tracking survey in education • Prepare and execute an action plan for the completion of secondary curriculum revision and implementation of revised curriculum • Establish an independent accreditation mechanism for private universities, • Create widely the strategic plan for higher education for women • Establish quality assurance mechanism for public and private colleges and universities • Govt. can give Quota system in public universities of Bangladesh for women. • Take strong steps to stop marriage against women’s will.
• Conclusion:
In conclusion, it must be duly noted that Bangladesh is still one of the poorest countries of the world. However, it has come a long way from being the "International Basket Case". Faced with insurmountable odds, the people of the nation have learned to cope with annual natural disasters. Today, Bangladesh might be poor but the people are proud of their achievement and tenacity towards success.
In fact, it appears that promoting gender equity in education may be one of those few policies that have been termed ‘win-win’ strategies, therefore we should all step forward and destroy the gender gap in every country for our own good.
Gender in Emerging Asia. 1997. Background paper for Asian Development Bank Book
Emerging Asia. Manila: ADB
Dollar, D. and R. Gatti. 1999. Gender Inequality, Income, and Growth: Are Good Times good for
Women Mimeographed. Washington DC: The World Bank.
Oxfam
