Does secondary education meet the needs of girls in rural Africa? What is being done to make curricula more relevant to girls and to reduce the excessive focus on examinations? Why have official statements on the shortcomings of curricula and examinations not been translated into policy changes?

A paper from Brunel University, UK, draws on interviews with educational decision-makers in Lesotho and Zimbabwe to identify whether there is scope for reforms to make secondary education more appropriate for girls. It finds that secondary curricula are largely irrelevant to the needs of rural girls and popular gender interventions in recent years have focused on improving girls' performance within a patriarchal model of education.

In Zimbabwe, girls’ enrolment and exam pass rates are considerably lower than among boys. The female proportion of secondary school students has changed little since independence. Despite talk of using education to change the colonial mentality, the colonial education system is relatively intact. Instead, expansion of education has established the power of the post-colonial ruling class.

In Lesotho, in contrast with the rest of Africa, girls outnumber boys in schools and even at university. This is due both to boys’ animal husbandry duties and a gendered labour market which makes employment easier for men with a minimal education. Battles over control of education between churches (who own 90 per cent of schools) and the state have sidelined gender progressive initiatives.

The paper also notes that:

• only minor changes have been made to the content of syllabuses which were originally determined by overseas exam boards
• donors and external non-governmental organisations reinforce educational conservatism by seeking to fit girls into an education system aimed primarily at meeting the needs of (a minority) of boys
• World Bank support for the education of girls is focused on access and ignores curricular change and examination reforms
• girls lost out when structural adjustment led to technical and commercial subjects being dropped from Zimbabwe’s junior certificate
• popular opinion is generally conservative in terms of the type of education it demands.

Pressure for change may grow as it becomes increasingly apparent that secondary education equips only a minority with certificates or useful vocational skills, and as parents become aware they could be wasting money by paying school fees.

If introduced, curricular and examination reforms would address both the specific gender needs of girls and benefit the majority of rural students. The paper calls on education planners to:

• realise that gender issues in education go far beyond concern for numbers and pass rates and must include the type of education provided
• encourage change in conventional notions of division of labour by offering training in domestic skills to both boys and girls
• ensure that curricular innovations such as Lesotho's development studies do more than teach about development, but also encourage participation of both boys and girls on an equal basis.

Source(s):
‘Secondary education reform in Lesotho and Zimbabwe and the needs of rural girls: pronouncements, policy and practice’ by N. Ansell, Comparative Education Volume 38 no 1, 2002 pp 91-112 Full document.

Funded by: Keele University + Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation + Dudley Stamp Memorial Fund

id21 Research Highlight: 12 November 2002

Further Information:
Nicola Ansell
Department of Geography and Earth Sciences
Brunel University
Uxbridge UB8 3PH
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1895 203215
Fax: +44 (0) 1895 203217
Contact the contributor: nicola.ansell@brunel.ac.uk

Brunel University, UK

Other related links:
'Can SWAps tackle gender bias in education?'

'Getting gender onto the policy agenda'

OneWorld's Learning Channel has a section on gender

Search the resources at the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools