Counting gender equality in education - not as easy as 1, 2, 3

As the 2005 deadline approaches for the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) seeking gender equality in education worldwide, we need to map who is doing what and where. According to the Global Campaign for Education’s (GCE) report ‘A Fair Chance’, only half of countries worldwide will meet the target. At the current rate, equal access to schooling in every country in the world will not occur until 2025 at the earliest.

As Figure 2 highlights, sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia are very unlikely to reach the MDG. Only 55% of girls across sub-Saharan Africa are enrolled at primary school. Both regions contain countries with very low rates of female enrolment. However within these regions there are great disparities with neighbouring countries achieving far higher rates. In some countries in Africa, retention rates at school also tend to be very poor: for instance, in Angola just 4% of primary school girls reach Grade 5 (age 10-11).

Measuring the dynamics of education and gender is highly complex and there are problems in assessing progress towards the MDG. Inter-governmental agencies use a variety of methods to measure the numbers of girls in school. In its Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO uses the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER), measuring the proportion of all children in the appropriate age range in primary school (generally between 6-11). It also uses the Gender Parity Index (GPI) in NER (the ratio of females to males), where 1 would indicate parity between boys and girls, a variation between 0 and 1 a disparity in favour of boys, and a GPI greater than 1 a disparity in favour of girls.

However these measures are very limited in scope and reliability. The NER will never be accurate because births are not registered in many countries. In addition, neither the NER nor the GPI offer any insight into the qualitative dimensions of schooling for girls and boys, or how often and for how long girls and boys actually attend school. A country can have a GPI of 1 indicating complete equality between boys and girls, but still have low rates of access, retention and achievement. Data used for international reports is frequently out of date: when measuring progress in 2005, this will often be using figures from 2000-2001 or earlier.

There is an urgent call for a publicly accountable measure of what has been achieved and what still needs to be done. One suggested new mode of measurement is a ‘scorecard’ methodology developed by the UK’s ‘Beyond Access’ project. This aims to offer a broader concept of gender equality in education by addressing not only attendance and retention at primary level, but also by tracking girls’ future progress. So far this methodology has only been applied to countries in Africa, from where it can be seen that countries with histories of war and repressive governments (e.g. Nigeria and Malawi), vast regional inequalities (e.g. Kenya and Ghana) or economies that have been squeezed by structural adjustment (e.g. Zambia and Zimbabwe) face the greatest challenge.

Other alternative measurements to assess gender empowerment through education are being developed. One is the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), which South African education officials are currently considering. This may be easier to carry out in some countries than others, but would essentially aim to focus on the extent to which women can participate and have access to society and its resources. This is measured by calculating women’s and men’s share of parliamentary seats, positions as legislators, senior officials and managers and estimated earned income. UNICEF is also attempting to use more accurate forms of measurement, such as attendance figures from ‘District Household’ surveys instead of relying simply on school registers.

As well as new measurement tools, action needs to be taken on the following points if the MDG is to be met as soon as possible after 2005:

• greater political will and financial resources
• a broader approach to gender equality, also covering adult education and gender relations in wider society
• redefining the MDGs so that health (especially HIV/AIDS), education and gender targets are more closely interlinked
• supporting and broadening best practice examples from local to national level.

Chloe Challender
Gender, Education & Development: Beyond Access
School of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies
Institute of Education, University of London
London WC1H 0AL
UK
T +44 (0) 207 612 6394
c.challender@ioe.ac.uk
www.girlseducation.org (Beyond Access link)

‘Scaling Up Girls’ Education: Towards a Scorecard on Girls’ Education in the Commonwealth’ by E. Unterhalter, et al (2004)
http://k1.ioe.ac.uk/schools/efps/GenderEducDev/ Where%20are%20we%20scaling%20up%20from%20FINAL%20FINAL.pdf

‘A Fair Chance: Attaining Gender Equality in Basic Education by 2005’ Global Campaign for Education (2003)
http://www.campaignforeducation.org/resources/ Apr2003/Fair0403_summary_EN.pdf

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