Schooling for girls in rural Peru

Compared with other developing countries and regions, Latin America boasts impressive school enrolment figures for both girls and boys. During the 1990s, most countries in the region achieved a high universal enrolment (96.6%) in primary education. Peru follows the regional trend – statistics for the year 2000 show an enrolment of 96.9% in primary education and 85.9% in secondary education. While primary schools have almost equal numbers of boys and girls enrolled (Gender Parity Index level of 0.99), fewer girls are still enrolled at secondary level (GPI level of 0.93).

Despite these achievements, the problem of gender inequality has not been solved and rural women in particular continue to show higher rates of illiteracy and spend fewer years in school. According to national statistics for 1997, in the case of rural girls, 13.5% of 5 to 17 year olds do not have access to school. Thus, despite relatively high levels of enrolment, some rural and indigenous girls are still excluded from education.

Research from 1997, carried out by the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, indicates that equality is far from becoming a reality, even for those girls attending school. Indeed, a study conducted in four rural schools during one school year shows that enrolment does not necessarily lead to completion of primary schooling. There are several barriers preventing girls from staying in school.

At a community and family level:

• There is the need for whole families, including children, in rural villages to work due to high levels of poverty. Girls are involved in tasks that require constant attention, such as housework or grazing the flock. They are generally busier than boys.
• Family events such as sickness or migration by an adult, particularly increase girls’ workloads.
• Girls adopt adult roles because of early marriage and pregnancy. From the age of about 12, their interest in skills associated with married life grows.

Given these domestic commitments, schools fail to attract and retain girls in many ways. Most girls remain in the village and this primary education is the only education available to them. In contrast, boys are more likely to travel outside the village to continue secondary school. The schooling girls receive is of low quality:

• Teachers have very low expectations of girls, since they believe they will drop out anyway because of family demands.
• Teachers encourage stereotypes of gender roles.
• Physical punishment is given to girls as well as threats, mockery and humiliation, making schooling an unpleasant experience.
• Boys tend to tease girls, occupy most of the playground space and laugh at girls’ mistakes in the classroom.
• Teachers do not get involved in children’s conflicts, leaving girls and younger children unprotected and boys unchallenged from teasing and attacks.

In general, learning methods used in rural schools rely on drill and repetition, and learning time is minimal. Teachers are often not completely prepared for their work and lack adequate skills, materials and even knowledge of local indigenous languages.

The school system still needs to attend to several aspects to improve the quality of girls’ education:

• teacher training in gender-sensitive content and methods that encourages the involvement of girls
• adequate materials related to girls’ interests and contexts, so that school might be seen as an appealing option and appropriate learning opportunity.

Patricia Ames
Instituto de Estudios Peruanos
Horacio Urteaga 694
Lima 11
Peru
T +511 3326194
F +511 3326173
pames@iep.org.pe

See also
‘When Access is not enough: educational exclusion of rural girls in Peru’ by P. Ames in: E. Unterhalter and S. Aikman (eds) Beyond access: gender, education and development, forthcoming

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