|
|
|
March 1999 Insights Issue #29
Back to Insights #29
Getting gender onto the policy agenda
How far has knowledge about causes of gender disparities in education
been incorporated into the design or reform of government and donor
policies? And how have political and bureaucratic constraints affected
specific reform measures? University of Sussex research in Malawi,
Tanzania and Zimbabwe tracked and compared steps taken by governments,
donor agencies and NGOs to tackle gender inequalities in the education
system.
Bilateral agencies DFID (the UK Department of State for International
Development) and Sweden's international development agency, Sida, came
under scrutiny in the study, together with the UN specialised agency
Unicef. In each case the researchers asked:
- On what knowledge of gender and education was design of policies
or projects based?
- How - if at all - was this knowledge built into the policymaking
process?
- How have lessons from past efforts been built into subsequent
actions?
- What constituencies and alliances in and outside each country have
supported gender equality in education?
Despite efforts by governments to improve overall access of children
to schooling, educational outcomes for girls continue to be poor in all
three countries, and more so at post-primary levels. The study shows
that better knowledge and information about gender inequalities in
education is useful but will not guarantee effective gender
interventions.
In the past, gender interventions have often been introduced in a
piecemeal and uncoordinated manner. Bureaucratic resistance and lack of
meaningful dialogue between donors and governments has limited effective
action. Other findings were:
- Gender initiatives in education are mainly 'donor driven' and
often over-reliant on key individuals.
- Predominance of male policy-makers and the weakness of women's
ministries and gender units within government inhibits progress
towards gender equality.
- Structural adjustment and resulting cuts in social provision act
as a brake on girls' education.
- The current donor focus on basic education ignores the glaring
disadvantages faced by girls at post-primary levels.
- Unless prioritised at an early stage, gender issues could be lost
in the current donor shift from project to programme aid.
Policy points arising from these findings were:
- Donors, governments and NGOs should work more closely together to
develop and apply new measures to promote gender equality at every
level.
- Donors and governments should ensure wider dissemination of
existing research and information concerning gender and education.
- Gender interventions in education should be placed in the context
of a national gender policy.
- Greater transparency in policy design and implementation is
needed, along with the greater use of participatory methods.
More generally, gender interventions in education in Malawi, Tanzania
and Zimbabwe are unlikely to be effective and sustainable unless they
form part of broad packages of social and political reform.
Contributor(s): Nicola Swainson
Further information:
Nicola Swainson
60 Rugby Road
Brighton BN1 6ED
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1273 503259
Email: swainson@bennell.u-net.com |
|
| FREE Information Delivery services from
ID21: |
 |
| ID21 is enabled by the UK
Government Department for International Development(www.dfid.gov.uk) and hosted by the
Institute of Development Studies (www.ids.ac.uk/ids), at the University of
Sussex, UK. Charitable Company No. 877338. ID21 is a oneworld.net (www.oneworld.org) partner and a mediachannel
affiliate (www.mediachannel.org). |
|
