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The United Nations
Fourth World Conference on Women
Beijing, China - September 1995
Action for Equality, Development and Peace
Education and Training of Women Diagnosis
Education and Training of Women follow-up (Under construction)
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- Education is a human right and an essential
tool for achieving the goals of equality, development and peace.
Non-discriminatory education benefits both girls and boys and thus
ultimately contributes to more equal relationships between women
and men. Equality of access to and attainment of educational
qualifications is necessary if more women are to become agents of
change. Literacy of women is an important key to improving health,
nutrition and education in the family and to empowering women to
participate in decision-making in society. Investing in formal and
non-formal education and training for girls and women, with its
exceptionally high social and economic return, has proved to be one
of the best means of achieving sustainable development and economic
growth that is both sustained and sustainable.
-
On a
regional level, girls and boys have achieved equal access to
primary education, except in some parts of Africa, in particular
sub-Saharan Africa, and Central Asia, where access to education
facilities is still inadequate. Progress has been made in
secondary education, where equal access of girls and boys has been
achieved in some countries. Enrolment of girls and women in
tertiary education has increased considerably. In many countries,
private schools have also played an important complementary role in
improving access to education at all levels. Yet, more than five
years after the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien,
Thailand, 1990) adopted the World Declaration on Education for All
and the Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs, [12] approximately 100 million children, including at least 60 million
girls, are without access to primary schooling and more than two
thirds of the world's 960 million illiterate adults are women. The
high rate of illiteracy prevailing in most developing countries, in
particular in sub-Saharan Africa and some Arab States, remains a
severe impediment to the advancement of women and to development.
-
Discrimination in girls' access to education persists in
many areas, owing to customary attitudes, early marriages and
pregnancies, inadequate and gender-biased teaching and educational
materials, sexual harassment and lack of adequate and physically
and otherwise accessible schooling facilities. Girls undertake
heavy domestic work at a very early age. Girls and young women are
expected to manage both educational and domestic responsibilities,
often resulting in poor scholastic performance and early drop-out
from the educational system. This has long-lasting consequences
for all aspects of women's lives.
-
Creation of an
educational and social environment, in which women and men, girls
and boys, are treated equally and encouraged to achieve their full
potential, respecting their freedom of thought, conscience,
religion and belief, and where educational resources promote
non-stereotyped images of women and men, would be effective in the
elimination of the causes of discrimination against women and
inequalities between women and men.
-
Women should be enabled
to benefit from an ongoing acquisition of knowledge and skills
beyond those acquired during youth. This concept of lifelong
learning includes knowledge and skills gained in formal education
and training, as well as learning that occurs in informal ways,
including volunteer activity, unremunerated work and traditional
knowledge.
-
Curricula and teaching materials remain
gender-biased to a large degree, and are rarely sensitive to the
specific needs of girls and women. This reinforces traditional
female and male roles that deny women opportunities for full and
equal partnership in society. Lack of gender awareness by
educators at all levels strengthens existing inequities between
males and females by reinforcing discriminatory tendencies and
undermining girls' self-esteem. The lack of sexual and
reproductive health education has a profound impact on women and
men.
-
Science curricula in particular are gender-biased.
Science textbooks do not relate to women's and girls' daily
experience and fail to give recognition to women scientists. Girls
are often deprived of basic education in mathematics and science
and technical training, which provide knowledge they could apply to
improve their daily lives and enhance their employment
opportunities. Advanced study in science and technology prepares
women to take an active role in the technological and industrial
development of their countries, thus necessitating a diverse
approach to vocational and technical training. Technology is
rapidly changing the world and has also affected the developing
countries. It is essential that women not only benefit from
technology, but also participate in the process from the design to
the application, monitoring and evaluation stages.
-
Access
for and retention of girls and women at all levels of education,
including the higher level, and all academic areas is one of the
factors of their continued progress in professional activities.
Nevertheless, it can be noted that girls are still concentrated in a limited number of fields of study.
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The mass media are a
powerful means of education. As an educational tool the mass media
can be an instrument for educators and governmental and non-governmental institutions for the advancement of women and for development. Computerized education and information systems are
increasingly becoming an important element in learning and the
dissemination of knowledge. Television especially has the greatest
impact on young people and, as such, has the ability to shape
values, attitudes and perceptions of women and girls in both
positive and negative ways. It is therefore essential that
educators teach critical judgement and analytical skills.
-
Resources allocated to education, particularly for girls and
women, are in many countries insufficient and in some cases have been further diminished, including in the context of adjustment policies and programmes. Such insufficient resource allocations
have a long-term adverse effect on human development, particularly on the development of women.
-
In addressing unequal access
to and inadequate educational opportunities, Governments and other actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes, so that,
before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the effects on women and men, respectively.
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Strategic objective B.1.
Ensure equal access to education
Actions to be
taken
- Advance the goal of equal access to education by taking
measures to eliminate discrimination in education at all
levels on the basis of gender, race, language, religion,
national origin, age or disability, or any other form of
discrimination and, as appropriate, consider establishing
procedures to address grievances;
-
By the year 2000, provide
universal access to basic education and ensure completion
of primary education by at least 80 per cent of primary
school-age children; close the gender gap in primary and
secondary school education by the year 2005; provide universal
primary education in all countries before the year 2015;
-
Eliminate gender disparities in access to all areas of tertiary
education by ensuring that women have equal access to
career development, training, scholarships and
fellowships, and by adopting positive action when
appropriate;
-
Create a gender-sensitive educational system
in order to ensure equal educational and training
opportunities and full and equal participation of women in
educational administration and policy- and
decision-making;
-
Provide - in collaboration with parents,
non-governmental organizations, including youth
organizations, communities and the private sector - young
women with academic and technical training, career
planning, leadership and social skills and work experience to
prepare them to participate fully in society;
-
Increase
enrolment and retention rates of girls by allocating
appropriate budgetary resources; by enlisting the support of
parents and the community, as well as through campaigns,
flexible school schedules, incentives, scholarships and
other means to minimize the costs of girls' education to
their families and to facilitate parents' ability to
choose education for the girl child; and by ensuring that
the rights of women and girls to freedom of conscience and
religion are respected in educational institutions through
repealing any discriminatory laws or legislation based on
religion, race or culture;
-
Promote an educational
setting that eliminates all barriers that impeded the
schooling of pregnant adolescents and young mothers,
including, as appropriate, affordable and physically accessible
child-care facilities and parental education to encourage those who are responsible for the care of their children
and siblings during their school years, to return to or
continue with and complete schooling;
-
Improve the
quality of education and equal opportunities for women and
men in terms of access in order to ensure that women of all ages can acquire the knowledge, capacities, aptitudes, skills and
ethical values needed to develop and to participate fully
under equal conditions in the process of social, economic
and political development;
-
Make available
non-discriminatory and gender-sensitive professional
school counselling and career education programmes to encourage
girls to pursue academic and technical curricula in order to widen their future career opportunities;
-
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Strategic objective B.2.
Eradicate illiteracy among women
Actions to be taken
- By Governments, national, regional and international
bodies, bilateral and multilateral donors and non-governmental
organizations:
-
Reduce the female illiteracy
rate to at least half its 1990 level, with emphasis on
rural women, migrant, refugee and internally displaced
women and women with disabilities;
-
provide universal access
to, and seek to ensure gender equality in the completion
of, primary education for girls by the year 2000;
-
Eliminate
the gender gap in basic and functional literacy, as
recommended in the World Declaration on Education for All
(Jomtien);
-
Narrow the disparities between developed and
developing countries;
-
Encourage adult and family engagement
in learning to promote total literacy for all people;
-
Promote, together with literacy, life skills and scientific and
technological knowledge and work towards an expansion of
the definition of literacy, taking into account current
targets and benchmarks.
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Strategic objective B.3.
Improve women's access to vocational training,
science and technology, and continuing education
Actions to be
taken
- By Governments, in cooperation with
employers, workers and trade unions, international and
non-governmental organizations, including women's and youth
organizations, and educational institutions:
- Develop and implement education, training and retraining
policies for women, especially young women and women
re-entering the labour market, to provide skills to meet
the needs of a changing socio- economic context for
improving their employment opportunities;
-
Provide
recognition to non-formal educational opportunities for
girls and women in the educational system;
-
Provide
information to women and girls on the availability and
benefits of vocational training, training programmes in science and
technology and programmes of continuing education;
-
Design educational and training programmes for women who are
unemployed in order to provide them with new knowledge and
skills that will enhance and broaden their employment
opportunities, including self-employment, and development
of their entrepreneurial skills;
-
Diversify
vocational and technical training and improve access for
and retention of girls and women in education and vocational
training in such fields as science, mathematics, engineering,
environmental sciences and technology, information
technology and high technology, as well as management
training;
-
Promote women's central role in food and
agricultural research, extension and education programmes;
-
Encourage the adaptation of curricula and teaching
materials, encourage a supportive training environment and
take positive measures to promote training for the full
range of occupational choices of non-traditional careers
for women and men, including the development of multidisciplinary courses for science and mathematics
teachers to sensitize them to the relevance of science and
technology to women's lives;
-
Develop curricula and
teaching materials and formulate and take positive
measures to ensure women better access to and participation in technical and scientific areas, especially areas where they
are not represented or are underrepresented;
-
Develop policies and programmes to encourage women to
participate in all apprenticeship programmes;
-
Increase training in technical, managerial, agricultural
extension and marketing areas for women in agriculture, fisheries, industry and business, arts and crafts, to increase income-generating opportunities, women's
participation in economic decision-making, in particular
through women's organizations at the grass-roots level,
and their contribution to production, marketing, business, and science and technology;
-
Ensure access to quality
education and training at all appropriate levels for adult women with little or no education, for women with disabilities and for documented migrant, refugee and displaced women to improve their work opportunities.
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Strategic objective B.4.
Develop non-discriminatory
education and training
Actions to be taken
- By Governments, educational authorities and other
educational and academic institutions:
- Elaborate recommendations and develop curricula, textbooks and
teaching aids free of gender-based stereotypes for all
levels of education, including teacher training, in
association with all concerned - publishers, teachers,
public authorities and parents' associations;
- Develop
training programmes and materials for teachers and educators
that raise awareness about the status, role and contribution of
women and men in the family, as defined in paragraph 29
above, and society; in this context, promote equality,
cooperation, mutual respect and shared responsibilities
between girls and boys from pre- school level onward and
develop, in particular, educational modules to ensure that
boys have the skills necessary to take care of their own
domestic needs and to share responsibility for their household
and for the care of dependants;
- Develop training
programmes and materials for teachers and educators that
raise awareness of their own role in the educational process,
with a view to providing them with effective strategies for
gender- sensitive teaching;
-
Take actions to ensure
that female teachers and professors have the same
opportunities as and equal status with male teachers and
professors, in view of the importance of having female teachers at
all levels and in order to attract girls to school and
retain them in school;
-
Iintroduce and promote
training in peaceful conflict resolution;
-
Take positive
measures to increase the proportion of women gaining
access to educational policy- and decision-making, particularly
women teachers at all levels of education and in academic
disciplines that are traditionally male-dominated, such as
the scientific and technological fields;
-
Support
and develop gender studies and research at all levels of
education, especially at the postgraduate level of academic
institutions, and apply them in the development of curricula,
including university curricula, textbooks and teaching aids,
and in teacher training;
-
Develop leadership
training and opportunities for all women to encourage them
to take leadership roles both as students and as adults in
civil society;
-
Develop appropriate education and
information programmes with due respect for
multilingualism, particularly in conjunction with the mass
media, that make the public, particularly parents, aware of the
importance of non-discriminatory education for children and the equal sharing of family responsibilities by girls and boys;
-
Develop human rights education programmes that
incorporate the gender dimension at all levels of
education, in particular by encouraging higher education institutions, especially in their graduate and
postgraduate juridical, social and political science
curricula, to include the study of the human rights of women as
they appear in United Nations conventions;
-
Remove
legal, regulatory and social barriers, where appropriate, to
sexual and reproductive health education within formal education
programmes regarding women's health issues;
-
Encourage, with the guidance and support of their parents and
in cooperation with educational staff and institutions, the elaboration of educational programmes for girls and boys and the creation of integrated services in order to
raise awareness of their responsibilities and to help them
to assume those responsibilities, taking into account the
importance of such education and services to personal
development and self-esteem, as well as the urgent need to
avoid unwanted pregnancy, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, and such phenomena as sexual violence and abuse;
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Provide accessible
recreational and sports facilities and establish and strengthen gender-sensitive programmes for girls and women of all ages in education and community institutions and support
the advancement of women in all areas of athletics and
physical activity, including coaching, training and
administration, and as participants at the national, regional and international levels;
-
Recognize and support
the right of indigenous women and girls to education and promote a multicultural approach to education that is responsive to the needs, aspirations and cultures of indigenous
women, including by developing appropriate education
programmes, curricula and teaching aids, to the extent
possible in the languages of indigenous people, and by providing for the participation of indigenous women in these processes;
-
Acknowledge and respect the artistic,
spiritual and cultural activities of indigenous women;
-
Ensure that gender equality and cultural, religious and other
diversity are respected in educational institutions;
-
Promote education, training and relevant information programmes
for rural and farming women through the use of affordable and appropriate technologies and the mass media - for example, radio programmes, cassettes and mobile units;
-
Provide non-formal education, especially for rural women, in
order to realize their potential with regard to health, micro-enterprise, agriculture and legal rights;
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Remove all barriers to access to formal education for pregnant
adolescents and young mothers, and support the provision of child care and other support services where necessary.
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Strategic objective B.5.
Allocate
sufficient resources for and monitor the implementation of
educational reforms
Actions to be taken
- Provide the required
budgetary resources to the educational sector, with
reallocation within the educational sector to ensure increased
funds for basic education, as appropriate;
-
Establish
a mechanism at appropriate levels to monitor the
implementation of educational reforms and measures in relevant
ministries, and establish technical assistance programmes, as
appropriate, to address issues raised by the monitoring
efforts.
- By Governments and, as
appropriate, private and public institutions, foundations, research
institutes and non-governmental organizations:
- When necessary, mobilize additional funds from private and
public institutions, foundations, research institutes and
non-governmental organizations to enable girls and women,
as well as boys and men on an equal basis, to complete
their education, with particular emphasis on under-served
populations;
-
Provide funding for special programmes, such
as programmes in mathematics, science and computer
technology, to advance opportunities for all girls and
women.
- By multilateral development
institutions, including the World Bank, regional development banks,
bilateral donors and foundations:
- Consider
increasing funding for the education and training needs of
girls and women as a priority in development assistance
programmes;
-
Consider working with recipient Governments to
ensure that funding for women's education is maintained or
increased in structural adjustment and economic recovery
programmes, including lending and stabilization
programmes.
- By international and
intergovernmental organizations, especially the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, at the global
level:
- Contribute to the evaluation of progress
achieved, using educational indicators generated by
national, regional and international bodies, and urge
Governments, in implementing measures, to eliminate
differences between women and men and boys and girls with regard to
opportunities in education and training and the levels
achieved in all fields, particularly in primary and
literacy programmes;
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Provide technical assistance upon
request to developing countries to strengthen the capacity
to monitor progress in closing the gap between women and
men in education, training and research, and in levels of
achievement in all fields, particularly basic education
and the elimination of illiteracy;
-
Conduct an international
campaign promoting the right of women and girls to
education;
-
Allocate a substantial percentage of their
resources to basic education for women and girls.
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Strategic objective B.6.
Promote
life-long education and training for girls and women
Actions to
be taken
-
By Governments, educational
institutions and communities:
-
Ensure the
availability of a broad range of educational and training
programmes that lead to ongoing acquisition by women and girls of
the knowledge and skills required for living in,
contributing to and benefiting from their communities and
nations;
-
Provide support for child care and other services
to enable mothers to continue their schooling;
-
Create flexible education, training and retraining programmes
for life-long learning that facilitate transitions between
women's activities at all stages of their lives.
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