Beijing
Platform of Action
12 critical areas
ASSESSING WOMEN & EDUCATION
(followed...)
10. Case studies
In evaluating implementation of the Programme, the experiences of such countries as Algeria, Liberia, Senegal, Rwanda, U anda ( given below) were used to illustrate countries efforts and determination as well as to encourage other countries.
ALGERIA
The case study on Algerian was important in view of the efforts made by this country in favour of women in its human resources development initiatives and in view of the context in which these women live. In fact, for almost 10 years now, Algeria has been under civil unrest and pressure from armed roups operating throughout the country. This situation hampers the education of girls and women which had been positively improved from its previous status ( below the continent s average) .
Education
In April 1976 a decree was promulgated in Algeria making education free and compulsory. The enrolment of girls stood at 90.61 per cent for a school- age population of 92.85 per cent. Although, there are numerous school dropouts in the rural areas among girls a ed 10- 13 years, girls do as well as boys in the primary school leaving examinations. The ratio of girls enroled in primary schools is almost equal to that of boys, while in secondary schools, the percenta e of girls is higher than that of boys.
Literacy
Educational associations, particularly of parents, were encouraged to send young girls who have passed the school- age to school and to help women to enrol in literacy centres. These activities are complementary to the literacy programmes of the National Literacy Office set up in 1964.
Some Statistics
( a) Education is allocated 25 per cent of the country s budget, which makes the sector the country s first priority;
( b) Girls account for 46.5 per cent ( 2,2000,000) of pupils in the rural areas and 53.7 per cent of students in high schools;
( c) Women account for 45 per cent of the staff in the middle schools;
( d) Girls were awarded 47 per cent of the scholarships available at various levels of education, that is 76,179 out of 162,078 scholarships;
( e) There are about 561,311 primary schools which provide food for pupils;
( f) In 1997, 58,826 pupils received enhanced distant primary and secondary education;
( g) There are 1,875 centres and 48 literacy establishments spread around the country, in which 49,000 women a ed 15- 60 years were enroled.
Sensitization, family planning and a ricultural extension activities are basically carried out through literacy programmes. However, the overall level of illiteracy among women is still a course for concern as about 33.4 per cent ( 4 million) of women a ed 16 years and above are illiterate.
The majority of these women are elderly and did not o to school during the colonial period.
The proportion of girls in higher education is 42.2 per cent ( 86.6 per cent in the long stream, as a ainst 13.4 per cent in the short stream) .
Finally, the class- repeating or school- dropping- out ratios was four points lower for girls than for boys throughout the school cycle.
Box 3 : Retaining girls in school and improving their success rates
Algeria has succeeded in keeping girls in school and in improving their success rate in examinations through a multi- disciplinary approach.Various national actors such as the Ministry of Education; the Ministry for National Solidarity and Family Affairs; the Ministry of Internal Affairs and local communities and social and humanitarian associations have evised improved measures for keeping girls at school and for increasing their success rate in examinations. Prominent among these measures are:
( a) The opening of school canteens and of boarding schools to help economically poor families in keeping their daughters in school, thus overcoming the stumbling block of distance to school which parents cite to justify preventing their children from attending school;
( b) Awarding scholarships for the purchase of school supplies for formal schooling; ( c) The establishment of health care units comprising teams from various units to intervene in case of any illnesses and other problems that could jeopardize a child s evelopment in school;
( d) Provision of school buses;
( e) Provision of free textbooks for poor families, to encourage girls in the family to go to school.This approach has increased the success rate of girls in examinations, to the extent that:
( a) The number of girls who passed to primary 6 was 272,804 out of 565,079 pupils, that is 48.2 per cent;
( b) The number of girls who passed the primary school certificate examination was 115,519 out of 217,287 pupils, that is 53.1 per cent;
( c) The number of girls who passed the entrance examination to secondary schools was 138,293 out of 259,254 pupils, that is 53.7 per cent;
( d) The number of girls who passed the secondary school certificate ( baccalauréat ) examination was 45,124 out of 78,000 students, that is 57 per cent; and
( e) Girls accounted for 51.5 per cent of students enroled in the applied sciences.
In 1997, young girls accounted for 51 per cent of enrolment in vocational training establishments and 28 per cent of the total number of trainees in teacher- training establishments. The increase in the percenta e of girls ( 51 per cent in 1997 as compared to 49 per cent in 1995) was the result of specific actions taken in this re ard. The percenta es in areas not usually considered women s activities were as follows
Furthermore, an increasing number of girls are pursuing postgraduate studies. Female raduates with higher education diplomas and de rees account for 38.5 per cent of the total. The ratio of female raduates with employment is 17.1 per cent as a ainst 16.3 per cent male raduates, but 65.1 percent of job- seekers are women.
TUNISIATunisia is one of the rare Muslim countries to have adopted a forward- looking policy for women by promulgating, at independence in 1956, a modern personnel status code which ave many rights to women as wives and mothers and led to a regular review of the country s laws with a view to achieving effective equality between men and women. Tunisia has also taken reat steps to secure women s advancement in various fields. Furthermore, it has always devoted a quarter of its budget to education. The indicators of the educational system shows some of the progress achieved.
Legal measures taken to secure equal access to education
Article 1, paragraph 2 of the law on education enacted on 29 July 1991 stipulates that students should be prepared for a life that disallows any form of discrimination or se regation based on sex, social origin, race or religion. Article 7 makes education compulsory for all children of both sexes a ed 6- 16 years whereby any one who does not register her/ his child in school or who withdraws her/ his child from school before the a e of 16 is subject to a fine. This measure aims to stop premature abandonment of school by young girls in the rural areas.
At the primary school level, the gap that existed a few years a o be- tween girls and boys has been closed.
Girls pursue their higher education up to university level without any discrimination. They are even provided with accommodation. Female illiteracy is declining as a result of the implementation of a national programme started in 1993/ 1994 for girls and women a ed 15- 44 years.
Graduates with professional training in the industrial and service sectors
The law governing professional training and employment provides for professional guidance to assist all young and adult members of both sexes to wisely choose a profession that suits their motivation, ability and interest, as well as the requisite subjects.
Much effort has been made in this re ard. In fact, an increasing number of girls are now being trained in diverse areas and are having access to skills training subjects where they are given equal opportunities with boys. They are becoming increasingly attracted to training in new technologies.
Box 4 : Tunisia has increased girls enrolment in science establishments
To encourage and orient young girls towards science and technolo y, Tunisia has taken various measures, including:( a) The establishment of a body of guidance counsellors In 1995;
( b) The setting up of a unit in the Ministry of Education to follow up on the orientation;
( c) The establishment of an economic and mana ement section to reduce the huge number of girls moving to Arts subjects;
( d) Awareness- creation campaigns carried out by the research, survey and documentation Centre on women ( CREDIF) and women s associations.Data on this show that during the period 1994/ 95- 1998/ 1999:
( a) The proportion of girls in the Arts decreased from 43.8 per cent to 37.3 per cent;
( b) Girls involvement in the applied sciences increased from 22 per cent to 24.8 per cent;
( c) In technical subjects, their involvement increased from 4.3 per cent to 4.5 per cent;
( d) The proportion of girls enrolled in economics and mana ement was slightly higher than that of boys - 17.6 per cent as a ainst 17.3 per cent.The overall percenta e of girls attending public schools rose from 19.4 per cent in 1994 to 31.5 per cent in 1997.
In 1992, a renewed effort made by training centres for young girls in rural areas made it possible to improve the skills of girls, especially those trained in business and enterpreneurship. For continuing education programmes, 18.8 per cent of the beneficiaries are women.
With re ard to career or anization, CREDIF provides three types of training:
( a) Training sessions for women executives in the private and public sectors on information and mana ement for better professional advancement. During these sessions, participants design a framework for analysis/ diagnosis to enable them to carry out activities based on overall strategies that would give them a decisive and lasting advanta e;
( b) Monthly meetings known as the cercles du CREDIF to bring to ether participants of the training sessions for women executives to discuss a chosen theme with an expert;
( c) Training sessions on occupational psycholo y and human resources management for mixed audiences, similar to the training for women executives.
SENEGAL
Classified as a low- income country, Senegal has seriously engaged in structural adjustment programmes the results of which have been severe budgetary cuts and State disengagement from the social sectors.
Sene al has been building its educational infrastructure since independence, but in spite of the efforts made in this area, its human development indicators reveal several inadequacies ( Action Plan for women, 1997- 2001) . In 1995, more than two- thirds of the population were illiterate, and about 78 per cent of these are women.
The gross school enrolment ratio for girls was 46 per cent in 1996. In 1994, 20 of the 30 districts in the country reportedly had a low ratio of girls enrolment. Being an ur ent issue, education is one of the five priorities of Senegal s national plan for women. The country has a Decade Programme for education and training, of which the primary education aspect has been finalized. This programme which covers the period 1998- 2007 aims at rectifying the ender and eo raphical aps, and finally at attaining education for all ( girls and boys) in accordance with the stipulations of the World Summit on children.
As a result of the strategies and measures established, progress has been made in this area, but more effort is still required in order to achieve education for all school- age girls and to eradicate women s illiteracy.
In the formal education system: considerable efforts have been made to remove ender inequalities and to increase the ratio of girls enrolment at all levels of education. The number of pre- school establishments has increased considerably, with the ratio of girls school attendance very significant, as shown in the table below:
In order to meet the increasing demand in the sector, community day nursery schools have been established in rural and urban areas, helping to increase school enrolment, particularly of little girls. In 1997, 152 day nursery schools, initiated by the Ministry responsible for family affairs through PAGF and funded by the African Development Bank and the Nordic Development Fund made it possible to enrol 4,208 children, of which 2,112 were girls and 2,096 boys.
As for primary schools: the number of establishments rose from 3,051 in 1995/ 6 to 3,884 in 1998, and 379 of these establishments were private. In 1998/ 1999 this figure was 4,256, of which 389 were private establishments. It is important to note that efforts were made to decentralize the school network in this regard. Out of the 17,550 classes in the country, 8,818 were in the rural areas as a ainst 8,712 in the urban areas. In 1998/ 1999 the number of classes rose to 19,404 , of which 57 per cent were in the urban areas.
The gross enrolment ratio: has been increasing since 1995, reaching 65.5 per cent in 1988/ 1999, as compared to 54 per cent in 1993. This increase was, however, marked by a ross enrolment ratio for girls that ained 2.6 points a year from 1996/ 1997- 1997/ 1998 while that for boys only ained 1.4 points. The school attendance ratio for girls increased as follows since 1996:
At the middle level secondary and technical schools: the percenta e of girls enroled did not change significantly. While the number of establishments increased, the number of girls did not; it even declined at the technical school level in 1997/ 1998.
The number of students enroled in the middle schools was 172,469, of which 39.7 per cent were girls. In 1997/ 1998, the number of students increased by 10.7 per cent. In 1998/ 1999 the ratio of enrolment in middle schools was 21.82 per cent, as a ainst 20.6 per cent in 1997/ 1998. The enrolment ratio for boys became 27.2 per cent while that for girls was only 16.82 per cent. There were 29 middle- level science and technolo y establishments in 1997/ 1998 with 7,332 students, of which 2,657 were girls. The slow progress made in these schools can be attributed to lack of support measures, absence of information and sensitization campaigns and inadequate social mobilization on the part of the policy makers concerned.
For non- formal education: the actions taken by the technical Ministries and the Ministry responsible for family affairs through special projects resulted in a considerable decline in the illiteracy level, from 78.2 per cent in 1995 to 64.3 per cent in 1998. The inte rated approach developed for women s training and supervision and the valuable contribution made by NGOs were decisive in achieving these results.
LIBERIA
Liberia only recently emer ed from a devastating civil war symptomatic of the situation in many African countries during the 1990s. The scenes of thousands of hungry, ill and traumatized people ( the majority of whom women and children) fleeing conflict areas in one African country to another African country were unfortunately commonplace during the past decade. This situation which has been widely reported in the media shows that there can be no development on the continent without peace and social justice. The absence of education for democracy and peace is very noticeable and partly explains the reasons for war and justifies the need to strengthen peace- building through education and democracy. A review of education in Liberia reveals the following:
In 1988/ 1989, Liberia had 1,636 schools in operation with 9,555 teachers and 276,320 pupils enrolled. In 1994, only 398 schools were in operation with 75,000 students and 2,900 teachers. The schools were dama ed with the roofs, doors, windows pillaged and all the electrical and sanitary installations as well invaluable archives and infrastructure destroyed. The war is estimated to have damaged 40 per cent of what used to be the country s educational value before the war.
UNHCR, which made efforts to ensure minimum educational continuity in the Liberian refugee camps was unable to maintain an adequate standard of education due to limited resources. UNHCR provided only $ US 0.17 a day for a refugee in Africa, as a ainst $ US 1.17 a day in Kosovo) . Understandably, Liberia has iven first priority to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure, reinte ration and national reconciliation.
UGANDA
After its civil war and the resultant economic decline, Uganda acknowledged the need to develop education as a powerful means of transforming the society. Democratization of education was seen as necessary for the moral, intellectual, ideological, cultural and social development of the people and for achieving the national objectives of unity, democracy, economic development and security for all the citizens.
With re ard to the implementation of the Dakar Platform and Beijing Programme, the National Curriculum Development Centre is currently revising the primary school curriculum include the ender approach. The level of professional studies in which many women are involved ( the hotel industry, secretarial work, midwifery, nursing and catering) has been raised to improve the status of women s careers. Furthermore, teaching materials have been revised at all levels to remove the discriminatory stereotypes.
The Ministry of Education and Sports has incorporated ender issues, especially in mathematics, science and technology in the In- Service Secondary Teacher Education Project ( INSTEP) . Such NGOs as FAWE and WETSU ( Women Engineers, Technicians and Researchers of Uganda are providing professional guidance and educational counselling for girls. The Promotion of Girls Education ( PGE) project is being implementation in 15 districts of the country to encourage girls to remain in school, to improve the school environment and to sensitize communities to the importance of girls education. The Government of U anda is planning to provide free primary education for all children in Uganda by the year 2003. Already, it has awarded scholarships to four children per family and to all orphans, giving special attention to girls.
From 1995 to 1998, the number of children in school rose from 2.4 million to 5.3 million with girls accounting for 47 per cent of the total.
Alternative basic education programmes such as the Complementary Opportunity Education ( COPE) and the Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja ( ABEK) have been established in an effort to provide flexible education programmes for people who dropped out of school or who did not have the opportunity of attending formal schools. ABEK enables people to have the basic education they missed as a result of their nomadic life, especially in the north- eastern part of the country, in the Karamoja region. The majority of the children being trained through ABEK, in the two districts, are girls. They account for 67 per cent of the 6,500 pupils involved.
At the tertiary level, the Government has developed a system of adding points to candidates in order to increase the number of students entering State universities. This system actually increased the attendance ratio in these establishments to 35 per cent in 1995. The strategic education investment plan ( 1997- 2003) focuses on the establishment of community polytechnics in the country s subregions to provide vocational training for children leaving primary school.
Currently, there are post- primary and post- secondary vocational institutions all around the country. They admit girls and boys unable to proceed to the tertiary level of education. With re ard to adult literacy, the Functional Adult Literacy Programme for Communities had expanded from the 8 districts covered in 1995 to 26 districts by 1998. The number of adults enroled in this programme is 93,274, of which 80 per cent are women.
RWANDA
In countries in post- war situations, new educational needs inevitably arise. In fact, for those emerging from wars of liberation, their entire educational system must be rethought and redesigned. While for those emerging from civil wars their physical school infrastructure needs to be rebuilt where it has be pillaged or dama ed by lack of maintenance.
In Rwanda, classes opened and the entire education system became operational a ain in 1996. Thus, 1,880 primary schools opened with 1,017,468 pupils, 49 percent of whom were girls.
The school enrolment breakdown is as follows:
According to above table, the ap between the ratio of school enrolment of boys and girls in primary and secondary schools in Rwanda is insignificant. Moreover, Rwanda has formulated a new educational policy, mobilized resources, reformed its programmes and established new training institutions, particularly at the higher and technical levels. Rwanda has also ratified the International A reement on economic, social and cultural rights.
However, Rwanda s country report shows a major ap between the ratios of boys and girls enroled at the tertiary level of education, particularly in some technical pathways and fields traditionally reserved for men.
The school abandonment receded, but remains alarming, as it is still about 20 per cent, and mostly concerns girls, owing to the socio- economic difficulties of families. However, efforts are being made to provide financial and material assistance to students who survived the enocide.
In order to eradicate illiteracy, 50 community development and vocational training centres ( CCDFP) have been rehabilitated, 150 literacy teachers trained and 3.5 per cent of the national education budget allocated to literacy programmes.
Breakdown of enrolment in technical institutions by sex:
As can be seen from the above table, the development of technical education in Rwanda is encouraging given the circumstances under which women live in that country. As regards higher education, 33.3 per cent of the students of the University of Rwanda are women. This percenta e has increased with the new opportunities brought by the recent establishment of new higher institutes such as the Kigali Health Institute which, in the 1998/ 1999 session, had 58 girls or 42 per cent of the 138 students enroled there.
Girls account for 10.3 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively, of the students in the Institute of A riculture and Animal Husbandry and the Kigali Institute of Education. The ratio of girls at the Institute of Public Finance fell from 27.6 per cent during the 1995/ 1996 academic year to 24.3 per cent the following year, only to rise a ain to 32.7 per cent, and is currently 45.7 per cent. Some private universities have been established in Rwanda especially in Kigali, thus preventing women from having to travel to Butare, 135 km from Kigali to pursue university studies. Evening classes are being or anized to enable women to continue their studies outside their daily activities. Out of the 1,730 persons attending evening classes, 792 are women.
Incentives for Higher Education
Young girls and women desirous and capable of pursuing postgraduate reseach and doctoral studies are no longer compelled to work for a given number of years as raduate assistants. This compensates for the pressing need to et married before being considered old maids and often refused implicitly or explicitly by husbands. Young mothers oing to continue postgraduate studies abroad are allowed to take along one under- a ed child.
The National Scholarship Commission has a permanent member of FAWE as one of its members to ensure compliance with the equity principles in the award of scholarships. For example, out of the 424 Rwandan students currently holding scholarships in India for training in engineering, 91 are girls, that is 21.4 per cent. Parity has not yet been attained for lack of female candidates. Finally, Rwanda has opened schools for gifted girls and has instituted the Agatha Uwilingiyimana Prize to promote girls education.
11. Situation analysis
The present review has proven that, in spite of the setbacks and delays in the implementation in some countries, progress has been made in the education of girls and women in Africa since the Dakar and Beijing Conferences. The current situation calls for some observations, which follow.
Preliminary Remarks
On the commitments made by overnments: it had not been possible to formulate national plans of action immediately after the Beijing Conference since that required thorough evaluation of the situation, using adequate data collection and processing methods for comparisons.
The delay in sending country reports ( only eight reports were received as of 20 July 1999) left no time for an exhaustive assessment of the current situation or for analysis of continental trends in the work. The absence of recent data has compelled us to limit our interpretation of the trends to the geometrical estimates of UNESCO on ross and net ratios of school enrolment and women s illiteracy.
Countries seemed to have prepared their initial list of strategies and objectives with neither an order of priority, an implementation timetable nor an assessment of the implementation costs. Although the majority of African countries had identified the education of girls and women as one of their priorities in view of its impact on other development indicators, few major positive and sustainable programmes have been implemented to reverse the ratio of illiteracy on the continent. Many programmes are half- baked and based on the project approach of short duration and small budget principle. The result is neither a substantial reduction in the ap between the ratios of illiteracy and school enrolment between men and women, nor an improvement of the quality of education vis- à- vis the needs and specific conditions of women and girls.
Moreover, at the institutional level, few are the African countries ( like Tunisia and South Africa) that have taken le al steps to make education compulsory. The literacy programmes established by many African countries need to ensure that the content and range of education and training activities also include the know- how, attitudes and behaviours needed by women to live and work in their context and to improve the quality of their lives. Indeed, the effectiveness of the educational actions taken in the non- formal sector cannot be assessed only by the instrumental knowledge ained, that is, the ability to read, write and calculate, but also, and perhaps more importantly, by the change in behaviours and attitudes and the impact on health, employment, productivity and quality of life in eneral. In addition to the unschooled, illiterate and drop- out adults, the tar et cate ories should be children and young people needing to be provided basic non- formal education.
African countries have not given sufficient importance to the education of infants. Currently, in Africa, more than one- fifth of infants of pre school a e are not in nursery schools, although 75 per cent of the child s intellectual ability is already in place at the a e of four which is the most favourable time to inculcate in children the fundamental notions of equity between boys and girls. Early schooling helps to bring about equal opportunities as it helps to overcome the initial handicaps of poverty and ender.
Low cost community services could be established for the development of the child. Infant education could also be inte rated into the community education programmes designed for parents, given that pre- school education establishments are expensive and are available only to the privile ed.
International comparisons of economic performances have underscored the role of human resources and therefore of the importance of countries investing in education for economic productivity. The link between the rate of technical progress made and the quality of human input has become evident, just as is the need to train technicians in the use of new technologies and endow them with the capacity for innovation. As new skills are required, the educational system must address this need not only by ensuring that the necessary years of schooling and professional training are provided, but also that high- level researchers, inventors and technicians are trained.
Furthermore, efforts to meet the educational, training, science and technolo y needs of women should not be limited to investing in basic education as is currently the case. A broader approach is required so as to move beyond the facilities currently in operation, the institutional structures, the educational programmes and the classical systems of training; this by utilizing the best of the current practices.
It is important to note that since the Ministry of Education and the Ministry responsible for women s affairs are enerally different, projects for women and girls education are by themselves national programmes, and should incorporate the specific needs of girls.
The non- coordination of the efforts of institutions working in the educational sector leads to attrition which is harmful to the effectiveness and relevance of actions taken. The nonexistence of coordinated data on the critical areas of the world programme or the inadequacies in the data collection systems testify to this fact. The many different reasons for this can be found in the internal and external circumstances of each country.
Most African countries lack the infrastructure for new information and communication technologies. They require the assistance of the international community to bridge the gap.
Finally, one point which deserves to be made is that, for various reasons, African countries were unwilling or unable to provide enough resources for the implementation of their national plans of action.
On the commitment of international or anizations, the main issues were: the non- coordination of strategies, the non- matching of actions with the needs, and the importance of African countries taking charge of their operational strategies.
International NGOs have often invested huge sums in education, but as they are not always very knowledgeable about African problems, the possible effectiveness and relevance of their contributions is called into question.
11.1. Assessment of the national follow- up mechanisms
African countries have honoured some of their commitments and have initiated some coordination work locally. Governments seem to have involved all the stakeholders in the design, formulation and programming of activities for the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Programs of Action. However, the structures that were specifically created for this purpose and those which had existed before then should be made very operational. The late submission of assessment reports tends to substantiate this recommendation.
11.2. Assessment of regional follow- up mechanisms
The follow- up mechanisms in Africa have not been as operational as they should be. We have not been informed, for example, of any follow- up committee meeting chaired in principle by the Secretary General of OAU and including ECOWAS, SADC, the Maghreb Union, UDEAC, ADB or ECA. However, the African Platform states clearly that the committee should meet annually and present a report to the ECA Conference of Ministers and to the OAU Conference of Heads State and Government every two years.
On the critical area of education, it should be noted that OAU has or anized a certain number of meetings, some of which are mentioned in this report. Moreover, as a follow- up to the 1997- 2006 Education Decade in Africa, OAU has often made reference to the Oua adougou Declaration on the education of girls.
ECA has monitored implementation of the recommendations of the Dakar and Beijing Programmes, at the continental level, by or anizing relevant subregional meetings, a regional conference, seminars and technical meetings.
12. Conclusions
This mid- decade review of the implementation of the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Programs of Action demonstrates that some progress has been made in the education of girls, especially in basic education which features prominently in the recommendations of the Jomtien and Oua adougou conferences. The poor economic and scientific development of Africa is partly attributable to the educational systems in Africa. However, the Beijing Conference revived the debate on this issue by drawing the international community s attention to the absurdity of not using the potentials and capacities of women who constitute more than half of the continent s population.
Generally, while North Africa and Southern Africa have made significant progress in women s education, West Africa, Central Africa and East Africa have made little progress. The literacy programmes are usually short- term and their scope too narrow for sustainability.
Weaknesses in the regional follow- up mechanisms
The obvious the lack of coordinated action by the various subregions made it impossible to share ideas on original and useful initiatives that could lead to the replication of those initiatives that have succeeded, for the benefit of all.
The absence of adequate mechanisms for systematic data collection made it impossible to include field activities in the reports and explains the difficulty of doing a comprehensive assessment of the Programme s implementation.
There are still considerable gaps in the educational systems of African countries. These aps exist in the methods, tools, course content and social needs as well as in the economic and cultural policies of countries. The Africanization of schools using traditional methods of education that have proven successful should bridge the ap between young girls and women on the one hand, and between these and men on the other. Such an approach will enable women to be launched more effectively into the labour world, improve their position in society, increase their participation in politics, and empower them to retake the place which has long been denied them.
13. Recommendations
The discussions following the submission of the summary country reports and documents from various sources reflected the participants interest in education as a tool for the emancipation and progress of women in eneral and of young girls in particular.
Considerable interest was shown in the subject of women and girl s participation in scientific and technical fields. This implies that a thorough study is required to identify how best to encourage overnments to allocate more resources to this sector.
ACW should therefore organize jointly with UNESCO a seminar focusing mainly on the analysis of the subject and the identification of practical modalities for speeding up women and girls access to science and technolo y in all countries.
On non- formal education, new initiatives are required to involve communities in a life- long education of women and girls, and to reduce their domestic workload by disseminating new technologies.
Greater importance should be given to pre- school education in view of the positive impact of early schooling on the future of the child in particular and the society in eneral. Finally, since education is an investment, African peoples and overnments stand to ain from prioritizing it and providing the resources for its development for the overall progress of the continent.
The issue now is how best to educate, train and involve African women in their countries development programmes and projects as well as in the formulation and implementation of policies aimed at building model societies and the maximum development of all citizens.
In Africa, the formal education systems are designed for the acquisition of knowledge to the detriment of other forms of skills. Efforts should therefore be made to adopt a comprehensive approach that would guide the educational reform, the design of new programmes or the definition of new educational policies. A life- long education process premised on learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be, is recommended.
To attain these objectives, it is important to set up mechanisms for consultation and coordination to ensure the active participation of all levels of society and the various stakeholders in the development of the training content. Consequently, the conference recommended the following measures:
1. To allocate additional resources to education and to institutionalize free universal education.
2. To reduce the domestic workload of women and girls to allow them to pursue their studies.
3. To adapt the tools and teaching methods to the socio- cultural context of countries mainly by using the local langua es.
4. To strengthen coordination and partnership among the stakeholders in education namely, the Government, the communities, the NGOs, religious bodies and donors.
5. To encourage communities to mobilize funds for schools.
6. To sensitize communities to the importance of the girls education.
7. To promote literacy programmes for adult women.
8. To diversify training programmes, focusing on income-generating activities.
9. To establish and strengthen continuing education for women.
10. To involve elderly persons in the education of young children.
11. To provide quality training for the teaching staff as well as nursery school teachers.12. To strengthen and enlar e pre- school education and provide adequate resources for it.
13. To encourage south- south cooperation especially among African countries in order to develop and replicate successful experiences and put an end to errors in programmes.
14. To make education the the business of everyone.
In order to increase girls and women s interest in science and technolo y and to make them opt for these fields, the following actions are proposed:
1. To review education programmes and teaching materials at all levels to eliminate stereotypes which prevent women from choosing technical professions and to adapt these professions for employment purposes.
2. To encourage the employers in the industrial sector and other sectors to ive priority to female raduates.
2. To follow up the progress of women in science and technology and assist them in career development.
3. To establish guidance and counselling to assist girls to choose a profession early.
4. To make women who successful in science and technolo y role models.
5. To sensitize girls, teachers and particularly parents to the advantages of the technical professions.
6. To develop indicators for assessing the level of inte ration and responsibility of women in science and technology.
In view of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights of the Child which recognize the importance of the education of young girls, and considering that the OAU Special Summit on Education which specifically addressed the issue of women s education, the following measures were proposed:
1. Countries should formulate ender- based objectives and produce ender- disa regated data. This will make it possible to draw up specific policies and programmes for the empowerment of women and allow appropriate measures to be taken by the year 2005
2. The training of employable young girls should be put in the wider context of the ap between the educational needs of people and the quality of education provided.
3. The continuing training of women should be an essential factor in the efforts to enhance their participation in the economic and political life.
4. South- South Cooperation should be encouraged. Science and technolo y networks should be established as a form of cooperation among countries.
5. The participation of women in decision- making in the Ministries of Education should be strengthened.
Annex: Questionnaire for workshop discussion
1. Question. The implementation of the recommendations of the platforms.
1.1 Which is the body responsible for monitoring and coordinating the implementation of the Beijing Programme and Dakar Platform in your country?
1.2 Please state the composition of the appropriate body or commission, if any.
1.3 Please indicate the resources of this body.
1.4 Have there been awareness campaigns on the contents of the Platform and Programme in your country?
1.5 What is the role of the media in this campaign?
1.6 To which body is the committee responsible for the monitoring and coordination of the implementation of the Platform and Programme answerable?
1.7 How often does the body report?
1.8 What are the mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of the Platforms with regard to education, research, science and technolo y?
1. 9 What type of relationship do you have with the officials responsible for the operations of these mechanisms?
1.10 Is there a national Commission for Education in your country? If so, what is the composition?
1.11 Does your country plan to review its education curriculum to inte rate the recommendations in the Beijing Programme and Dakar Platform for Action?2. Questions about education in your country
2.1 Which authorities are responsible for education in your country?
2.2 What are their areas of authority?
2.3 How are issues specifically related to women and girls addressed in the present education system?
2.4 What is the relationship between the national mechanism for the advancement of women and the national school statistical services?
2.5 How do these two institutions work to ether?3. Financing of the National Plan of Action
3.1 Is the cost of implementation of your national plan of action included in your national budget?
3. 2 If not, what strategies were identified and implemented for the mobilization of resources?
3.3 What are the results?
3.4 Did your country participate in one or several regional or sub- regional implementation programmes on the recommendations of the Dakar and Beijing Programmes on education?
3.5 What are the institutions funding these programmes?
3.6 What are the results at the moment?4. What is the status of cooperation with various stakeholders
4.1 Have the bodies responsible for the monitoring of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms signed any a reement with NGOs for the implementation of the chapter on education in the National Plan of Action?
4.2 What are the national, subregional and regional bodies responsible for consultation on the recommendations on education of which your country is a member?
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Written, edited and designed by Daraba Saran Kaba, Emmanuel Nwukor and Seifu Dagnachew. Photographs provided by Eugiene Aw.
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