Girls Participation and Retention in Secondary Schools: Promising Approaches

Shanti Jagannathan, Senior Education Specialist, ADB

Gender Equality in Secondary Education, TVET and Skills for Employment, Beijing 11-13 September 2013
The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

Secondary education: crucial middle

Secondary Education vital to gender equality in tertiary education, labor markets and in societies GPE: one extra year of secondary raises womens earnings by 15-25%; 1% increase of girls secondary education increases per capita GDP by 0.3% PLAN: Some countries lose more than $ 1 billion a year by failing to educate girls to the same extent as boys

Secondary education: serving economic and social objectives

Gender equality in secondary education is a crucial base for greater economic empowerment, more jobs, higher productivity; stronger, better, fairer growth Gender equality at secondary stage also has an array of social returns delay in marriage, better health, more investments in the education and health of children and promotion of rights of women and girls

Common issues in secondary education in developing countries

Lack of relevance and poor linkage to markets and the real world Weak learning environments and poor quality of teachers While enrolments have grown, retention and completion and attaining learning standards are major problems A large number of secondary students enter the labor market without foundational skills

Key issues in secondary education and girls

Gender stereotyping on role in society, occupations can limit opportunities

Enrolments have increased but there are issues on retention and completion

ond
Gender issues may be overlaid with other disadvantages ethnicity, poverty, distance, disability Boys perform better than girls in maths (even in OECD_ while girls perform better in reading. Girls are less likely to choose STEM Cultural and social barriers can impose binding constraints on girls enrolling and completing secondary education

Policy Lessons from OECD

Policies to encourage right choices by parents, teachers and girls to pursue STEM studies Interventions to avoid gender stereotyping in curricula, teaching material and training policies More women teachers and endorsement of female role models in unconventional professions dominated by men Initiatives to strengthen teacher quality for student performance

Promising approaches for secondary education in DMCs

Reducing user fees, cash transfers, stipends and scholarships helps to increase girls enrolment Providing residential schools, school materials, uniforms, meals, safe transport, separate toilets aim to encourage retention Employment of women teachers and their training helps to prevent drop outs and increase learning levels of girls;

Promising approaches for secondary education

Community mobilization initiatives helps to address social and cultural barriers to girls participation in schooling Curriculum reform to remove gender bias, teacher training and learning materials contribute to building the base for gender equality beyond schools

Key areas to strengthen at secondary stage for girls

Increase girls access to formal schools in completing secondary; increase access to supplementary private education, eg ICT Increase learning outcomes at secondary, particularly in STEM Extra curricular activites, particularly sports and leadership Focus on strengthening non-cognitive and life skills

Secondary School Interventions: New horizons

FOCUS ON LEARNING AND OUTCOMES

To conclude and for discussion

Gender equality is located in the overall effectiveness of secondary schoolinghow to address transformational trends? Secondary stage also needs to link up with elementary, TVET and tertiary in order to work efficiently. How can this be done?