Promotion of a Gender Responsive Teaching and Learning Environment in Secondary Schools

Abstract

Introduction We received support from UNESCO to implement a participatory programme on promotion of a gender responsive teaching and learning environment in secondary schools. This report is an output of what transpired during the implementation of the project. Background The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) emphasizes the need to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all provided in a safe, non-violent learning environment, while SDG (5) calls for gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. In essence, both boys and girls should leave the school system with an education that provides life skills and permits them to pursue higher education outcomes in an environment free from gender stereotyping and violence. A Safe Learning Environment (SLE) is a fundamental human right of children, enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Constitution of Uganda (1995) in Articles 24 and 44. In Africa, women and men differ in legal, social, and economic rights. Disparity due to gender is common in Uganda like many other countries in the World .This phenomenon affects productivity in all sectors of society. Yet such disparities hamper men and women in various ways: in access to education and to financial services; in opportunities for jobs, entrepreneurship, and agriculture; and in active participation in the process of developing their communities, professions, and the nation at large. Gender equality has thus become a moral and an economic imperative. This view has however been so since the 1995 UN Fourth Conference on Women in Beijing, China, which adopted the view that "women's rights are human rights". This declaration set a worldwide agenda to advance gender equality. Moreover, the idea that the state plays a prime role in policymaking in areas that differentially affect men and women equally permeated the Beijing Declaration in 1995. According to a UNESCO report on gender (2015), the gender gap is apparent for boys and men in a number of countries and Uganda is no exception. Girls and women undeniably experience the worst forms of discrimination and the teaching profession paints a mixed picture when it comes to gender parity and equality issues. Internationally, the Education For all (EFA) goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were developed to address such inequalities. Specifically EFA goal number five (05) focused on achieving gender parity and equality (UNESCO, 2014), and MDG number three (03) also focused on gender equality and empowerment of women. This goal has now been reaffirmed in goal number five (05) of the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative. In education, the barrier to women participation is more dire and embedded in our social and economic systems. Gender disparities in all sectors are reflected in laws, policies and regulations, and institutional systems. Gender equality is a global priority for UNESCO and this is linked to its efforts to promote the right to education and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through the Education 2030 Framework for Action, SDG 4 aims to 'Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all' and SDG 5 to 'Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.' It is against this background that Uganda National Commission for UNESCO (UNATCOM) in collaboration with the Gender Unit in the Ministry of Education and Sports planned this intervention to create awareness and build capacity of Secondary school Teachers on gender mainstreaming. and gender responsiveness.