Promoting gender equality in education through mentoring

Promoting gender equality in
education through mentoring
Reflecting on the experience of the Commonwealth
Education Fund’s Gender Equality in Education Project
May 2009

---

This reflective report was developed by
Oley Dibba-Wadda and edited by Joanna Hoare
With support from
The Commonwealth Education Fund
May 2009

---

1
Contents

Acknowledgements
2
5. Challenges





5.1 Adapting to a new way of working
14
1. Introduction




5.2 Encouraging partners to engage with the

1.1 Why is gender mainstreaming in



GEEP
15
education so important?
3




5.3 Logistics
16
1.2 Gender mainstreaming in the




Commonwealth Education Fund’s
4


6. Some reflections on what makes for a

programme



good mentoring project



The Commonwealth Education Fund
4


6.1 Who makes a good mentor?
17




2. The Gender Equality in Education

6.2 What needs to be in place for a mentoring



Project (GEEP)
scheme to work?
19




2.1 Aims
5

Mentoring activities
19





2.2 What is mentoring?
5


Measuring the impact of a mentoring scheme
20





6.3 Supporting the mentor
22
3. Implementing the GEEP





3.1 Identifying country programmes to

7. Conclusion
23


participate
6





References
24
3.2 Bringing in the mentors
6

Identifying suitable mentors
6
3.3 Developing work plans
7


Case study: mentoring the Kenyan National


Association of Parents (KNAP)
9
4. What worked?


4.1 Achievements
10


Case study: increasing Ghanaian girls’


school attendance through bylaws
11


Case study: sensitising school management


committees to gender issues in Malawi
12
4.2 Successful ways of working
12

---

2
Promoting gender equality in education through mentoring
Reflecting on the experience of the Commonwealth Education Fund’s Gender Equality in Education Project
Acknowledgements
Oley Dibba-Wadda was the project
African Women Educationalist in Malawi,
Photo credits:
manager for the Commonwealth
plus the Ministries of Women and Child
Front cover and pages 3, 13, 17 – Geoff
Education Fund‘s Gender Equality in
Affairs, Education and Finance – Malawi.
Sayer/Oxfam
Education Project from 2006-2008.
Other Vision Communication, Coastal
Page 10 – Oxfam GB
Association for Social Transformation
Pages 21, 23 – Crispin Hughes/Oxfam
Thanks go to Dr Nicholas Pialek for his
Trust, Noakhali Rural Development
Al other images – Oley Dibba-Wadda.
support in bringing to life examples of
Programme and Friends in Village
GEEP mentoring experiences in Kenya,
Development – Bangladesh.
Ghana, Malawi and Bangladesh and
also to Joanna Hoare for her support
Special thanks also go to Dr Sheila
in editing the style and content of this
Aikman from the University of East Anglia
reflected report.
for her leadership, technical expertise
and support in the preparation of this
In addition, the commitment, support,
document;
advice, guidance and expertise of the
following are acknowledged:
The CEF Gender Equality Advisory
Group (GEAG): Dr. Caren Levy, Dr.
Mentors: Dr Nyokabi Kamau, Esnath
Elaine Unterhalter, Dr. Jyostna Jha and
Kalyati, Professor Clara Fayorsey, Dede
Akanksha Marphatia for their ideas,
Bedu-Addo and Rabeya Rowshan.
suggestions and advice;
Partners: Kenya National Association of
And the CEF team: David Archer, Katy
Parents, Girl Child Network and Elimu
Webley, Janice Dolan, Tom Noel, Chikondi
Yetu Coalition – Kenya. The Northern
Mpokosa, Othman Mahmoud, Ines
Network for Education Development,
Smyth, Chike Anyanwu, Emily Lugano,
National Education Campaign Coalition
Jil Hart, Kjersti Mowe, George Tang,
– Ghana. The Civil Society Coalition
Wil iam Migwi, Zakaria Suleman, Reuben
for Quality Basic Education, Synod of
Hukporti, Dorothy Konadu, Muntasim
Livingstonia, Transworld Radio, Forum for
Tanvir, Grace Taulo and Clara Ndovie.

---

3
1. Introduction
1.1 Why is gender mainstreaming in
school enrolment and attendance rates
Above: Peer mentoring.
education so important?
for girls that are lower than 85%. More
significantly, the weakness, or even
Addressing gender inequality is a crucial
total absence, of gendered analysis and
aspect of any development work. This
gender sensitive practices in education
is particularly the case with regards to
work at the policy and programme level
education. Equal access to education is
means that the promotion of the rights
the foundation for all other development
of girls and boys in education through
goals. Not only is it a fundamental right
the transformation of power relations
that should be available to all children,
between them is often inadequately
female and male, in order to give them
addressed. To put it another way, policy
the best possible chance of realising their
debates and official commitments to
potential and supporting themselves as
‘gender mainstreaming’ in education
independent adults, but also, a clear
have not translated into practical
link has been established between
changes in the way that children are
educating girls and the future wellbeing
taught, and the values of those teaching
of themselves and their families, socially,
them. This means that in many contexts,
economically, and in terms of health.
girls and boys continue to be taught
In recognition of this, while most of the
using methods, and in environments, that
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
reinforces and upholds gender inequality
face a deadline of 2015, the gender
and negative gender stereotypes, rather
parity in education target (the third MDG)
than challenging them. Inevitably, this
was set to be achieved a full ten years
profoundly impacts on girls’ experiences
earlier.
of school, lessening, or even negating
Sadly, 2005 and the deadline for
the positive role that education can play
achieving the third MDG have passed,
in realising women’s rights and reducing
and 67 countries still have primary
poverty.

---

4
Promoting gender equality in education through mentoring
Reflecting on the experience of the Commonwealth Education Fund’s Gender Equality in Education Project
1.2 Gender mainstreaming in the
Commonwealth Education Fund
Commonwealth Education Fund’s
programme
The Commonwealth Education Fund (CEF) ran between 2002 and 2008, and was
A mid-term review of the Commonwealth
set up by the UK Department for International Development. It aimed to promote civil
Education Fund’s (CEF) programme
society input into the Education For Al process, and raise the profile of international
to promote civil society input into the
education targets in sixteen low-income Commonwealth countries in Africa and
Education For All (EFA) process revealed
Asia. Jointly managed by ActionAid, Oxfam and Save the Children, the CEF also
a consistent failure to mainstream a
aimed to increase public debate around education goals, promote gender equality
gender analysis and gender sensitive
in education and focus on the needs of children outside the education system. The
practices into the programme’s
CEF had six objectives:
activities, despite a commitment to
• To strengthen broad-based and democratical y run national education coalitions
gender mainstreaming within the Fund’s
• To enable local voices and experiences to influence national-level policy and
mandate. CEF partners and networks
practice
had been encouraged to take part in
• To ensure that sufficient financing is available to make public schools work for all
gender training workshops, but this had
girls and boys
had little impact in the way that they then
• To ensure resources reach where they are most needed
went on to carry out their activities. In
• To promote innovative work and use the evidence from this experience to
response to this, the Gender Equality in
influence policy
Education Project was developed, with
• To bring al excluded children, particularly girls, into public schools.
the idea of providing targeted support
to partner organisations in four of the
In 2005, the CEF’s mid-term review highlighted the need to mainstream gender in
sixteen CEF countries. Developed within
al its work – in project and partner assessment, in budgeting work and in looking
a very short timeframe, and with a narrow
at the exclusion of girls as it cuts across other categories of exclusion. The Gender
focus on four country programmes, the
Equality in Education Project (GEEP) was set up to achieve this, principal y through
GEEP was, in retrospect, an extremely
the engagement of four gender mentors to work with partner organisations in the
ambitious project.
target countries.
To access further publications and resources on the GEEP project, please visit www.
commonwealtheducationfund.org/GEEP.html

---

5
2. The Gender Equality in Education
Programme (GEEP)
2.1 Aims
individual mentees within the partner
organisation, with the mentor responding
The GEEP was drawn up in close
to their needs, working at their pace, and
consultation with CEF country offices
according to their priorities, and drawing
and partners, who revealed that people
on different strategies and training
did not want yet more one-off gender
methods as appropriate.
training workshops, but rather ongoing
support that would enable them to real y
2.2 What is mentoring?
grasp the concepts and terminology
The GEEP did not begin with any fixed
behind gender mainstreaming, and
idea of what the mentoring support
provide them with practical ideas
should entail. Rather, in keeping with
to make their own activities more
Oxfam’s approach (used as the model
gender aware. CEF also recognised
for this project), mentoring was seen
that for the project to have long-term
as a process, constantly evolving in
impact and bring about real change
response to the needs and priorities of
in understandings and values around
the mentee; in this way, it was hoped
gender equality, a new approach that
that partner organisations would not feel
could provide responsive, sustained
that the project was being imposed upon
Malawi Gender Mentor, Esnath Kalyati
and consistent long-term support was
them by the CEF. The mentors were not
providing support to the team to review
needed. As such, the decision was
there to act as advisors – setting the
gender on the CEF end of project
taken to engage four gender mentors
agenda as to what the partners needed
evaluation format.
to work with partner organisations in
to do, and then providing the answers as
Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Bangladesh
to how they should do it – but rather as
for the remaining two years of the CEF
facilitators. This ‘process support’ aimed
programme. These gender mentors
at gradual y building up the capacity and
would in turn be supported by CEF
competency of the partner organisation
country offices, and by a Gender Project
and its staff through a range of ongoing
Manager, based in Oxfam’s head office
and linked activities.
in the UK.
It was important that mentors
Mentoring, it was felt, would facilitate
understood that theirs was a supportive
learning, enthusiasm, and confidence
rather than an advisory role. They were
around gender issues, enabling partner
not there to instruct mentees, but rather
organisations to: develop and implement
to be responsive, ‘hold their hands’
their own, good quality, gender equitable
and guide them towards developing
strategies and plans; carry out high
their own strategies for mainstreaming
quality monitoring and evaluation work;
gender into their activities and approach,
and document the processes and
through listening to their mentees during
outcomes of the mentoring project for
one-to-one and group discussions,
learning and sharing. It was envisaged
providing appropriate training using a
that mentors would work alongside
range of methods, and putting partner
partner organisations to identify which
organisations in touch with other
issues around gender mainstreaming
useful professional contacts, where
they felt confident and familiar with, and
applicable. Getting the balance right in
which issues presented ‘blockages’,
this relationship proved to be one of the
as wel as identifying which training
most chal enging aspects of this project,
methods partners would find most
as wil be discussed below in section 5.
useful. Activities would be led by

---

6
Promoting gender equality in education through mentoring
Reflecting on the experience of the Commonwealth Education Fund’s Gender Equality in Education Project
3. Implementing the GEEP
3.1 Identifying country
programmes to participate
Identifying suitable mentors
Four of the sixteen countries that were
The fol owing attributes were considered to be important in a potential mentor:
participating in the CEF programme
were selected to take part in the
• a substantial knowledge of broad gender issues as they relate to the work of
GEEP – Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, and
the partner
Bangladesh. Selection was on the basis
• an existing network of contacts and professional relationships around gender
of the results of a needs assessment
and/or the area of work of the partner
to measure gaps in programming
• practical experience to which the partner can relate
relating to gender, and with the aim of
• the capacity to be both an insider and outsider – the ability to engage and
engaging with programmes that worked
disengage with organisations as appropriate
on different aspects of education and
• maturity and patience to both gain respect from the mentee but also to
which were geographical y diverse. In
manage conflict
addition, CEF country coordinators and
• a reasonable knowledge of both the mentee and any possible lead
partner organisations in Malawi, Kenya
organisations involved.
and Ghana expressed positive interest
in the project, and were very keen to
take part. The case of Bangladesh was
rather different. The Bangladesh country
Gender mentors were recruited in the four
Kenya
programme office was persuaded
countries by the end of March 2007, and
The three CEF partner organisations
to take part in the GEEP, rather than
spent the next few months familiarising
working in Kenya – the Girl Child
volunteering, resulting in the sense
themselves with the work of the partners
Network, the Elimu Yeti Coalition, and the
that this was a project being imposed
and assessing their existing capacity
Kenya National Association of Parents
from outside. In addition, the country
on gender, going through work plans
and Teachers (KNAP) requested support
coordinator made it clear that mentoring
with each partner organisation. Mentors
to develop advocacy programmes on
to support gender mainstreaming
went about this in dif erent ways. For
four themes: managing the process of
would not be useful in the Bangladesh
instance, in Malawi, a CEF monitoring and
sexual maturation among girls and boys;
context, as the country had succeeded
evaluation workshop for al the partner
gender-responsive teaching methods and
in achieving parity of enrolment between
organisations took place shortly after the
school environments; gender sensitive
girls and boys in schools. This set-up
mentor was recruited. She took advantage
school curricula; and gender-based
meant that the mentor in Bangladesh
of this opportunity to meet with the partner
violence.
faced particular chal enges, which will
organisations and get to know them, and
Ghana
be discussed in more detail below.
fol owed this up with visits to the offices
The Northern Network for Education
of each organisation. In the process, the
3.2 Bringing in the mentors
Development (NNED) and the Ghana
mentor identified what areas partners
National Education Campaign Coalition
Potential mentors were identified and
wished to work on with her, and which
(GNECC) decided that they wanted to
approached in consultation with gender
gaps in their understanding of gender
concentrate on two key areas in their
and education experts in the four
issues were presenting the most pressing
work with the mentor: challenging cultural
countries, and advisors and managers
obstacles to their capacity to mainstream
practices that limit girls’ opportunities
from the country programme officers of
gender in their work.
to go to school, and the lack of women
the three CEF organisations – ActionAid,
Partners then identified one objective
teachers in rural areas.
Oxfam GB, and Save the Children. The
from each of their work plans for which
four gender mentors selected were all
Malawi
they felt they would need mentoring
highly experienced and qualified in
Working with four partner organisations and
support if their work to mainstream
their fields.
two ministries – the Civil Society Coalition
gender was to have real impact.
for Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE),

---

7
A group mentoring session between the
Bangladesh Gender Mentor and the CEF
Asia team.
the Synod of Lingingstonia, Trans World
3.3 Developing work plans
Radio, and FAWEMA, and the ministries
Each mentor went on to develop different
of Finance, and Education, Women and
work plans to fit in with the needs of the
Children’s Affairs – the gender mentor
partner organisations with which she was
supported activities on gender budget
working.
monitoring. The aim was to bring about
increased financial allocation to the
In Malawi, the mentor conducted a
education sector.
training workshop on gender budgeting
issues, during which it became apparent
Bangladesh
that many participants did not have
As the CEF country coordinator did not
enough knowledge of gender issues
feel that mentoring to support gender
more generally to be able to benefit
mainstreaming was necessary in the
from the training. As a result, the mentor
Bangladesh context, the objective here
adapted her plans for the workshop,
was to support three partners to conduct
spending two days introducing the
research on how the country had
participants to concepts relating to
succeeding in reaching gender parity in
gender and gender mainstreaming,
school enrolment, and how this could be
before moving on to explore gender
sustained.
budgeting. She followed this up with
visits to each organisation, where
she spent time helping mentees put
the gender budgeting tools they had
acquired in the workshop into practice.

---

8
Promoting gender equality in education through mentoring
Reflecting on the experience of the Commonwealth Education Fund’s Gender Equality in Education Project
CEF Gender Project Manager, Oley
Dibba-Wadda and Ghana Gender
Mentor, Clara Fayorsey providing support
to reflect gender in the work of the CEF
Coordinators in West Africa.
The mentor in Ghana worked with
In Kenya, the gender mentor’s initial
The mentor then went on to develop
two national coalitions, but as district
impressions of the partners suggested that
work plans with each organisation,
level organising was more coordinated
two out of the three were not interested
working with one to support the
than at the national level, the mentor
in working on gender issues. As such,
development of a gender audit process,
focussed her work at the district level.
she began by holding a large meeting to
and at another providing mentoring
This presented some logistical difficulties,
discuss mentoring and the process of
training on sexual maturation for those
as the coalitions were at opposite
promoting gender equality. Though the
working with adolescents.
ends of the country. In addition, staff
partners came with a certain resistance,
Unfortunately, the mentor in Bangladesh
changes at the CEF country office left
after the mentor spent time explaining
was unable to establish an effective
the mentor with no clear management
that promoting gender equality was not
working relationship with the partner
structure, which had a negative impact
a new project needing new money, but
organisations, meaning that she was
on her capacity to carry out the role,
just a way of better understanding and
unable to support them in carrying
and on her relationship with the partner
carrying out existing programme work,
out research into how the country
organisations. This eventually led the
attitudes began to change, and staf in
had achieved gender parity in school
contracting of a new mentor, who was
the partner organisations came to accept
enrolment. As a result, the mentor ended
able to re-establish an effective working
that work on gender does not need to be
up producing a detailed report herself,
relationship with the two coalitions, and
confrontational. This meeting also al owed
based on desk research.
in particular, worked effectively with
the mentor time to informal y assess the
the coalition based in the north of the
partners, understand the dif erent issues
country.
they worked on, and develop ways of
providing ef ective support.

---