02.25.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:05 pm by nadia
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_programs/wid/snapshot/ane/morocco/morocco_eg.html
USAID/Morocco is providing assistance to help Morocco’s economy address the challenges of liberalization. Mission activities include providing opportunities for small- and micro-enterprises to grow and promoting greater involvement of women in the workforce.
Women in Technology-Cisco Networking Academy Scholarships for Women
Working with the Institute of International Education (IEE), USAID provides scholarships to Moroccan women to attend the Cisco Networking Academy Program. This activity trains women to design, build, and maintain computer networks, providing approximately 600 women from seven countries the opportunity to gain marketable high-tech skills to work in jobs related to the Internet economy. At the completion of the six-month training program, the women will earn a Cisco Certified Network Associate Certificate.
Association Al Amana
In 1997, USAID/Morocco established Association Al Amana, a microfinance institution servicing Morocco’s urban micro-entrepreneurs, a large portion of whom are women. Al Amana provides services to craft and trade micro-enterprises and small businesses that typically do not have access to larger financial institutions. Its clients belong to 160 professions divided into trade (48 percent), craft industry (39 percent), and services (13 percent), with women representing 60 percent of its active client base. Mission support came to an end in December 2003 when Al Amana achieved self-sustainability, establishing itself as one of the leading microfinance institutions in the region with 125 branches and over 100,000 active borrowers.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 10:04 pm by nadia
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_programs/wid/snapshot/ane/morocco/morocco_ed.html
USAID/Morocco promotes policy changes aimed at achieving gender equity in schools. Educational activities, such as the training of school personnel, focus on providing quality basic education for girls in rural Morocco. Parent-teacher associations (PTAs) provide opportunities to integrate community concerns into educational management systems. USAID/Morocco also supports the financing of private middle-school scholarship programs for girls.
Morocco Education for Girls (MEG)
A collaboration between USAID/Morocco and Creative Associates International (CAII), the MEG program (completed in 2004) improved the learning environment for rural girls and boys in Morocco. Targeting 32 rural schools, MEG aimed to increase the number of girls who complete six years of primary school education. This activity trained teachers, school directors, teacher-trainers, and education planners to better manage classrooms and schools. By improving schools to make them more responsive to the educational needs of girls, MEG benefited boys as well, whose enrollment also increased in rural areas.
MEG also worked with community members to establish parent-teacher associations and train over 500 board members to articulate community concerns and assume greater responsibility for their schools. In addition, this activity built on prior work under the Mission supported LearnLink program to develop multi-media centers in teacher training colleges, thereby narrowing the digital divide gap among educators. An interactive education web site called Ibtikar, which means “innovation” in Arabic, also was created for the Moroccan education community.
Scholarships for Success
Supported by USAID, the U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and the Comite de Soutien a la Scolarisation des Filles de Rurales (CSSF) Scholarships for Success activity increases opportunities for Moroccan girls to attend middle school. The project offers 400 girls an opportunity to live near school, limiting their need to travel long distances unaccompanied. In addition, girls are provided with dormitory management, tutoring, computers, and school supplies. Program evaluations indicate the impact of the program is felt well beyond its immediate recipients, as family members and friends of girls who already received scholarships express excitement about participating in the activity and staying in school. The Moroccan Ministry of Education is expanding on the program’s success by guaranteeing these girls a place in high school dormitories when they graduate from middle school, and the Ministry of Health provides the girls with free medical check ups.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 9:52 pm by nadia
The imperative to educate girls in the developing world is great:
- 104 million children ages 6-11 are out of school, and 60 million of them are girls;
- Nearly 76 countries are off-track to reach the UN Millennium Development Goal of gender parity by 2005;
- Another 86 countries are off-track to achieve universal primary education by 2015.
A single year of primary education correlates with a 10-20% increase in women’s wages later in life. Academic studies find the return to a year of secondary education is even higher – in the 15-25% range;
An extra year of a woman’s education has been shown to reduce the risk that her children will die in infancy by 5–10 percent;
Education offers what the World Bank has referred to as a “window of hope” in helping prevent the spread of AIDS among today’s children. A recent study of a school-based AIDS education program in Uganda found a 75 percent reduction in the likelihood that children would be sexually active in their last year of primary school;
Girls’ education is the best single policy for reducing fertility and therefore achieving smaller and more sustainable families, according to a recent survey of the academic literature. In Brazil, for example, illiterate mothers have an average of six children while literate mothers choose to have less than three children, and are better able to care for and invest in their children’s well-being;
A study of South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa found that from 1960 to 1992, more equal education between men and women could have led to nearly 1 percent higher annual per capita GDP growth.
These findings are culled from some of the most significant studies and research available on the topic. Based on this overwhelming evidence, the report highlights proven strategies and programs for success to increase girls’ educational opportunities. Major recommendations include:
- Reducing school fees;
- Covering indirect costs of schooling through scholarships, stipends and school health and nutrition programs;
- Building schools close to girls’ homes;
- Making schools more girl-friendly with private latrines and ensuring girls’ safety at school;
- Providing more female teachers for girls;
- Improving the quality of education by ensuring basic teacher training.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/6950/girls_education_key_to_global_wealth_health_new_council_report_finds.html
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Posted in Uncategorized at 9:49 pm by nadia
What can the international community do?
http://www.netaid.org/global_poverty/girls-education/
Many programs that target girls’ education are showing considerable success in increasing enrollment and completion. A World Food Program initiative that provided both food and take home rations for students increased girls’ attendance by at least 50 percent in all targeted countries. Non-formal schools established in rural areas by the Bangladesh Rural Action Committee achieved 90 percent completion rates, compared to 53 percent completion in government schools.
Donor nations can help by increasing aid to these important initiatives. Currently, only Norway and the Netherlands pay their fair share of the funding needed to guarantee universal access to education, while the U.S. ranks 19th out of 21 donor countries. Debt relief has also helped many countries pay for their education programs. Niger, for example, is using 40 percent of the funds freed up by debt relief to fund their universal primary education program.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 9:49 pm by nadia
What prevents girls from attending school?
http://www.netaid.org/global_poverty/girls-education/
There are many factors that keep children out of school, but girls in particular face significant barriers. School fees and the related cost of books or uniforms prevent many poor families from sending any children to school. When money is scarce, parents tend to place greater value on educating their sons, who are assumed to be the future breadwinners of the family.
Poverty isn’t the only obstacle that closes off education to girls – many schools are not sensitive to gender issues. A scarcity of female teachers, lack of bathroom facilities and tolerance of sexual harassment in schools make many parents reluctant to send their daughters to school. Concerns about safety also keep girls at home, especially in rural areas, where they may have to walk up to 10 miles just to reach their classrooms. In regions with political instability, it can be especially unsafe for children to walk to school alone.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 9:48 pm by nadia
How does girls’ education fight poverty?
http://www.netaid.org/global_poverty/girls-education/
Educating girls is an essential part of winning the fight against global poverty. On average, an educated girl boosts the income of her family and her community; has fewer, more healthy children; and is less likely to contract HIV/AIDS.
The benefits of girls’ education extend beyond the local community. Studies show that increasing the number of educated girls in a country fosters economic growth, promotes political stability and reduces health care costs. For example, more productive farming due to increased female education accounts for 43 percent of the decline in malnutrition achieved between 1970 and 1995.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 9:47 pm by nadia
Girls’ Education
Today, over 60 million girls are not in school, accounting for more than half of all unschooled children worldwide. The situation is most dire in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 23 million girls are out of school, and in South Asia, where 66 percent of all unschooled children are girls. The majority of the world’s one billion illiterate adults are women.
Educating girls is the single most effective step a country can take to combat poverty, yet the barriers that prevent girls from attending school are numerous. We must overcome these challenges in order to ensure that every girl enjoys her fundamental right to an education.
http://www.netaid.org/global_poverty/girls-education/
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02.12.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:43 pm by nadia
The market system
In the market system, teachers are not sent to schools, but apply for posts in specific schools. This system removes the burden of deploying teachers from the central authorities. In effect, teachers deploy themselves by searching for jobs. It gives each school more autonomy in selecting their teachers. Schools are more likely to select teachers who will accept the position, and often recruit local people. However, “market effects” occur, and the most desirable teachers (best qualified), tend to get the most desirable jobs. In Lesotho the practical effect of the market system is that most schools are able to fill their teaching posts, but that more of the teachers in isolated schools have lower qualifications.
Strategies to redress deployment imbalances
Policy makers have tried a number of strategies to redress the imbalances in teacher deployment. The main strategies can be categorized as:
• Incentives for teachers locating in rural areas
• Forced transfer of teachers
• Targeted recruitment
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Posted in Uncategorized at 7:40 pm by nadia
Gender
The deployment patterns also have implications for gender equity. Across sub-Saharan Africa, the enrolment and retention of girls in school is lower than that of boys. The under-representation of girls tends to be greatest in rural areas and among the most disadvantaged communities. While a number of measures can be shown to have an impact on the retention of girls in school, one of the important factors is the presence of female teachers in the school (Bernard, 2002). The presence of female teachers in a school can help to make the school environment a safer place for girls. Many girls in Africa are forced to drop out of schools because school administrators are insensitive to gender issues, including sexual abuse and intimidation (PANA, 2003). In addition, the presence of females in positions of responsibility and leadership in schools is an important factor in creating gender role models.
Female teachers may be even less willing to accept a rural posting than their male counterparts, and rural areas may have fewer female teachers than urban areas (Gottelmann-Duret et al, 1998, p21-22). In some cases posting single women to unfamiliar areas may cause cultural difficulties, and may even be unsafe (Rust and Dalin, 1990; VSO, 2002, p34). For unmarried women, posting to an isolated rural area may also be seen to limit marriage prospects (Hedges, 2000). In some countries, such as Ghana, they are not posted to rural areas as a matter of policy (Hedges, 2002, p358). For married women, a rural posting may mean separation from her family, as the husband may not move for cultural or economic reasons (Gaynor 1998). Where women have been posted to rural areas they may come to see themselves as having been treated unfairly by the system and thus seek early transfers (Hedges, 2002, p358).
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Posted in Uncategorized at 7:39 pm by nadia
The problem of teachers is often considered as a problem of teacher numbers. While there is no doubt that many countries face challenges of teacher supply, there are equally serious challenges of teacher deployment. In many countries there are qualified teachers in urban areas who are unemployed, while here are unfilled posts in rural areas. This pattern of simultaneous surplus and shortage is strong evidence that the problem of teachers for rural schools will not be solved simply by providing more teachers. There is a need for policies that will ensure that the teacher reach the schools where they are needed.
Many countries report that teachers express a strong preference for urban postings. In Ghana, for example, over 80% of teachers said they preferred to teach in urban schools (Akyeampong and Lewin, 2002, p346). There are a number of rational reasons why teachers may prefer urban postings. One of the concerns about working in rural areas is that the quality of life may not be as good. Teachers have expressed concerns about the quality of accommodation (Akyeampong and Stephens, 2002, p269-270), the classroom facilities, the school resources and the access to leisure activities (Towse et al, 2002, p645).
Health concerns are a second major issue. Teachers may perceive that living in rural areas involves a greater risk of disease (Akyeampong and Stephens, 2002, p269-270), and less access to healthcare (Towse et al, 2002, p645).
Teachers may also see rural areas as offering fewer opportunities for professional advancement. Urban areas offer easier access to further education (Hedges, 2000). In addition, teachers in rural areas are less likely to have opportunities to engage other developmental activities, or in national consultation or representative organisations. Teachers in rural areas may even find it more difficult to secure their entitlements from regional educational administrations, sometimes to the extent of having to put up with obstacles or corruption by officials.
The problem is further exacerbated where the majority of student teachers come from a different background. In Ghana, teachers tend to come from a higher socio-economic background than average for the country as a whole (Akyeampong and Stephens, 2002) and to be disproportionately from urban areas. Hedges (2002, p364) describes their reluctance to accept a rural position:
There is a profound fear among newly trained teachers with a modern individualistic outlook that if you spend too much time in an isolated village without access to further education, you become ‘a village man’, a term which strongly conveys the perceived ignorance of rural dwellers in the eyes of some urban educated Ghanaians
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