A summary of interventions that matter is:
- Innovative long term comprehensive programs for women’s- and girls’ empowerment
In April 1989 the government of the Netherlands agreed to fund the program. Mahila Samakhya started as a pilot project and has grown into a program of scale and is being implemented in 60 backward districts in India covering over 9000 villages in 10 states (2014). It is estimated that over 200.000 women are actively mobilized and organized by the program with a much larger number being impacted indirectly. The program is being implemented in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal. The core of the MS program is the women’s groups (Sangha’s) and the women's group leaders (Sahoyogini’s).
Various educational programs are implemented based on women’s needs. Women are encouraged to collectively solve their problems and, in so doing, become empowered to address a wide variety of issues and challenges by themselves. Problems addressed are related to (social- and cultural) isolation, lack of self-confidence and self-esteem, oppressive social customs, and struggle for survival. MS has adopted an innovative approach that emphasizes the process rather than the “mechanical” fulfillment of targets. MS addresses education in an inclusive manner, combining education, health, human and women’s rights and governance, and economic empowerment. Until today this program is implanted and continues to be improved, including now also girls’ education and men’s engagement. The program is financed independently by the government of India. See the case study at the end of Topic on Education.
- Support to Educational inputs:
Inputs such as textbooks and other learning material, as well as basic infrastructure (buildings and school furniture). Adequate sanitary conditions, e.g. building and maintenance of toilets, important for the enrolment and performance of girls, have been improved.
In Yemen the focus of Dutch support to education has been on improving the quality of education, in particular for girls and women, encouraging parents participation, teachers training and construction, and improvement of schools. Supply of teaching and learning materials was also included in the support “basket”. The Ministry of Education, working together with local- and international partners, both government, World Bank, UN agencies, and (I)NGOs, has been in charge together with a well organized “donor” support group working in partnership with MoE and partners, including the Social Fund for Development (SFD). Innovative programs included vocational education for women, such as the successful midwifery training and introducing computer skills (ICT) to boys and girls.
- Teachers: This refers to both the quantity (e.g., student-teacher ratios, contact hours) and the quality of teachers (e.g., levels of initial training and arrangements for teacher training, as well as teacher incentives). Teachers have the potential to generate a maximum effect on learning. The Netherlands supported the quality of teachers training in many countries. Teachers are the backbone of any education system, and the support of an increase in qualified female teachers is even more important. They may act as role models for girls (and boys) and implement girls’ education in societies where girls are still expected to learn in, often rural settings, and in segregated classrooms, meaning separate from boys (e.g., parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen).
- Healthy learning: Healthy children attend schools more and learn more. Deworming and iron supplementation can increase school attendance and fight against absenteeism. Proper school meals (i.e., adequate nutrition) is also an important aspect. As we have seen, lack of sanitary protection acts as a barrier to schooling for girls. Dutch support has benefited many children. Often this kind of support has been channeled through programs implemented by UNICEF and other international partners.
- Introducing Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)
Dutch support, in cooperation with expert organizations such as Rutgers, funded comprehensive sexuality education in several countries in Eastern Africa.
In Burundi a five-year-long program (2016 – 2020) aimed at introducing and strengthening Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in schools. With the support of CARE, local organizations and the Rutgers Foundation (NL) the proven CSE approach of “The World Starts With Me” was appraised and approved by the Ministry of Education and its partners. Translation of the workbook and modules was done in French and the national language (Kirundi). The main aim of the program was to make girls and boys more informed and aware of their bodies and sexuality. Working together with community leaders, religious leaders, teachers, and parents the program contributed significantly to preventing unwanted teenage pregnancies and promoting responsible sexual behavior.
Support has been put in place to help young girls understand the predictable changes their bodies go through:
- providing them with a quiet room for counseling and teaching them more about their bodies;
- distributing free sanitary napkins and hosting short workshops on how to produce sanitary napkins. Some even start selling these, and in so doing earn a small income;
- building separate toilets for girls and boys in order for menstruating girls to have a private & safe place with access to a water point and a place where they can dispose of their pads and where they are not watched by boys. And although sometimes lack of water can be a serious problem – there are places where there are toilets in schools, but no water, good management at school, combined with active parents participation, makes a lot of difference, as such ‘small’ and ‘trivial’ things can actually affect children’s lives.
In Uganda, there are various initiatives where girls are taught about menstrual hygiene and where organizations/communities provide girls with sanitary pads made with locally produced sugarcane fiber.
- Cost-reducing measures for pupils: There are various costs associated with schooling which have to be borne by the students and their parents. They can be categorized in:
- Direct costs: transportation, school uniforms, books, fees for associations, and unofficial payments to gain access to education;
- Indirect (=opportunity) costs: loss of family income since children have less time for working and supporting household duties.
And although primary education is provided for free in an increasing number of countries, there are still “hidden costs” for parents to pay. The increase in enrolment is especially benefiting children, who were previously excluded from education like (disadvantaged) poor and girls. Dutch support has been provided to these kinds of measures, mostly in partnership with the government and other partners.
In order to further reduce the financial barriers to education and enhance participation in schools (higher enrolment and lower absenteeism), the Dutch support includes demand-side interventions. Combined with other incentives (e.g., merit-based scholarships for girls) they can have an impact on learning as well. Careful design is required (e.g., addressing external effects and timing of transfers).
The most important kinds of interventions are:
- CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer) Programmes, where parents receive a monthly cash payment (or the equivalent in food) if their child attends school regularly. In some countries, funding partners and governments agreed to prioritize CCT to girls and mothers in order to encourage girls’ education and retention, i.e. to stay in school and complete school. This is particularly so for attendance in secondary school, where most drop-out of girls happens, as compared to boys, due to socio-cultural traditions and taboos.
- School Vouchers, which are certificates issued by the government, which parents can use for tuition at a private school. Though they do reduce the costs of education for households, they are mainly intended to improve the quality of schooling by introducing competition between schools. Again, preference can be given to girls' education.
- Scholarships (monetary incentives), which will usually include support for tuition and other costs of schooling. These may be ‘conditional’ to a particular level of academic performance (‘merit based’).
- In-kind contributions to school costs, e.g., school uniforms, books.
- Pre-primary education (or early childhood development): is found to promote cognitive development, where this reduces the cost of primary education by preparing boys and girls for learning before they start school. Therefore, the Dutch supported education programs started to address more and more ECE (Early Childhood Education), learning from UN agencies such as UNICEF and others e.g. the Bernard van Leer Foundation (Dutch-based).
- TVET (Technical and Vocational Education) enhances economic opportunities for women as well as men by equipping them with skills and experience. If “inclusive and comprehensive” skills training is combined with literacy for women, based on women’s needs, and developed with their active participation in all phases of the programs, these interventions have proven to be even more successful. Often these programs also include savings- and credit groups to enhance women’s economic empowerment.
- School-based management and Parents' participation: Support school-based management, allowing schools more autonomy in decisions about their management, in particular on how human, material, and financial resources are used. Dutch support to active parents and teachers’ participation has also impacted greatly on better quality of education, access of all children to primary schooling, and retention of girls in education. The involvement of parents and teachers can take various forms, to be identified and developed in the local contexts. Parent-teacher associations, Mothers clubs, Fathers involvement in education, Parent participation all these forms have reaped benefits for all children, and in particular girls.
In societies with strict norms and values regarding the segregation of the sexes, girls' education has been promoted by innovative approaches respecting local customs. In Balochistan (Pakistan), in cooperation with parents and the local communities, home-based schooling for girls has been introduced. Girls, who never would go to school before, now came together at a large compound of community members. Girls of 18 years and older, from the village, with some educational background, were selected for an 8 -months long applied teachers training, after which they would teach at the home-based schools. In so doing these young female teachers would gain more respect in the village, and, in general, would leverage the emancipation and empowerment of women (status). Economically they would become more independent by earning a salary.
- Institutional strengthening of Ministries of Education to improve Girls’ education:
Support has been given to developing and implementing policies in order to address:
- the gender gap in enrolment in primary education; encouraging both girls and boys to enroll and stay in school. Special measures are to be taken because fewer girls are finishing primary education and transiting to secondary education and their performance may lag behind boys;
- targeted interventions, such as an improved teachers training and increase in the share of female teachers in order to enhance enrolment and performance of girls in school and to lower drop-out rates;
- Since girls’ access to schooling depends on the distance to school, costs of schooling, and – to a more limited extent – the quality of education, more schools need to be built for nearby homes and households;
- developing “demand-side” policies, to tackle school costs in order to benefit in particular girls;
- provide Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), including addressing menstrual care and access to sanitary pads, removing barriers to girls’ schooling, and encouraging responsible sexual behavior and relationships between boys and girls. In doing so, gender-based violence and preventing unwanted teenage pregnancies will be addressed.
- Support to Higher Education through NUFFIC
The NUFFIC scholar- and bursary programs, the current one being the “Orange Knowledge Fund”, have had a significant impact over the years. Quite a number of students (m/f) return to their home countries after studying in the Netherlands and obtaining important positions, both in society and in politics. This has facilitated mutual cooperation and understanding between our nations. Women students have been especially encouraged. The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) benefited many promising women students from developing countries through their courses, including one on gender.