1. Inequalities in Education
International Development Conference Vulnerability and Resilience
Purna Kumar Shrestha
VSO International
23-24 November 2016
@purnashrestha

2. Sustainable Development Goal 4
The target 4.5 focuses exclusively on the need to ‘ensure equal access to all levels
Global indicator aims to measure disparities in access to education from early childhood to adult education
Target 4.5 is limited to disparity and in this respect, does not capture aspects of equity
unrelated to access
VSO’s inclusive education core programme area’s desire change:
‘Every child enjoys quality inclusive education and life-long learning opportunities that empower and enable them to realise their full potential and wellbeing’
Education remains a social institution that reflects and reproduces socioeconomic and cultural disadvantages that prevail in the rest of society.

3. Uganda- Education Inequality
Rural = 41% Urban = 71%
Rural Female= 39% Male= 43%
Urban= 64% Male= 79%
Rural female Richest= 45%
Urban female richest= 67%
Rural male richest= 38%
Urban male richest= 81%

4. Children who have never been to school - Uganda
Female and Male- 14%
Female urban – 4% rural= 14%
rural= female 15% male- 6%
Wealth- rural female(poorest)- 25% richest- 3%
Female urban- 4

5. Listening to voices of primary actors
Moroto
‘From the Ground Up’
A report on the challenges and opportunities for girls’ education in Karamoja region, Uganda
Challenges
Economic challenges
Socio-cultural values and traditions
Unfriendly school factors
The findings of this report are drawn from a qualitative study of the barriers to the attainment of quality primary school education for girls in Uganda’s Karamoja region in 2015.
This study also includes first-hand experiences of the girls themselves who talked about their lives both inside and outside of school including girls who have access to education albeit periodically, as well as girls who have dropped out of school
This study draws directly from the experiences, perspectives and attitudes of those working and receiving an education in Karamoja. Captured here are the perspectives of Head Teachers, Deputy Head Teachers, Senior Teachers, School Management Committees, Parent Teacher Associations, District Education Officials, political leaders and NGO’s working in two districts.
Economic challenges
Widespread poverty, harsh conditions and limited disposable income disadvantaged girls in particular. In this environment, girls are perceived as a vital source of work and wealth (when married).
Socio-cultural values and traditions
A male dominated, patriarchal society which perpetuate gender inequality such as traditional practices in relation to early marriage, unfair division of household labour and gender based violence all impact on a girl’s ability to receive a quality education.
Particularly unique to Karamoja is the perception that a girl’s bride price will reduce if she is educated, hence, an additional barrier to girls’ education. The absence of role models for girls emerged as a major issue in Karamoja
Travelling distance to school, unfriendly school environment, poor teaching, substandard resources, Teachers’ attitudes, harassment or sexual abuse and low achievement rates.

6. The burden of household chores falling to girls was another obvious barrier to their education
Fetching water, collecting firewood, gardening, brewing beer and raising animals - that is how I pay for my school fees. Sometimes I can’t get to school which leads to failure because I don’t understand what is happening in class. This causes us to drop out of school and leads to early marriage.” (Lia, pupil)

7. Voices of primary actors and stakeholders
“If the money is not there, it will always be the boy who goes to school. The girl can always marry, so educating the boy is preferred.” (Female Kasimeri pupil)
Older school girls encounter the same problem when they get home from school. They find there is nothing to eat at home. They feel bad that their younger siblings are hungry so they go to work in town and buy food for their family.” (Chairman PTA, Moroto )
“Our community says that when girls go to school, they adopt bad things like engaging in early sex. They say girls should stay at home so that they can attract the best bride price. Girls who don’t go to school are worth a lot more - 50 cows for some”. (Senior Teacher, Moroto )
“If the money is not there, it will always be the boy who goes to school. The girl can always marry, so educating the boy is preferred.” (Female Kasimeri pupil)

8. VSO’s interest in working with academic institutions
How can we involve primary actors (marginalised children) and other key stakeholders in the identification of education needs and solutions?
How can VSO help creating spaces, processes and mechanisms for interaction and engagement with children, parents, community, and schools in addressing barriers to access to quality education?
How can VSO work with other stakeholders to generate evidence on what works to improve education systems to deliver better learning for all at scale in low resource settings ?
VSO’s experience highlights that building resilience to the risks posed by natural, environmental and human caused events is essential to poverty reduction and protecting development gains.
VSO aims to ensure that its programmes are more resilient to crises such as the earthquakes in Nepal, floods in Malawi, so that the work we have undertaken isn’t just washed away. Central to this is supporting the communities we work with to mitigate, prepare for and recover from these shocks.

9. Thank you ! Any questions ?
If you want to learn about VSO’s resilience work and get involved , there is currently a role of lead advisor (Resilience) being advertised
g-pro/jobs/lead-advisor-resilience
Purna Kumar Shrestha