BRIDGE is increasing the number of female students in rural areas of TaizEfforts to educate girls confront cultural, social and economic challenges [Archives:2008/1128/Reportage]
The Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, currently is supporting the BRIDGE girls' education project in Taiz governorate. The project recently invited nine journalists to visit target schools to see how the program is going in rural Taiz and how it is helping Yemeni girls to attend school.
The following is an edited version of an article written by Abdullah Al-Salemi, which the BRIDGE project team selected as the best from among the nine journalists.
BRIDGE ) Broadening Regional Initiative for Developing Girls' Education – is a girls' education project targeting 59 schools in six Taiz governorate districts: Al-Waziiyah, Maawiyah, Al-Makha, Maqbanah, Sameh and Dhubab. It began in June 2005 and will continue until November 2008.
The following report concludes my Nov. 4-7, 2007 field visits to several BRIDGE target schools, organized by BRIDGE in cooperation with the Yemen Times. I visited five schools in Al-Waziiyah and Maawiyah districts to assess the level of girls' education in these rural areas and evaluate BRIDGE's efforts.
Al-Waziiyah district
Cultural factors
“The problem is where girls may learn, not why they don't learn,” expressed one teacher employed by BRIDGE and working at Al-Fawz School. This statement sums up the problem facing girls' education in the region.
The project used religious ideas as the theme in launching its activities seeking to increase local awareness about the importance of girls' education. The phrase, “Girls' education is a religious duty,” was used as a motto because religious awareness is considered just as important and influential as cultural awareness.
Separating girls and boys so that the former may have classes with female teachers was preferable among those interviewed in the area and an idea premised on strong traditional beliefs and norms.
One man mentioned the importance of educating girls according to religious principles, but didn't object to girls having male teachers, explaining that although a male teacher from the same local community is acceptable, some prefer a female teacher for girls.
“Residents here say that it's shameful to allow girls to study with boys or be taught by male teachers because we're tribal,” he noted, adding, “They sometimes say that isn't good, speaking in the name of religion or sometimes in the name of the tribes.”
Extreme religious beliefs and certain tribal traditions have been the main reasons preventing girls' education. “One thing preventing girls from attending school is that parents think that when their daughter reaches grade 9 or 12, she'll need someone to photograph her for her certificate and from their standpoint, this is shameful and prohibited. Such a view isn't motivated by extreme religious culture as much as it is a result of a misinterpretation of tribal traditions,” one teacher commented.
Sa'eed Al-Dwrafi, manager of Al-Waziiyah's District Education Office, cited the efforts of mosque preachers in raising public awareness about the importance of educating girls. “Area residents have come to understand and accept that girls as well as boys should attend school. For example, at Al-Fawz School, there are classes above grade 6 comprised of both boys and girls,” he noted.
One eighth-grader reflected on her class situation: “We started out as 20 girls in the class, but now there are only four.” Such a decrease in female students is a source of frustration for both the girls and their families and may lead to more girls dropping out.
The same student continued, “My parents have allowed me to study this year, but they'll take me out of school next year unless a school with female teachers opens specifically for girls.”
While most families desire all-girls schools, it seems they accept co-ed classes because they are the only alternative to all-girl classes.
One father of three daughters in grades 6 to 9 accepts the current situation, saying, “I don't mind a male teacher for girls. We must raise people's religious awareness within our community.”
Based on this area's visit, the following conclusions were made:
– Parents with daughters in grades 6 to 9 accept co-ed classes with male teachers.
– Some residents want to hinder the progress of girls' educational projects for various reasons, such as out of envy, they have no daughters or they don't send their daughters to school and they want others to do the same.
– Parents who disagree with co-ed classes and male teachers are more willing to express their opinions because they see it as a chance to persuade authorities to open gender-segregated schools.
Another obstacle to area girls' education is their brothers' jealous protection of them. Such jealously apparently is motivated by the increasing harassment of girls, with brothers fearing that their sisters will be subjected to the same harassment. Thus, by preventing their sisters from attending school, their brothers actually are protecting them.
On the other hand, some parents are sufficiently satisfied with their daughters' basic education because they don't expect them to seek employment after that. This illustrates the need to increase awareness of the importance of educating girls, especially in terms of how doing so will benefit their families and communities.
Material factors
The BRIDGE project grants each target school YR 500,000 to improve its educational environment and quality of education. Schools use the grant to construct classrooms, hire teachers, hold school competitions, etc. With its grant, Al-Zahra School contracted four female teachers, two with diplomas and two with high school certificates .
The project's positive results at Al-Zahra School include increased girls' enrollment during the 2007-2008 school year to 384 girls in grades 1 to 9, 20 girls in 10th grade, 18 girls in 11th grade] and, for the first time in the school's history 12th grade opened with 27 girls.
Moreover, the dropout rate for girls has decreased. Thus, these examples show that the BRIDGE project is achieving its goal of closing the gap between the genders by increasing girls' enrollment to 85 percent of the boys' rate.
The following can be concluded from this review:
– A poor school environment (lack of facilities such as toilets, chairs, classrooms, textbooks, teachers and teaching aids, in addition to crowded classrooms) cause parents to be hesitant in sending their daughters to school.
– School environments can be improved by adding equipment and classrooms and employing female teachers, which will make co-ed classes more acceptable to the community.
Maawiyah district
Maawiyah district is very different from Al-Waziiyah district and represents considerable development in girls' education. The key difference is a lack of issues related to local tradition and extreme religious opinions. While target schools in the area all promote girls' education at higher levels and accept girls being taught by males, some residents are seeking to separate boys and girls in the future.
Regarding materials, both schools I visited – Baha Al-Deen School and Al-Farooq School – were examples of the general standard of Yemeni schools, being in good condition and having large classrooms equipped with enough chairs. Two classrooms at Baha Al-Deen School were built by the BRIDGE project along with local contributions of approximately 5 percent of the grant amount
One measure of the project's success at Al-Farooq School is the increased number of girls enrolled from 79 in the project's first year to 136 in its second year and 299 in its third.
Also in the project's second year, the school introduced sewing classes enrolling 35 students. According to the school's head, “There's a connection between girls' increased school enrollment and the increase in literacy and sewing classes. When mothers join these classes, they realize the material advantages of education; consequently, they encourage their daughters to attend school and study hard.”
Maawiyah District Education Office Manager Hassan Al-Gamily spoke enthusiastically about BRIDGE's efforts to develop girls' education in the district. “The project employs an innovative style to prepare the school each year by conducting training courses for various school committees, meeting with parents to encourage them to send their daughters to school, encouraging sermons by mosque preachers and other activities, such as distributing pens to students, providing every school a camera, etc.,” he noted, adding, “This process is sort of a 'warm up' for the local community to prepare families and interest them in sending their daughters to school.”
Despite the project's positive feedback and results, strong cultural, social and economic challenges remain and threaten girls' education.
Cultural challenges include the problem of increasing community awareness regarding the importance of education and changing traditional perspectives on the role of women in order to promote their equality with men.
The social challenges likewise address changing women's role in society in order for them to be recognized and respected as active, capable and productive individuals.
Overcoming economic challenges requires a comprehensive social development program to improve living conditions in order to enable families to send their children to school, something that – at least currently – often is considered a luxury.
Comparisons
All challenges to promoting girls' education must be addressed equally, which requires examining the core reasons for each challenge and how they relate to one another.
The cultural, social and economic challenges are evident in Al-Waziiyah, where priority should be given to increasing community awareness rather than purchasing additional equipment or materials. This doesn't mean the latter isn't important, but in this instance, the core of the challenge – lack of awareness – will continue no matter how much equipment is available.
However, the situation in Maawiyah is completely different because raising awareness isn't a major issue. As one member of the awareness campaign at Al-Farooq School commented, “Area residents have a good awareness about girls' education; however, we must solve the economic development problems that restrict girls' education, such as creating a suitable environment for girls once they complete high school.”
Both District Education Office managers of Maawiyah and Al-Waziiyah said they have benefited from the BRIDGE project in a variety of ways since the project began. The Fathers' Council also praised BRIDGE's efforts, applauding the project's success in creating favorable environments for girls' education by providing the necessary equipment and support in the target schools.
(This article originally was published Nov. 22, 2007 in the 22nd of May newspaper, Issue No. 737.)
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