Measures to specifically address sex discrimination in access to education were identified in thirteen Member States (AT, BE, CY, EL, ES, FI, FR, IE, MT, PL, PT, RO and UK).
As illustrated in Table 4.1 below, these measures can be broadly grouped into three categories:
▪
Targeting specific aspects of access;▪
Mainstreaming into school level strategies; and▪
Addressing multiple discrimination in access to education.Table 4.1 Thematic overview of example initiatives to target sex discrimination in access to education
Targeting specific aspects of access Mainstreaming into
school level strategies
Addressing multiple discrimination in access to education
UK (admissions)
Poland (access to public schools) Finland (supporting boys‟ attendance) Portugal (girls‟ access to sport)
Austria (gender principle) Belgium (gender policy) Ireland (gender policy)
Romania (Roma girls)
Transnational - CY, EL, ES, MT and UK (immigrant girls)
France (immigrant girls) Spain (girls)
Examples of measures corresponding to each type of initiative are provided below. 4.2.2 Measures targeting specific aspects of access to education
There is limited evidence across the 27 Member States of measures that directly address specific aspects of access to education. Only four very different examples have been identified: two national level government initiatives (UK – England and Wales and PL), a small regional project (FI) and NGO activity (PT). With the exception of the UK example, the other measures introduced were timebound and none of them are currently operational.
In England and Wales, the School Admission Code 2010 was introduced in early 2010. This code guides admissions authorities in setting out their mandatory requirements. This is a written guide produced by the UK Department for Education which aims to help admissions authorities at the local level to manage the admissions process lawfully. A key element of the code is guidance on the effective implementation of legislation on gender discrimination in schools‟ admissions policies. In Poland, equal access for girls and boys to public schools and to extracurricular activities
featured in the National Action Programme for Women 2003-2005. The strategic goal of the second implementation phase of this Programme was to eliminate all forms of inequality and discrimination on grounds of sex in the education process. This included:
59
▪
Ensuring that girls and boys have equal access to public schools at all levels and in all school types;▪
Providing equal access for girls and boys to all extracurricular and after-school activities; and▪
Gathering and analysing the information on conditions and significant restrictions on access of girls and women to all types of public schools.The Ministry of Education in cooperation with other ministries was responsible for implementing the Programme. The Programme and the associated regional network of plenipotentiaries for equal treatment did not continue beyond 2005. . Some regional authorities however kept their
plenipotentiaries, though they operate autonomously.
While the project sought to eliminate inequality it is unclear whether its activities – which focused on public schools - has made a difference concerning the exemptions that allow some educational institutions to admit either boys or girls (see table 3.3).
A small regional project coordinated by the University of Lapland in Northern Finland operational
between 2008 -2010. „Pohjoisen Pojat Koulussa‟ (Northern boys at school) aimed to raise
awareness of issues linked to boys‟ school attendance in sparsely populated regions, and develop measures to support their attendance, motivation and achievement. The project aimed to promote gender and geographical equality and prevent social exclusion. The project, which involved seven schools, included research on boys‟ and girls‟ experiences and attitudes to school attendance. The Portuguese Association of Women and Sport has been working on the issue of girls' access to school sporting activities, challenging inequalities in access to educational practices in daily life in schools. Between 2004 and 2006, the Association organised a project in schools in the district of Porto called „More Sport at School‟.129
The aim of the project was to engage and motivate girls to regularly exercise. The specific objectives of the project were as follows:
▪
To reduce dropout among girls concerning sports;▪
To raise awareness amongst tutors, association leaders and local authorities of gender equality in sport participation; and▪
To promote non sexist practices in sport programmes in schools.In total 2,529 boys and girls from 7th to 12th grades (aged 12 and above) participated in the programme on a voluntary basis. The project also included 118 teachers, 31 professional athletes, local authorities, sports associations and a sports newspaper. Throughout the two year period, several activities were organised and are documented in the manual „Despertar para a Igualdade,
Mais Desporto na Escola‟ („Wake-up‟ for equality: more sport at school). This manual was the first
tool in Portugal on mainstreaming gender equality in sports at school.
4.2.3 Initiatives to mainstream the elimination of discrimination into school strategies and practices A number of mainstreaming initiatives have been identified concerning the elimination of gender discrimination in school strategies and practices. In all three cases identified below, the legislative framework covers both public and private schools, though the references to sex discrimination are implicit in two cases. In Belgian Flemish community, legislation is implicit concerning general anti- discrimination legislation that covers the field of education; and Ireland it is implicit concerning constitutional protection and constitutional protection of gender equality in the field of education. In Austria the binding teaching principle „Erziehung zur Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern‟ (Teaching for equality between women and men), implemented in all schools since 1994/1995, aims to support the principle of co-education and the development of a new learning culture. Under this principle all actors in a school are responsible for implementing equality in all subjects and are required to reflect on social structures as well as their own contribution to (re)producing society‟s gender stereotypes. Its target group are both girls and boys. ,
In the Belgian Flemish Community, a manual („Gen-BaSec‟) was developed by the Flemish Ministry for Education and Training for schools wishing to implement a well-informed gender policy.
129 Paula Botelho-Gomes et al (2010). “Women and Sport: research performed by the Faculty of Sport (University of
Porto, Portugal) and activities undertaken by the Portuguese Association Women and Sport”,
60 It covers many aspects of education, with suggestions about how to move forward and good practices. The manual offers advice for teacher-pupil interactions and strategies for gender coaches to help teaching staff become gender-aware. The manual includes an overview of research findings, a game and an inventory of existing tools. A working group evaluated these outputs for their usefulness and they were tested in schools at both primary and secondary school level.
In Ireland the Equal Measures Programme funded by the Department of Education and Skills is implemented in all primary schools nationwide. The aim of the programme is to facilitate the formulation of an active gender equality policy in schools, raise awareness of gender equality issues among staff, pupils and parents, examine teaching practices in relation to gender equality issues and cultivate an inclusive, fair school environment.
4.2.4 Initiatives that focus on multiple-discrimination and inequality in access to education
The examples of initiatives focusing on multiple discrimination that are identified in this subsection involve a gender dimension, even though in some cases gender might be not regarded as the main factor for discrimination. These examples relate to access to education for ethnic or religious minority communities. Here the lower participation rate of minority pupils is attributed to various factors, such as:
▪
Cultural norms and behaviours among (some members) of minority communities;▪
Stereotypes held by the majority population;▪
Lack of enforcement of the law in Member States that prohibits discrimination in access to education.Through non-legislative measures introduced by Ministries of Education, NGOs and academic institutions, national stakeholders in eight Member States (CY, EL, ES, FR, LV, MT, RO and UK) endeavour to address the problem of multiple-discrimination, and strive towards ensuring genuine equality of opportunity in compulsory education.
In Romania, during the period 2005-2006, a programme specifically supported Roma girls‟ access to school in four counties (Ialomita, Tulcea, Constanta and Braila). The initiative „Roma girls go to school too!‟ (Si fetele rome merg la scoala!) was delivered by the Education 2000+ Centre with funding from United National Fund for Children and Unicef Romania. The rationale for the
programme was that Roma girls under 16 years are particularly vulnerable to early school leaving mainly due to early marriage and pregnancy (common in some Roma communities). Furthermore, there is a general distrust in the school environment and the benefits of education amongst Roma girls and Roma people at large.
The project focused on reducing school drop-out rates amongst Roma girls, by stimulating their interest in school and raising their awareness about the implications of marriage and motherhood at an early age. Specific objectives included:
▪
Changing perceptions of education and schools within Roma communities;▪
Identifying factors triggering early school leaving and subsequent intervention modalities;▪
Producing informative materials (brochures on children's fundamental rights, risk of teenage pregnancy peer guides, training for trainers and teachers etc.);▪
Organising an awareness raising „road show‟ to inform the target group about the risks of teenage pregnancies and family life started at an early age from a legal, social and economic perspective; and▪
Awareness raising amongst public authorities and civil society about the need to prevent and reduce the rate of early marriages and early pregnancy in Roma communities.The one-year project delivered 44 information and counselling sessions for 300 Roma girls aged between 12 and 18 years old and 300 Roma mothers, married at an early age. Amongst the target group, the age of marriage has increased and early pregnancy has fallen, in parallel with a decrease in the school dropout rate.
Another relevant example of initiatives focusing on multiple discrimination is the transnational programme „Young Migrant Women in Secondary Education: Promoting integration and mutual
61 EL, ES, MT and UK). The programme focuses on the issue of access to education from a gender perspective. This collaborative project between the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, a Cypriot NGO, the Centre of Research in Theories and Practices that Overcome Inequalities at the University of Barcelona in Spain, the Centre for Rights, Equalities and Social Justice at the Institute of Education, University of London in the United Kingdom, the Department of Sociology at the Panteion University in Greece, and the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Educational Research at the University of Malta. The project is an 18-month project, currently ongoing, funded by the European Fund for the Integration of Third Country Nationals.
The aims of the project are as follows:
▪
To explore how the intersection of gender and ethnic stereotyping excludes and marginalises young migrant women in secondary education;▪
To identify the gaps between mainstream integration measures and young migrant women‟s needs;▪
To make policy recommendations that improve the quality of education offered to young migrant women taking into consideration their particular needs.To achieve these goals, the project‟s activities are as follows:
▪
Mapping of integration policies in education systems;▪
In-country research in five Member States (CY, EL, ES, MT and UK) to explore if current policies and practices in secondary education address the specific language, religious and cultural needs of migrant female students;▪
Discussion groups with relevant stakeholders to gain in-depth understanding of the needs and experiences of young migrant women in secondary education across the five partner countries;▪
Policy recommendations concerning flexible and focused integration measures that address the specific needs of young migrant women in secondary education;▪
Press conferences in all partner countries to present and disseminate the research findings;▪
The organisation of a workshop to develop a transnational cooperation network;▪
Awareness-raising campaigns using information leaflets and a resource book which will present the results of the project, provide examples of good practice and make policyrecommendations; and
▪
A final conference to address the need for the development of an integration model responsive to the particular needs of young migrant women in secondary education.The report of the study will become available in spring 2011.
In addition to the examples mentioned above in-country research has also highlighted that in some countries such as France and Spain, the situation of immigrant/minority girls is considered as an important issue and is reflected in national plans or priorities for their equality bodies . Indeed, research findings presented in Chapter 2 highlights that incidents of discrimination identified in these two countries include a minority community dimension.
For instance in France, the Equality Body (HALDE, Haute Autorite de Lutte contre les
Discriminations et pour l‟Egalite) has commissioned research on the general question of multiple
discrimination of immigrant girls, that is expected to be published in 2011.
In Spain, the National Strategic Plan for Equal Opportunities for the period 2008-2011 (Plan
Estratégico de Igualdad de Oportunidades) highlights the issue of multiple discrimination faced by
girls in education. It states that specific attention should be paid to vulnerable groups of girls and women who might suffer from discrimination based on disability status, ethnic minorities, migration and social exclusion.
In several other countries, programmes have been introduced to facilitate the integration of migrant children at school (irrespective of their gender). These include:
▪
In Greece, the, Educational Programme for the children of the Muslim Minority has been established in Thrace for the period 2010-2013. This initiative seeks to integrate all Muslim minority school-age children in the educational system and in the society. Since the enrolment rates of minority girls are significantly below those for minority boys and the national average in62 Greece130, minority girls will be a main beneficiary of the programme if it is successfully implemented.
▪
In Greece, another current initiative which aims at tackling discrimination against Roma children in access to education. The programme „Education of Roma Students‟ is co-funded by the Greek Government and the European Social Fund and will run between 2010 and 2013. One of the aims of the initiative is to increase female participation in compulsory education and to reduce the high drop our rates of female Roma students.▪
Similarly in Hungary the Roma Education Fund (REF) delivers special education initiatives by that aim to close the gap in educational outcomes between Roma and non-Roma pupils. Such initiatives are of particular interest for Roma girls, as their drop-out rates are high. The REF is part of the implementation of the Roma Decade of Inclusion 2005-2015.4.2.5 Initiatives specifically targeted to address sex discrimination in access to compulsory education: summary
The overview of existing measures and initiatives specifically targeting the elimination of sex discrimination in access to compulsory education shows that: