Use of Gender Statistics to Inform, Monitor and Evaluate Education Policy and Programs in Malawi

1. Use of Gender Statistics to Inform, Monitor and Evaluate Education Policy and Programs in Malawi Mercy Kanyuka National Statistical Office Malawi

2. Presentation Outline • Introduction • Importance of Education In Malawi • Specific policies and programs • Free primary education • Readmission policy • Reverse of policy to de-board etc • Use of Gender statistics • Conclusion

3. Introduction • Gender statistics collected, disseminated to inform national policy goals • without data there is no visibility, without visibility, there is no priority.(Hafkin) • Sources of gender statistics: • Official govt. statistics • Specialized surveys

4. Importance of Education in Malawi • Education is at the heart of any national development • Combination of effective and equitable investment in education with sound economic policies have reduced poverty • Malawi govt. places education highly in the dev. Agenda • MoEd Policy and Investment Framework (PIF) for the period from 2000 to 2015 & • Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) – high priority would be given to the gender imbalance and inequity in the education system at all levels • Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS 2006-2011) recognizes that education is a catalyst for socio-economic development

5. National Education Sector Plan (NESP 2008-2017) • Puts into operation the broad educational priorities of the MGDS • Two of the three main goals of NESP are to address gender imbalances: • Expand equitable access to education • Improve quality and relevance of education to reduce dropout and repetition and to promote effective learning. • NESP has set projections goals, targets for enrolment, attendance and retention

6. Specific Policies, programs to address inequalities in educ. • Free Primary education • Re-admission policy • Reverse of policy to de-board • Child Friendly School program • Grants to schools to support orphans • Specific girls’ grant • Mother groups program

7. Free Primary education • Introduction of free primary education in 1994 eliminated fees for all children at primary educ. • Enrollment in primary education went up by about 60 percent from 1.8 million to 2.9 million • 2007 enrollment shows almost equal numbers between girls and boys. • The policy of school uniform 1994, school uniform is no longer a requirement for school attendance at primary education level.

8. Readmission policy • The re-admission policy allows school aged mothers to return to school after giving birth. • Policy put in place in 1993, procedures revised in 2006 • Policy has benefited a lot of girls to date

9. Reverse of policy to de-board • Public Expenditure Review of 2000 had a strong recommendation to de-board secondary schools for cost effectiveness, and to improve accessibility of students • But studies indicated that girls performance improves greatly in boarding secondary schools compared to day schools. • Consequently government has reversed the policy and Girls’ boarding schools are being built.

10. Child Friendly School program • Included in the child friendly program is the provision of water and sanitation facilities for both boys and girls but mostly targeting girls • School feeding program

11. Grants to schools to support orphans and specific to girls • Impact of HIV AIDS on Malawi has led to increases in the trend of orphans. • According to MICS 2006 10 percent of children were single orphans while 3 percent were double orphans • The Malawi government has programmed a specific grant targeting orphaned girls and boys. • In NESP there are plans to support orphans, starting with the support of 20% of schools in 2009/10 to 100% of schools by 2013/14 • A UNICEF sponsored project of Cash Transfers • Specific girls’ grant programmed targeting girls in difficult circumstance

12. Mother groups program • Initiative of Forum for African Women in Malawi (FAWEMA). • Mother group is a body of 10 mothers, chiefs, member of school committee and the school head set up within the school community to monitor girls enrolment, attendance and retention • MoEduc. has since adopted the mother group program • Plans to facilitate the establishment of mother groups in al primary schools by 2017/18,

13. Use of gender statistics • Figure 1

14. Proportion of girls by Std,1994/5, 2000, 2007

15. Additional Policies and programs or to improve girl’s access to educ. • Social mobilization campaigns to change attitudes and behaviors affecting girls’ education at grass-root level. • Role model & carrier counseling of girl child • Donor support for the development of gender-balanced community schools, to bring schools closer to communities to reduce distance to primary schools for girls • Mainstreaming life skills in education curriculum

16. Conclusion • Education Sector is very critical for econ & social dev. of Malawi • In Malawi for the Ministry of Education Science and Technology has use gender statistics to establish existing inequalities in education, set targets and goals, design policies and programs • Reliable and timely statistics are needed to monitor and evaluate effectiveness of the policies and programs to achieve the set goals and targets for timely interventions.