Gender Equality and human rights

Gender Equality and human rights
Overcoming the barriers: a case study

The Savannah Education Trust is a
nongovernmental organisation (NGO) that
works in the Lawra Municipality in the Upper
West region of Ghana, on the border with
Burkina Faso (Figure 1). This is the most
deprived region in Ghana with low levels of
adult literacy and high levels of child mortality.
The Trust works in partnership with the Ghana
Education Service, the Dagaabe tribal
leadership and the local community to:
• Build primary schools in communities which

have never had access to education.
• Provide a free daily meal for each child to

increase school attendance.
• Provide teacher-training scholarships to

increase the number of teachers working in
this remote rural region.
The Trust was established in 2004.By the end of

2019 it had created 22 schools across eight villages that educated close to 2,000 children. Unusually for
rural sub-Saharan Africa this figure is made up of an almost equal number of boys (961, 51%) and girls (945,
49%).
The strategies for improving girls' education can be divided into specific girl-centred initiatives and
initiatives targeting all pupils, but improving girls' attendance (Table 1).The longer the school has been
running the more embedded and successful these strategies have become.
Tribal leadership
The most significant factor influencing attitudes to girls' education in Lawra Municipality is the progressive
attitude of the tribal leadership. The paramount chief, Naa Puowele Karbo III, leads the traditional council
and governs the 50,000 people scattered throughout the district /to boost social and economic
development/ He and his predecessors have a history of promoting girls' education, mainly by putting out
messages to influence the mindset of the population.
In recent years the traditional council, aware of its historical patriarchy and the negative impact of having
few female role models, has introduced a matriarchy of 'grandmothers'. These female leaders serve with
the paramount chief and traditional council to champion women's rights in the area.
Before the Trust builds a school in a village, it carries out a programme of community education to convince
parents of the value of education, for girls as well as boys.
Female teachers
Women teachers:
- provide accessible, sustained, positive role models for girls
- make parents feel more comfortable and less concerned about sexual harassment and sexual violence
- are more likely than men to provide caring services to students (especially girls) and to be more sensitive
to their emotional needs
Of the 90 teachers employed by the Ghana Education Service in Savannah Education Trust schools, 40% are
female. At preschool and primary level 47% of teachers are female. Considering the rural nature of Lawra
District, and its low level of adult literacy, this compares well with the figure for Ghana as a whole, where
42% of primary teachers were female in 2018. It is hoped that the female primary teachers will increase
enrolment rates for girls in secondary education, as this is a trend seen in other countries.
Girls who have completed their education are encouraged to apply for a teacher training scholarship
funded by the Savannah Education Trust. Trainees work at the schools as volunteer (untrained) teachers
while completing a 2-year distance-learning teaching qualification. Distance learning is also more practical
for women.
Toilet facilities
For adolescent girls in particular, being able to change and dispose of sanitary pads and wash their hands in
a safe, single-sex facility is crucial in encouraging them to attend school. It is estimated that around 30% of
schools in Africa do not have any toilets, let alone facilities specifically for girls. The Savannah Education
Trust ensures that each school has good-quality, well-ventilated, single sex toilets.
Free school meals

The Trust provides a free meal for each child at school every day — approximately 340,000 meals a year at
a cost of £45 per child. This helps to improve attendance, reduces the pressure on the family 'cookpot'
(particularly during the dry or 'hungry' season), reduces malnutrition and helps to improve concentration in
class. Buying local food also stimulates the economy and employing school cooks provides an additional
source of income, mainly for women.
Although the feeding programme benefits all children, it particularly helps girls, who traditionally prepare
the family meal, including pounding maize and collecting firewood and water. Children generally eat only
one meal per day, so the feeding programme reduces the time required for household food preparation
and frees up girls to attend school.
The timing of the school day — starting at 7 a.m. and ending immediately after the free meal at lunchtime,
allows all children to attend school but still have some daylight hours in the afternoon to work on the
family farm. The people of this area live by subsistence farming (they eat the food they are able to grow)
and farming is therefore essential to life.
Nurseries
The fertility rate in the Upper West Region of Ghana is high (although steadily declining) at 5.2 births per
1,000 women of reproductive age. To overcome the problem of female children being kept at home to care
for younger siblings, the Trust provides a two classroom nursery block at each school. The older children
can take their younger siblings to the nursery at the start of the school day, freeing them up to attend the
nearby primary or secondary school.
Geographical information systems
The distance between school and home is a key factor in whether or not girls attend school.
In collaboration with the Ghana Education Service, the Savannah Education Trust is using a simple
geographical information system (CIS) and volunteer A-level geography students to map every household
and school in Lawra District. This will enable the Trust to target limited resources to areas of most need and
reduce the barrier of distance for all students, particularly girls.
Conclusion
Access to education is a universal human right. This case study demonstrates how, on a local level, some of
the barriers to gender equality in primary education can be overcome. This may lead to improved equality
of education for girls, with a positive multiplier effect for the entire community.
Questions to answer in full sentences
1. Where does the Savannah Education Trust work? Why is it an important area to support education?
2. What had the Savannah Education Trust achieved by 2019?
3. What was unusual about what the Savannah Education Trust was able to achieve?
4. How has tribal leadership helped to increase the amount of girls in education?
5. What is the roll of the “grandmothers”?
6. Summarise the 3 reasons why it is important for the schools to hire female teachers
7. What areas girls encourages to do once they have completed their education? How are they
encouraged to do this?
8. Why is it particularly important for girls to have access to toilets in school?
9. What the benefits of providing free school meals to the families?
10. How do the free school meals help the wider community?
11. Why do the free school meals help girls in particular?
12. How have the schools tried to overcome the problem of females having to stay and look after
younger siblings?
Challenge:
1. Which strategy used by the Savannah Education trust do you think is the most important when getting girls
into education? Think about the knock on effects of your chosen method. Why is this more important than
another strategy? Fully justify your choice. There are sentence starters below if you are struggling but you do
not have to use them
I think the most important strategy to get girls into education is…
This strategy would mean that…
This would lead to…
As a result…
This is more important than…
This is because…
2. Why is it important to get girls into education? What will it lead to? Why is this important? Fully justify your
answer

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Gender Equality and human rights

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Gender Equality and human rights

Overcoming the barriers: a case study

• Build primary schools in communities which

• Provide a free daily meal for each child to

• Provide teacher-training scholarships to

The Trust was established in 2004.By the end of

Free school meals

Questions to answer in full sentences

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