Notes from Asia Society Event: "Keeping Girls in School"

Notes from “Keeping Girls in School” Event, April 5th at Asia Society:

Countries Discussed: Pakistan, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Zambia, Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan

David Sprague—AED and former USAID

·         67.5 million children worldwide are out of school, 95% of those children live in the developing world

·         Countries with most children out of school: (1) Nigeria (2) Pakistan (3) India (4) Bangladesh

·         In Bangladesh, more boys are out of school than girls

·         40% of Pakistani girls do not attend primary school; 70% do not attend secondary school

·         In province of Balochistan in Pakistan, the attendance rate of girls is 13%; at one point it had been raised to 30%, but progress has since slipped

·         For females, the highest attendance rates in Pakistan are at age 8

·         The Higher Ed. Commission in Pakistan is a very effective organization but is potentially dissolving because of political disputes (recently released a report showing that many MPs had forged grades)

Corey Heyman, Chief Program Officer, Room to Read

·         In low-income countries, for every 87 boys enrolled in secondary school, there are 83 girls enrolled

·         4 levels for measuring gender success in education:

1.       gender inequality

2.       gender parity (access)

3.       gender equity (opportunity)

4.        gender equality (outcomes)

·         Global statistics on girls’ education only address parity and access, but even the parity measures are not strong (rely on UNICEF survey that asks “Did a member of your household attend school at any time?”); stronger statistical measures needed

·         Room to Read operates in Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Laos, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Zambia, Bangladesh and opening new program in Tanzania

·         10,580 girls in longterm ed program; want to triple numbers by 2014

·         Have transitioned from providing material support to girls to offering support services (academic tutoring, mentoring, career counseling) to finding that the focus on girls themselves is not sufficient (now focusing on school, community and government buy-in)

·         Changing their focus from individual girls to whole schools of girls

·         Have developed really interesting “Life Skills Competency Framework” and an accompanying assessment tool is forthcoming

·         Will be featured in upcoming “10x10” documentary (10 girls in 10 countries)

·         Only works with government schools and not with schools in the highest categories of need

·         Recently funded by MasterCard Foundation to study the transition of girls from secondary to tertiary education

·         Resource for collaboration: Clinton Global Initiative Girls and Women Action Network

Carol Yost, Head of Women’s Empowerment Program, Asia Foundation

·         Not primarily focused on education, but their women’s empowerment program takes a holistic approach

·         Focus on Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Afghanistan

·         In South Asia, the government spends 13% of its budget on education and female literacy rate is 41%; in Southeast Asia, government spends 18% of its budget on education and female literacy rate is 81%

·         Most Afghan teachers haven’t been trained in a decade

·         Keeping girls in secondary school dramatically improves primary enrollment rates

From: Katie Sheketoff
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 4:48 PM
To: GenderDev; Bulletin Board
Subject: FW: Don't miss "Keeping Girls in School"

From: Asia Society Washington [mailto:AsiaDC=asiasociety.org@mcsv162.net] On Behalf Of Asia Society Washington
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:30 PM
To: Katie Sheketoff
Subject: Don't miss "Keeping Girls in School"

To ensure that you are receiving our emails, please add AsiaDC@Asiasociety.org to your contacts list.
Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Date
Tuesday
April 5th
6:30 to 8:30 PM

Location
Asia Society Washington
The Cinnabar Room
Whittemore House, 2nd Flr.
1526 New Hampshire Ave, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036

Directions
Metro access: Dupont Circle
(Red Line)
Google Map

Tickets & RSVP
Asia Society Members: $10
Asia Society Non-Members: $15
Students: $5
RSVP's are required by 12 PM on April 4th.

Speaker
Cory Heyman
Chief Program Officer
Room To Read

Discussants
Carol Yost
Director
Women’s Empowerment Program
Asia Foundation

David Sprague
Executive Director
Education Policy and Data Center
Academy for Educational Development

 
Moderator
Ariana Leon Rabindranath
Associate Director, Asia Society Washington


More Information
Web: www.asiasociety.org
Email:
AsiaDC@asiasociety.org
Phone: 202-833-ASIA (2742)
Fax: 202-833-0189
Follow Asia Society on:
 
  

Join our Mailing List

As a non-profit organization, funding for Asia Society Washington comes from membership fees and sponsorship of events. We are grateful for the support of our current members, who recognize the need to develop links between policy makers and the Asia-related leadership community.

Join Asia Society Washington to get member tickets to more than 200 programs annually in Washington, DC and New York, and get discounts at participating restaurants in our Asia a la Carte Program and at the Asia Store:
Become a Member


Asia Society Washington
Whittemore House
1526 New Hampshire Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Web:
www.asiasociety.org
Email: AsiaDC@asiasociety.org
Phone: 202-833-ASIA (2742)
Fax: 202-833-0189

Keeping Girls In School

The 21st Century Challenge for Education in Asia

The issue of gender-based educational rights remains a challenge for many Asian countries, particularly in rural areas. There are many reasons why girls have no access to basic education or drop out from schools. These include economic considerations, gender bias, safety, lack of adequate school facilities within their neighborhoods, and absence of female role models in schools. 

Girls’ education is vital to a country’s development because it promotes investment in human resources and is capable of raising living standards and encouraging social stability if managed well.

In this panel discussion, Cory Heyman, Carol Yost, and David Sprague will speak about working towards achieving the elusive goal of getting girls to continue their education through secondary school, and how broader research in the education sector has shaped their thinking over the last decade.   

About our discussants

Dr. Cory Heyman serves as the Chief Program Officer, supporting Room to Read’s Habit of Reading portfolio (Reading Room, Local Language Publishing, and School Room programs), the Girls’ Education program, and the Monitoring and Evaluation unit.  Cory has acted as a close advisor to Room to Read since 2004, when he assisted in developing the organization’s first monitoring and evaluation study. Cory brings with him extensive experience in international development and education, having recently served as the Vice President and Deputy Director of the Academy for Educational Development’s Center for Gender Equity.

Carol Yost has been with The Asia Foundation since 1986. In 1993 she designed and launched a dedicated program to increase women's participation in public decision-making and political processes to address their priority issues. As director of the Women's Empowerment Program, she oversees all of the Foundation's programs to advance women across the Asia-Pacific region in conjunction with the Foundation's country field offices and local partner organizations. Based in Washington, D.C., Ms. Yost travels to Asia regularly to collaborate with the Foundation's expert staff to develop programs that further women's political participation, legal rights, education, and economic opportunity and to support efforts that combat violence against women and trafficking of women and children.

Dr. David Sprague has spent nearly his entire professional career working in the field of education. After teaching for five years in both public and private schools in the U.S., he returned to graduate school and received his Ph.D. in Education from Florida State University. He joined USAID in 1972. From 1979 to 1988 he was the Director of the Office of Education in AID/Washington's technical bureau. After converting to the Foreign Service, he spent the next 12 years in Pakistan, Ukraine and Bangladesh. After retiring from USAID in 2000, he lived and worked as an education consultant in Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan.

The Women and Development in Asia Series is underwritten by LEO A DALY.


Copyright (c) 2011 Asia Society. All Rights Reserved.