Gender Equity in Ugandan Secondary Schools

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Martha Howard and Dr. Julie Hite

The International Bill of Rights declares education to be a human right (UN, 1948) which, if denied, limits the opportunities for personal development and growth. At the World Education Forum in 2000 held in Dakar, Senegal by UNESCO, the international community agreed to the Dakar Framework for Action. This agreement states a timeframe within which to achieve certain educational goals. Among these were the goals of achieving gender parity in education by 2005 and gender equality by 2015 (UNESCO, 2003). As a participant in the conference, the Ugandan government agreed to these goals, and as such has an obligation to see that they are carried out. This provides the foundation for the research we performed in Uganda.

Girls in the Ugandan education system face many problems as a result of unavailable or discriminatory education. Although gender parity has improved, there is still a higher percentage of boys receiving schooling than girls, especially in secondary education (Kasente, 2003; Nsubuga, 2008). When girls do receive schooling, it is often not up to the same standards as the boys’ schooling in the same system. Research shows that girls in Ugandan schools often face problems such as sexual harassment, discriminatory interactions with instructors, disregard for the girls’ need of privacy in the physical facilities, inability to handle female sanitation issues in the school setting, failure of school curriculum to address gender issues, and resistance from people in the community (Kasente, 2003; Muhwezi, 2003; Naluwemba, 2007; Skinner, Oler & Hite, 2005). These issues can deny female students their right to equitable education, which can limit future opportunities for personal happiness and physical well-being.

The purpose of this research was to identify current gender equity and access issues in secondary schools in Mukono, Uganda as well as to assess the progress that has been made towards the UNESCO goals of gender equality. Data from qualitative interviews as well as quantitative surveys was collected to understand student perceptions of gender inequalities within the Ugandan education system.

The data collection portion of this research began in the summer of 2008. For two months a co-researcher and I interviewed both male and female secondary students in Uganda regarding their experience in school. As the main form of data collection, we used qualitative, semi-structured interviews. In these interviews, we asked questions ranging from discipline, sex education, course preference, and sexual harassment. Participants for these interviews were selected based on their gender and grade level of schooling. The secondary form of data collection was a shorter qualitative survey that was given to a larger number of both male and female students. For this survey, the students were asked to rank statements on a scale, with one extreme being “strongly agree” and the other being “strongly disagree”. These statements were based around the same topics addressed in the qualitative interviews. All the data gathered in Uganda is based on student perception. Data analysis is still in process, but we have been able to identify some key themes in the initial analysis.

First, gender parity is an area in which there has been great improvement. This is largely due to the implementation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1997. UPE is a government policy that provides school fees for all primary age Ugandan boys and girls, increasing the number of children able to go to school. The Ugandan government is also in the process of implementing Universal Secondary Education, which will continue the progress towards gender parity. Parity refers to an equal number of boys and girls in school, wheras equity has to do with equality of outcomes and treatment.

Second, the students identified some gender equality issues that they see as problems in their schools. One issue that was mentioned repeatedly was sexual harassment. Usually when students spoke of sexual harassment they were referring to a male teacher making advances on a female student. Of the students interviewed, nearly half had never heard of sexual harassment. Of those that had, the vast majority defined it as rape, failing to identify lesser forms of sexual harassment such as unwanted comments or touches. When asked to identify gender specific problems, students saw the most common problem for girls as sexual harassment and the most common problem for boys as harsh punishments. Another area of concern was sugar mommies and sugar daddies, which are men and women who give money and gifts to school children in exchange for sexual favors. Some students see this as the only way to get the money they need in order to pay their school fees. Although these problems do not seem to be as prevalent as they were several years ago, the fact that they were frequently mentioned by students shows that it is still an area of concern.

Third, the overwhelming majority of the students responded that the most common reasons for student dropout was that girls dropped out of school because they became pregnant whereas boys dropped out due to lack of school fees. Our main conclusion thus far is that while progress has been made in gender parity and equity, according to student perceptions many areas still need to be addressed in order for Ugandan schools to reach their goal of gender equality.

The data gathered from this research was presented at the 2009 Comparative and International Education Society Conference. The final research paper is currently in the process of being completed for publication.

Sources

  • Kasente, D. (2003). Gender and Education in Uganda. Background report for the 2003 Global Monitoring Report published by UNESCO.
  • Muhwezi, D.K. (2003). Gender Sensitive Education Policy and Practice: Uganda Case Study. Background report for the 2003 Global Monitoring Report published by UNESCO.
  • Naluwemba, F. (2007). The Role of the Perceptions of Female Administrators Regarding the Gender Regimes in Urban Coeducational Secondary Schools in Uganda. Unpublished dissertation, Brigham Young University.
  • Nsubuga, Yusuf. (2008). Commisioner of Secondary Education, Ugandan Ministry of Education. Personal communication via email, dated 17 Feb 2008.
  • Skinner, J., Oler, S., & Hite, J. (2005). The Influence of Struggles Faced by Ugandan Female Students in Secondary Education on Their Enrollment and Academic Performance: A Case Study. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 2005.
  • UNESCO. (2003). Gender and Education for All: The Leap to Equality. EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2003/2004.
  • United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved February 10, 2008 from http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html.