GESI
Gender Equality and Social Inclusion
Introduction
T-TEL’s GESI work focuses on five strategic directions in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and its agencies. These include influencing curriculum, teaching, learning, and assessment to be GESI-responsive; strengthening school leaders’ capacity to be GESI-responsive; supporting school management in creating safe environments and addressing gender-based violence; tracking progress and facilitating learning through research and communication; and building a Community of GESI Allies to drive the equality and inclusion agenda.
T-TEL seeks to work with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to ensure that all secondary education institutions in Ghana become genuinely committed to achieving gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) by adopting and leading GESI transformative interventions. This effort is informed and driven by the work of various actors in secondary education in Ghana and on experiences from the implementation of T-TEL (a six-years teacher education transformation programme in Ghana). It is also informed by existing data on gender and education in Ghana as well as on research findings conducted to support the implementation of the secondary education reform programme. There are six specific issues which T-TEL aims to address:
1. Underrepresentation of women among teaching staff and in leadership positions in SHS, SHTS and TIs.
2. Issues with inclusive education including lack of data on enrolment and lack of inclusive teaching methods which make provision for learners with special needs or who may require remedial instruction.
3. Inadequate measures and policy frameworks to ensure the mainstreaming of gender and social inclusion concerns and effective implementation of GESI-related policies.
4. Gender-based violence and sexual abuse remain a risk and barrier to quality education especially for girls. Deep-rooted discriminatory sociocultural and institutional practices lead to marginalisation and exclusion. Some individuals within secondary education institutions hold discriminatory or prejudiced beliefs that can marginalise women, girls, and students with special education needs. Therefore, widespread behavioural change and communication efforts are required to change attitudes and create a culture that promotes the full and meaningful participation of excluded and marginalised groups such as persons with a disability and women.
5. Implementation of the new secondary education curriculum must ensure that gender and inclusion are given adequate attention, and this must also be the case when developing the new SHS B.Ed. and postgraduate courses in universities.
6. Inadequate physical infrastructure to support gender equality and social inclusion in SHSs, SHTSs and TIs. Infrastructure needs to be expanded across almost all SHSs, SHSs and TIs to ensure gender equality and social inclusion.
Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in T-TEL means identifying and changing inequalities experienced by people on the grounds of gender, wealth, ability, location, ethnicity, religion, language, etc., within the education system. It involves taking actions to reduce inequalities and exclusion in schools by ensuring equal rights, opportunities, safety, and respect for all individuals regardless of their background or circumstances.
T-TEL’s GESI work in secondary education institutions is based on five strategic directions:
1. Influence curriculum, teaching, learning, and assessment to be GESI-responsive.
2. Strengthen the capacity of school leaders to be GESI-responsive.
3. Support school management in creating safe school environments – including preventing and addressing gender-based violence, including sexual harassment.
4. Track progress and facilitate learning through research and communication.
5. Build a Community of GESI Allies who will be drivers of the equality and inclusion agenda.
These strategic directions are intended to inform GESI efforts across all programmatic areas and components of the secondary education reform programme. We recognise that Ghana’s secondary education stakeholders and actors may be at different levels on the GESI-transformation continuum. That means each actor or institution may require a different level of intervention that matches their needs. The GESI-transformation continuum, as shown below, demonstrates the various stages SEIs may be on their journey towards becoming GESI-responsive or transformative. There are six stages on the continuum:
The strategy, therefore, is to work together with the actor(s) to identify the stage they are at on the continuum to inform the nature of support or intervention they require. This presupposes that, though a common pathway for SEI GESI responsiveness is desired, each institution will have to conduct a self-assessment and agree on strategies and activities that uniquely address their needs. This is to ensure that SEIs make a progressive growth towards becoming GESI-transformative, first by identifying their needs, planning for it, implementing their plans, and measuring their growth.
Ultimately, ensuring GESI responsiveness in SEIs will contribute to a transformational secondary education system where:
1. Learners experience a system of teaching that removes barriers such as sexual harassment and gender-based violence to enable quality learning.
2. All learners experience differentiated learning that enables them to achieve their fullest potential.
3. School levers acquire foundational skills and competencies on how to embrace diversity and equality in preparedness for the world of work, higher education, and adult life.
4. Learners, especially girls, unlearn negative stereotypes about women leading to a higher level of assertiveness and capacity to engage on diverse issues.
5. Learners, especially boys, unlearn harmful gender norms about men to become more gender-responsive and supportive.