GENDER & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The following poster - From strength to strength – building capacity and strengthening school-community partnerships in the PNG education system was prepared for a conference in India by Silina Taggenau and John Petitt illustrates the BEDP approach to community engagement.

Gender Equity

BEDP has tried to ensure that gender equity is implemented in all aspects of the project. In the Design phase, there were equal numbers of women and men on the Design Team and consultations were carried out equally with men and women.

The BEDP staff recognised that all committees and workshops should try to ensure equal representation. The importance of trying for this balance was shown when the National Infrastructure Guidelines (NIGs) were being worked out.  At one stage of the meeting the men and women were divided into groups according to gender.  Each group was then asked to indicate three things that they thought were of most importance to the school and what they thought the other group would have said.  When the groups reported, the men said that double classrooms, libraries and teachers’ houses were most important; the women said water, sanitation and security. The women thought the men would think that double classrooms, libraries and teachers’ houses were most important; the men thought the women would think that double classrooms, libraries and teachers’ houses were most important.  This revealed that not only did men and women have completely different priorities but also that the men did not have a good grasp on what priorities women would have. Despite being lower in terms of power, the women shared a clear understanding of the likely position of the men, the traditionally dominant group.

The need for toilets and washing facilities had been constantly raised by women in workshops in the provinces, and a survey undertaken by UNICEF’s Accelerating Girls’ Education (AGE) program indicated that one of the reasons older girls would not remain at school was the lack of good sanitation facilities.

The following was agreed by all staff:

Gender and Community Engagement

One of the major ways BEDP has instituted gender equity is through the use of District Women Facilitators (DWFs), which is a unique way of encouraging women to be involved in schools.  The approach has been very successful in increasing the skills of women leaders and leading to increased participation of women on Boards of Management (BoMs) and school communities. The success of the method is due to the commitment and hard work of the DWFs and the support they have gained for the most from the education officers.

As a result of BEDP and the training the women have received, there now exists an active national network of women facilitators which is being used by other projects.

This has come about because one of BEDP’s major objectives is to improve the capacity of women and men in school communities to plan and manage infrastructure for community and primary schools in a gender equitable way.

Experience in previous projects and field studies had shown that women, while they do most of the voluntary work around the schools, are not usually members of the BoMs, the decision-making organisation of the schools.  As a result, issues that are important to women and girls such as sanitation and security do not get addressed.

The DWFs are chosen from locally respected women leaders.  The DWFs are equal partners with education officers and together they form part of teams called Board of Management Facilitation teams (BoMFs). After the BoMF teams have received training, they make visits to schools where the DWFs act as role models to other women in the community, promote women’s participation in decision-making, and emphasise the importance of education for girls.
 
Without this approach, there was limited scope for involvement of women as trainers or facilitators, as most of the as most education officers are men. Although initially education officers were wary of the approach, many having seen the dedication of the DWFs and the differences that have been made have become male champions of gender equity.

Impact of the Teams and the DWFs in particular

One very impressive aspect of the project is the immediate impact of the visits by the BoMF team, especially because the team included a woman.  From the stories that have been received from the DWFs, it is clear that  they have been inundated with requests for help with a wide range of topics – health, maternity issues, HIV/Aids, child development and HIV/Aids to mention but a few. They have referred these needs to the appropriate groups and some have arranged for people like Health visitors to go with them.

The DWFs in particular have been very strong in advocating gender equity, particularly in relation to the importance of women participating in all aspects of community life and also in the importance of school attendance for girls. This has resulted in women magistrates being appointed, more girls being enrolled in school and in one case, giving an in-service to teachers on gender equity after a request from the head teacher.

They have also brought about immediate change to some of the BoMs. Women have been invited to participate on the BoM and an increasing number of women have been elected as chairpersons or executives of school boards and committees. Stories collected from the women tell of their pride at being so approached.

In places where women were previously excluded from community meetings, they are now invited to participate (or taking the courage to participate), because of the central role of the DWF as a role model.

Local Women Facilitators and School Community Facilitators

Additional support is given to school communities who for a variety of reasons are underperforming.  This support was in the form of Local Women Facilitators (LWFs) who reside in the school communities. It had been envisaged that only ten percent of school communities would receive this level of support. The LWFs are trained by selected DWFs coached in Training of Trainer techniques.

After recommendations from the BEDP review, it was decided to extend the concept of the Local Women Facilitators (LWFs) to every school in two provinces as a pilot. The two provinces chosen were Simbu with an elementary education focus and Milne Bay as both of these provinces had completed their third visits. After discussion it was decided to change the name of the LWFs in Milne Bay province to School Community Facilitators (SCFs). It is envisaged that the Pilot of School Community Facilitators (SCF) will lead to further strengthening of BEDP’s objectives as follows:

• Increased gender equity in the Board of Management (BoMs)
• Increased demand by women and men in each school community for the school to be more accountable and transparent in its affairs
• Greater involvement of LLGs involvement in schools

In addition the SCFs will become conduits for non –formal education in their communities and gain recognition of many DWFs/ SCFs as community development agents and volunteers who can be registered with National Volunteers Services

The SCF Pilot has been implemented in the Milne Bay province and has seen two training workshops conducted for the Alotau & Samarai-Murua districts. 

Monitoring and evaluation will be carried out using similar tools to those used with the BoMF teams – this means collection of data and most important change stories, with additional case studies of selected school communities.

DWF Coordinator Details