Interdisciplinary Seminar:
Education for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
Convener: Kathy Mumford, Australia

Back to School Projects for Drop-out Girls: The Only Tool to Eliminate Gender Disparity in Primary and Secondary Education
Bertha Edward Mkwelele, International Member, Tanzania

Back to school projects for teenage girls who have dropped out of primary and secondary education for various reasons, including early pregnancy, are the only positive intervention leading to gender balances in education. This approach could promote gender equality and empower primary and secondary school girls. By implementing this intervention, Governments could achieve one of the Millennium Development Goals, which is to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably at all levels, by 2015.

Dropping out of school is a major problem in many schools all over the world. The situation could result into gender inequalities and poverty. Since a large number of school drop outs are female, girls at primary and secondary level should be protected by good public policies because they are more vulnerable than boys due to various reasons, one of which is that men are always cheating them. Here we have to provide a brief overview of why dropping out of school at primary and secondary level is at a high rate and how teenage girls are affected more than boys.

Recommendations:

• Back to school projects will enable teenage girls who have dropped out of school to acquire life skills and knowledge necessary for themselves and their children.
• The education provided will help them realise their potentials and increase their self-esteem and their independence, leading to empowerment and full control of their own destiny.

Key words: Education – Development – Empowerment – Sustainability.

Mrs Bertha Edward Mkwelele holds an Advanced Diploma in Banking, Institute of Finance Management, Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania, a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies from Holy Ghost College, Dublin, and a Masters Degree in Youth and Community Works from Manchester Metropolitan University. She is currently Director, Coordinator and Social Worker Volunteer at CICA (Children in Crisis Africa).