ABOUT THE PROJECT

  • Based on British Council’s successful Connecting Classrooms Project in Zimbabwe
  • Leading Learning for Gender Equality aims to improve learning outcomes for young people in school, especially girls
  • More than 1500 school leaders from 12 districts are undergoing training, initially targeting 1083 schools identified as low performing, many in rural areas with poor infrastructure and limited access to technology
  • Collaboration with Colleges of Education and Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) to roll out programme to all primary and secondary government schools through pre-service teacher training and in-service CPD

KEY OBJECTIVES

  • A society in which all young people in schools in Zimbabwe, especially girls, have the opportunity to achieve equitable outcomes in education and reach their potential in life
  • Improved teaching and learning outcomes in the Zimbabwe school system for all young people, especially girls, by providing school leaders and teachers in primary and secondary schools with the opportunity to: 
  1. Recognise gendered barriers that affect girls’ and boys’ access to education and the quality of education 
  2. Change underlying values and norms that support gender inequality
  3. Support all young people to be active, engaged global citizens
  4. Implement gender-sensitive and gender-responsive policies, practices and pedagogy in their schools

WHY IT MATTERS

  • Only 14% of girls in Zimbabwe complete upper secondary school, and only 1% of the poorest girls (UNICEF, 2021)
  • Most girls leave school soon after O-level, with many not even reaching secondary school
  • Girls from poor families in rural areas more likely to drop out of school, since daughters can bring lobola (bride price)
  • Gender bias of teachers and school leaders and design of learning environment negatively impacts girls’ academic performance and choice of field of study (World Bank 2021)

KEY ACTIVITIES

  1. Gender analysis of Zimbabwean educational context - Needs and gap analysis: assessment of the school leaders’ needs and capability to provide transformative school leadership for gender equality in and through education
  2. Group schools and select school leaders and teachers to attend training workshops - Group schools into clusters and select school leaders and teachers to attend face-to-face or online workshops
  3. School leader and teacher training - Workshops: 2–4 days, In-school project work and webinars: 6–8 weeks, Reflection workshop on in-school projects: 1–2 days
  4. Impact evaluation - Evaluate impact of pilot programme to inform the rollout to all primary and secondary government schools in Zimbabwe
  5. Build engagement with key stakeholders: Colleges of Education and MoPSE - Key stakeholders indicate support and provide pre-service teacher training and in-service CPD for rollout of the programme
Share this