Everybody Wins When Girls Can Stay in School | P1

Poverty is the biggest barrier to girls education. My parents had one

choice: food or school fees. Camfed supported me. Now I work with
communities to find the resources to get girls into school. Educated girls
marry later; have fewer, healthier children; start businesses; and invest
over 90% of their earnings in their communities. Girls education is the
most important investment we can make.

Angeline Murimirwa
One of the first girls supported to go to school
by Camfed, now Camfeds Regional Director

Everybody Wins When Girls Can Stay in School

Subject:

Preparation:

Geography, Citizenship, PSHE

Read background and notes to the

lesson in appendix 1.

Learning Outcome:
Understand the term gender equality
Identify obstacles to girls access to
education, and secondary education
in particular
Recognise the benefits of increased access
to secondary education for girls

If you are able to access the internet set up

a screen or projector to show Sisters film.
Display on a screen or print out the images
in appendix 2.
Display or print Gender Parity in Secondary
(Education Map appendix 3).
Display or print images in appendix 4.
Print case studies for distribution to students
(appendix 5).

Total Time:

60
mins

Age Range:

11-14
year olds

Worlds Largest Lesson is a collaborative education project to support the announcement

of the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development. The project is living proof of
the importance of Global Goal 17 Partnerships for the Goals and would not have been possible
without the help of all of our partners working with us and with each other.
Thanks to our Founding Team:

Powered By:

Distributed By:

Translated By:

And special thanks to those who have worked with us across the world:

Lesson plans created in collaboration with Think Global www.think-global.org.uk. Promoting learning for a just
and sustainable world.

Everybody Wins When Girls Can Stay in School | P2

Learning Activity
Show (or hand out) some pictures of people doing various jobs that require (at least) a secondary
education, e.g. doctor, lawyer, journalist, teacher, scientist, engineer. Ask students what these people
would have needed to be able to do that job (appendix 2).

mins

Students ideas should include education and completing school!

Differentiation and Alternatives

An alternative idea could be to ask students - When you grow up, what would you like to be?
Followed by - What could happen to your dreams if, for some reason, you could not complete your
secondary education?
You can extend this activity by asking students for their ideas on what life would be like for children
who cannot enrol in or complete secondary school.

Learning Activity

10
mins

Show the Map of World Gender Parity in Secondary Education and ask students to explain what
patterns they can see (appendix 3).
Share the definition of gender parity (appendix 1).
Explain that an estimated 62 million girls worldwide are out of school. Sub-Saharan Africa has the
highest number of girls out of school, denied the right to education. Source allinschool.org.

Differentiation and Alternatives

You may want to provide some pointers to help students structure their answers, e.g. use compass
points in your answer, use the names of continents in your answer, where are the highest/lowest
levels of gender parity? These could be even more specific for younger and lower ability students, e.g.
in general, are boys or girls more educated in Africa? Or, which continent has the most yellow
meaning the most equal levels of education between boys and girls?

Identifying Barriers to Secondary Education

Show the selection of images from appendix 4.
Give students a few minutes to look at these images and see if they can explain what each image
shows and how it links to people, and girls in particular, not attending school.
Ask students to provide feedback on their ideas to the class.
Ensure the level of discussion is appropriate to the age, context and understanding of the children
in the class. Barriers you discuss might include school fees; strong cultural norms favouring boys
education when a family has limited resources; issues of early marriage; the risks of walking a long
distance to school; and inadequate sanitation facilities in schools. Schools might lack sufficient
numbers of female teachers who can support girls specific needs and act as role models.
Further background is provided in appendix 1.

10
mins

Everybody Wins When Girls Can Stay in School | P3

Differentiation and Alternatives

You could also ask students to stand next to the image they think would be the most common barrier
or the one they found the most surprising or that they have the most questions about. Or they could
write a question they have about one of the images on a post-it and stick it up, these could then be
collected for further investigation after this lesson.

The Benefits of Girls Education

Divide students into groups of four. Watch the film Sisters (subtitled) accessed via link
https://camfed.org/latest-news/films/sisters/ and assign one case study to each group.
Ask each group to:
List five descriptive words about the girls life.
Think about what the impact would have been if the girl had not found the support to go to
secondary school. What would the impact have been for herself, her family, her community
and her country?
Bring the groups back together and ask a spokesperson from each to give a short report on their case
study using the questions above as a talking guide.
Explain that most parents in sub-Saharan Africa value education and would want to educate their
children, but are often forced to make the difficult choice between which of their children goes to
school, because they are poor. This often means that girls miss out on school, because boys are seen
as more likely to get good jobs in the communities where they live. Children who dont go to school
might also be needed by their family to work. However, if girls do attend school, there can be huge
benefits for their families and communities as well as themselves.
Display the following information. Educated girls will:
Earn up to 25% more, start businesses, and reinvest 90% in their families.
Be three times less likely to become HIV positive.
Have fewer, healthier children, who are 40% more likely to live past the age of five.
Tend to be less vulnerable to violence and exploitation.
Become role models for the next generation of children, driving change from the local to
the global level.
Ask students to write a short paragraph explaining why so many girls in sub-Saharan Africa are not
finishing school and what the implications of that are.

Differentiation and Alternatives

For younger or lower ability students you could provide some sentence starters to support their writing.
If some groups work quickly, give them more case studies to review.

30
mins

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Questions for Students

Ask students to show whether they agree or disagree with the following statements:
As many girls as boys finish secondary school.
School is important.
Girls who finish school are more likely to live a healthy life.
There are so many barriers to girls education that we wont be able to fix them all.
Solutions to getting more girls to finish secondary school should be local/global.
Challenge some students to explain why they agree or disagree with a statement.
There are no right or wrong answers here but you want to see students referring to the case studies
and statistics they have looked at in the lesson.

Differentiation and Alternatives

You could use these questions to form the basis of a debate with students or ask them to write their
responses to some of them for a homework activity.

Summary
Although there have been huge improvements in enrolment for girls and boys at primary level
through the Millennium Development Goals, girls still lag far behind boys when it comes to secondary
education. At the entry point to secondary school a lot of girls are excluded as the cost of tuition is
very high. Even for those girls who do enrol, a significant number drop out and secondary school
completion rates among girls remain low. Girls from poor families in rural areas tend to be especially
disadvantaged in comparison to boys under the same conditions. The new Global Goals will focus
on improving gender equality globally: it is important to understand that equality in education is the
starting point for equal representation in society.

Take Action for the Global Goals

As an educator you have the power to channel students
positive energies and help them believe that they are not
helpless, that change is possible, and that they can drive it.
The Design for Change I Can School Challenge invites
children to take action, make change for themselves and share
it with children across the world.

Visit www.dfcworld.com to get started.

To download a Design for Change lesson pack or a simple
advice pack for young people to take action
themselves visit www.globalgoals.org/
worldslargestlesson

mins

Everybody Wins When Girls Can Stay in School | P5

About Camfed
Camfed is an international non-profit organisation tackling poverty and gender inequality by supporting
girls to go to secondary school and succeed, and empowering young women to step up as leaders
of change. Working in the poorest rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, where girls face acute
disadvantage, Camfed not only provides school fees, supplies and uniforms to support girls through
school; they also study and dismantle the barriers that keep girls from attending and doing well in
school, whether these be social, psychological or to do with the quality of the curriculum provided.
Camfed has pledged to support one million girls in sub-Saharan Africa through secondary school and
into secure livelihoods over the next five years. Its an ambitious goal, which recognizes the urgency of
getting this generation of girls into secondary school and finding sustainable and scalable solutions to
the problem of their exclusion. It builds on Camfeds recent success in expanding its programs across
five countries and 5,270 school communities, and sets out to show the world what can be achieved.

Enabling Young Women to Lead Change

Camfed further supports young women graduates during the crucial time after they finish school, when
pressures to marry or leave their district for employment elsewhere make them extremely vulnerable.
Providing financial, ICT, health and business training; support to volunteer in schools, enter tertiary
education; or to start local innovative businesses with seed grants and interest-free loans, Camfed
sets the young women on a path of success. The young women use their experience and expertise
to design and deliver extended programs to the next generation of students and their communities,
including health and financial literacy training. Completing a virtuous cycle, each CAMA member
now supports the education of another two to three girls outside of her extended family, multiplying the
benefits of her education, and testifying to the programmes effectiveness and sustainability.
Since 1993, Camfeds innovative education programmes have benefitted over 3 million children in
Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi. In 2014, Camfeds model was recognised by the
OECD as best practice in taking development innovation to scale.

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Background and Notes to the Lesson

Fifteen years ago, the world agreed on a set of Millennium Development Goals which aimed to
solve problems and inequalities and improve the lives of the worlds poor. One of the goals was to
ensure that, by 2015, all children would go to primary school. As a result, most countries have made
primary education free, however 59 million primary school aged children are still out of school, and
there is a particular problem for girls. While girls have more equal access to primary education as a
result of the Millennium Development Goals, they are still less likely to complete primary school than
boys (for example, 47% of girls finish primary school in Malawi, compared to 57% of boys), and
less likely to attend and complete secondary school. Secondary education is more expensive than
primary, and poor families who cant afford to send all their children will often choose to send only
their sons, because boys are more likely to find employment after school again in Malawi, only
12% of rural girls are enrolled in secondary school, compared to 48% of boys living in urban areas.
These girls are vulnerable to pressures including early marriage and pregnancy, which can lead
them to drop out of school, and the long distances they are likely to have to travel to school put
them at risk and discourage their families from sending them. However, it is well-documented that
equal access to quality secondary education will create unparalleled benefits for individuals and
society. Educated women are healthier, earn more, have fewer and healthier children, are less
vulnerable to exploitation and violence, and become role models for the next generation. Gender
equality in secondary education will lead to greater equality and better representation of women at
university, in the workplace, in teaching and in government.

This lesson plan presents the circumstances of girls in some of sub-Saharan Africas
marginalised communities, their struggle for secondary education in particular. It aims to raise
awareness of the challenges girls face, the perils of dropping out of secondary school, and the
benefits that achieving gender equality in secondary education would bring to individual girls
and women, their families, communities, countries and the world.

Definitions
Gender equality: Equality is when everybody is treated in the same way and has the same rights
and opportunities, regardless of who they are, what they do, or where they are born and live. Gender
equality is when everyone has the same rights and opportunities regardless of their gender, and girls
and boys are valued equally by everyone.
Gender parity: Gender parity is when an equal number of girls and boys or men and women are
represented in a particular situation. For example, a school where there were 100 girls and 100 boys
would have gender parity, and a country where equal numbers of girls and boys are enrolled in school
is said to have achieved gender parity in education.

Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

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Appendix 2

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Appendix 2

All Images Lovingly Provided By Getty Images

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Appendix 3

Appendix 2

Gender parity index for the gross enrolment ratio in

secondary education (2015)

Image to come

Data by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Females favoured

Gender parity

Males favoured

No data

Everybody Wins When Girls Can Stay in School | P11

Appendix 4

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Appendix 4

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Appendix 4

Images Lovingly Provided By Getty Images

Everybody Wins When Girls Can Stay in School | P14

Case Studies
Case Study 1 Jesca
When she was just 12 years old, Jesca was left to fend for herself, along with her 15-year old sister.
Their father and stepmother left Rufiji in the coastal region of Tanzania to seek work in another district.
As the months went by, it was heartbreaking when the girls realised their parents werent returning.
We found ourselves like living in the darkness, even in the daylight time Because of the difficulty of
daily life, we lost hope and our commitment to school was lost completely, recalls Jesca.
Evicted by their landlord, the girls sought help at the police station. Moved by their story, one of the
police officers, Mr. Rashid, asked his wife if they could take the girls in. She agreed and she also
petitioned the schools management committee for bursary support from Camfed.
With full bursaries from Camfed, Jesca and her sister both completed secondary school. They were
able to focus on their studies without worrying about how they would get by day-to-day. Their bursaries
included all their school-going essentials: uniforms, books, school supplies, room and board, and
sanitary supplies, too.

Case Study 2 Diana

My mother died in the year 2007, and I lost my father a few years after. I have three sisters and three
brothers. I eventually dropped out of school because I had no one to support me. After staying with
my grandfather for a while, I later decided to leave my village for Accra (the capital city of Ghana)
to explore other ways of earning some income. I ran away without telling anybody. I began selling
sachet water for a lady with a shop. I was still interested in school but I had no means. My dreams of
becoming a medical doctor were fading away slowly. I sold the water for some months and had no
decent sleeping place. I slept at the lorry stations with other girls in similar situations.
I later came across a lady who offered me work as a house help. After eight months in this job,
I made some money and decided to return to the Upper East Region to continue with my education.
I purchased some basic school items and had to enrol into Class Five since I dropped out in this class.
In Junior High, things got tough for me again. I struggled through this stage and finally wrote my BECE
exam. While waiting for my results, I travelled to Winneba to work for my aunty and make some money
in preparation for Senior High.
When my results came out and I got placement into Senior High, I wept every day since I could not
afford the fees and get the school items. I later heard about Camfeds support and approached the
District Education Committee who assisted me. When I got selected I was so happy that my sad days
were over because I knew I would not lack items such as books and school fees again. I want to
become a medical doctor in future to take care of the sick in my community.
After completing secondary school, Diana plans to train to be a police officer a profession in which
few women are represented and which enables her to be a role model in her community.

Appendix 5

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Case Study 3 Ellen

Ellen is a 19-year-old from the district of Mangochi in the Southern Region of Malawi. Ellen is studying
in Form 4 the highest grade of secondary education in Malawi. Shes the fifth-born child in a
family of seven.
Ellen was identified by her local school committee to receive a Camfed bursary after teachers and
community members noticed that she was frequently absent from school. They knew she was a keen
student, but her father passed away while she was still in primary school and Ellen was spending a lot
of time on a nearby farm as a casual labourer, grading beans and trying desperately to earn enough
money to cover the school costs her mother wasnt able to meet. Ellen was delighted to be offered a
Camfed bursary.
At that time, I was not going to school as I was doing piece work to top up on my school fees, she
explained. And to be honest, I was on the verge of dropping out, as things were hard for me.
Ellen has seen a lot of girls in her community marry young because of poverty. According to the 2014
State of the Worlds Children report published by UNICEF, the rate of child marriage in Malawi is 50%
the ninth highest rate in the world. Staying in school is helping Ellen to avoid the pressure to get
married and bringing her closer to her goals. Its a message she wants to pass onto others:
With Camfed, I can see myself becoming a teacher as I have always dreamt of. I will also support
and encourage my younger sisters to work hard in school and only get married when they have at
least completed secondary school.

Case Study 4 Eunice

I live with both parents in Ghana, my father is a farmer and my mother is unemployed. Before I
became a Camfed beneficiary, I was a day student. Sometimes it became very difficult for me to be
punctual at school, because the distance between my house and the school was very far, so I was
mostly absent from school and this affected my studies.
Money for food at school was also a big issue because my father doesnt make a lot out of the farming
and the little he gets is not enough to cater for my educational materials like books and pens among
other things. However, after I became a Camfed bursary student I moved into the boarding house
because Camfed had paid for my fees there. Camfed also provided me with books, pens, school bag,
school uniform and sanitary pads, which has made learning easier. This has lightened the burden on
my father and now whatever he makes from the farm; he uses it for my other siblings.

Appendix 5

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Case Study 5 Chisanga

During her first two terms at secondary school in Zambia, Chisanga who was brought up by her
great grandmother was unable to pay her fees, she had little to eat and shared a bed with a friend
because she had no bedding of her own. Chisanga explained her situation to the schools teacher
mentor and head teacher and was immediately chosen Camfed bursary support. From this time, my
life changed. I no longer worried about fees, about having food to eat. Camfed gave me
everything I need.
Now Chisanga who used to sell charcoal to survive wants to study law, economics and business at
college. I have become stronger and am a peer counsellor to the girls. I have passed through a lot of
difficulties. By being a prefect and deputy head girl, I have learnt how to react to different issues.
Of her group of eight close friends from primary school, Chisanga says she is the only one still in
school and doing well. The other girls,all aged 17-18, have children and are struggling to find work and
stay safe. I feel bad going home and seeing them. I prefer being at school. Before school, we used
to drink together, to forget certain things that had passed through our lives. My friends have remained
in the same behaviour, in bad situations. When I finish school I want to start working so I can help my
friends children as well. As a prefect, Chisanga works with the school administration to give advice
to fellow pupils, identify problems, and follow up with girls who fall ill. When they find girls who are
being abused they report it to the headteacher. She is also learning business skills, having taken part
in a business challenge run by her school. Through the project, the group learnt how to manage their
funds and assets and over the year they ran the enterprise, they made a 1.15 million kwacha profit
(140/$226), which was shared equally amongst the groups seven members. Her groups hair salon
business won the schools award for being the most successful that year.
Chisanga took her share of the profit home to her great grandmother so she could use it to expand her
own charcoal business to support her cousins to go to school.

Appendix 5