Promoting basic education for women and girls ... - library.unesco-ii...

urkina Faso
50
Girls’ Education Conference of FAAPE: Federation
of African Parents-Teachers Associations (2001).
The International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education
sThe
Africa (CIEFFA) has since taken off, with Ouagadougou
capital of Burkina Faso) as its headquarters.
statistics show that access to basic education
is still low in Burkina Faso. Only 901,291 of the
ain
a(the
aAvailable
is still low in Burkina Faso. Only 901,291 of the
age population of 2,110,395 (i.e. 42.7 per cent) are
school, and only 36.2 per cent of these are girls. The
gap is approximately 10 percentage points in the
urban Facation Fschool
Fin Fgender
centres and 12 in the rural areas. There are wide
regional variations in access to primary education. The
enrolment rate in the province around the capital city
20 per cent, while that of the most under-schooled prov-
(Komandjari) is a mere 13.5 per cent.
Faso also has one of the lowest literacy
anet
ais aince
aBurkina the Africa region. UNESCO’s estimates for 1995
a national average illiteracy rate of 80.8 per cent
– 90.8 per cent for women and 70.5 per cent for men.
challenges of bridging the wide gender gap in
access nrates nshow
n–
nThe
to education were recognized in the ten-year action
of 1993, which addressed the issues from six fronts,
iplan follows:
Action-research, involving insightful analyses
of the major problems and the search for viable
solutions.
kias
Sensitization and mobilization, with the involvement
of NGOs.
Teacher education, including gender-sensitivity
training.
Special incentives: free textbooks for girls,
improvement of the school environment, special
admission quotas, housing for teachers, etc.
Collaboration with other government depart-