A fair chance - United Nations Girls' Education Initiative

implemented in four districts in Cambodia. As part ofa package of support services, girls who live morethan 15km from school are offered room and boardwith local female teachers. Not only are thesearrangements more conducive to healthy socialdevelopment, but they also provide a positive femalerole model for girls. In keeping with governmentpolicy to promote pro-poor interventions that increaseeducational access, programme beneficiaries areselected primarily on the basis of their socioeconomicstatus.Numerous other smaller scale female scholarshipprogrammes for secondary schools have beensponsored both by government and NGOs. Forexample, the Ministry of Education in Nepal providednearly 12,000 scholarships for girls attendingsecondary school in 1999/2000. The Forum forAfrican Women Educationalists (FAWE) runs a smallscholarship programme for secondary school girls inGrades 9 and 10 in Ethiopia. Girls are selected on thebasis of need and some of the recipients are alsodisabled (see Box 11).Throughout this report, we have argued that beyondmaking education free, there is a very strong rationalefor offering additional stipends or subsidies as anincentive for poor families to keep girls in school.However, such programmes need to be carefullydesigned to fit local circumstances. There is no onesize-fits-allmodel of a successful incentive programme,but there are many lessons that can belearned from country experiences. Some of the mostimportant are as follows:● Clearly identify the target population.● Communities must establish their own transparentselection procedures.● High levels of parental and community involvementat all stages of the programme are essential.● It is important to adopt strategies that minimiseadministrative costs, which can be high.● If the goal of education policy is to increase thenumber of girls progressing to secondary school,offering stipends at primary school (to cover fees orextra costs such as uniforms, books, etc.), can makea significant difference to the number of femaleenrolments.Box 11: Personal testimony from FAWE scholarship girls in Ethiopia“Three of us were employed as half-day kitchen workers in order to survive ourselves. We had no time to do our homeworkand study. Most of us have no parents or have only one poor parent. Some of us in addition to our poorness come from farplaces for secondary education. Five of us have physical disabilities.“By the time we joined this high school, we were uncertain of our future. We had no hope, no aim, no dream or vision. Thanksto this organisation, today, as well as for ourselves, we are now able to share our books with our siblings and our friends whoare not able to get this chance. We are also able to share our shoes with our sisters who are in opposite shifts to us. FAWEEthiopia has become relief to our families. We have been able to pay our house rent on time and we are also attendingsupplementary classes.“On top of all this, now we have hope, confidence and self-esteem. Because of this, our achievement has improved and wehave become as competent as the boys. For example in our class: two of us stood first; three of us stood third; four of usstood fourth, and the like.”Source: FAWE 200236