Ms. Kafa Akroush is the Head of the Gender unit at Jordan鈥檚 Ministry of Education. Kafa鈥檚 role is complex and as a former teacher, she takes gender equality in education seriously. Before becoming a teacher, Kafa majored in women鈥檚 studies at Jordan University; she has been interested in advancing women鈥檚 rights and human rights for as long as she can remember.
鈥淚n 2010, the Gender Unit was created at the MoE, attached to the Strategic Planning and Research directorate. I joined the MoE in 2011. The Gender unit is very active and we have been enthusiastically implementing the gender strategy and its action plan since January 2019, with support from UNESCO and with funding from Canada鈥.
In 2018, the Ministry of Education developed and began to implement a new five-year Education Strategic Plan (ESP) and complementary Strategy for Mainstreaming Gender Equality (GE) in Education, with the support of UNESCO and funding from the Government of Canada. The ESP (2018-2022) and its GE Strategy were informed by an institutional assessment and gender-based plus analysis, and include a clear, prioritized, sequenced and costed set of activities required to achieve the outcomes of the National Strategy for Human Resources Development (HRD).
In July 2019, the Government of Canada announced a further contribution to provide technical assistance to Jordan鈥檚 Ministry of Education (MoE) for the Education System Strengthening initiative, in partnership with UNESCO. These funds seek to support the improvement of evidence-based strategic policy-making, planning, monitoring and reporting, and coordination at the MoE, including in the area of gender equality, and are complementary to Canada鈥檚 budget support to the MoE.
鈥淭he ESP is an ambitious plan and its implementation requires that strong policy, planning, monitoring and evaluation systems be in place. Mainstreaming gender quality in all these aspects is essential to ensure that the provision of quality education services can and will meet the needs of both girls and boys in Jordan. We welcome the leadership of the Ministry of Education in this area and look forward to continue supporting their efforts through the Education System Strengthening initiative鈥, shared Christopher Johnston, Head of Cooperation at the Embassy of Canada to Jordan.
Additional support to the Education System Strengthening initiative has been provided by Norway (through NORCAP), with the provision of several experts including Senior Gender Officer, Senior Data Analyst and Statistician and Internal M&E Coordination Officer.
鈥淎s a strategic partner providing expertise to humanitarian, development and peacebuilding stakeholders, NORCAP is well placed to contribute to this initiative. Gender equality is highly prioritized on our agenda and we are excited to play a part in advancing gender equality and equity within the ministry by mainstreaming gender in the education system. This is an important first step in what we hope will be a fruitful long-term partnership鈥, said Mari Hagen, NORCAP Project Manager.
UNESCO is currently optimizing these contributions towards education system strengthening, with a particular focus on supporting the implementation of the GE strategy. UNESCO believes in the transformational power of education. However, this power can only be harnessed if education is of good quality and relevant to the needs of all students, male and female, and is based on human rights, values and principles, including gender equality.
In Kafa鈥檚 role at MoE, she strives to spread gender awareness across the education system. 鈥淚t can be very challenging when you see slow progress. The percentage of early marriage has risen in recent years. We have tried to curtail this by conducting informational sessions about this in all public schools鈥.
The Education System Strengthening initiative bolsters the MoE鈥檚 capacity to implement, monitor, evaluate and report on activities and results achieved in the ESP, contributing to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Education and gender equality are prerequisites for sustainable development and lay the foundation for a prosperous and democratic society by equally empowering and enabling men and women to participate in social, economic and political life. Gender equality is a and inextricably linked to its efforts to promote the right to education and support the achievement of the (SDGs). Through the SDG 4 aims to 鈥楨nsure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all鈥 and SDG 5 to 鈥楢chieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.鈥
UNESCO Representative to Jordan, Ms. Costanza Farina, strongly believes in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 鈥淚t is important for us to reaffirm our collective commitment to work in a concerted and effective manner towards unlocking progress to realize SDG 4. Central to the 2030 Agenda is the principle of Leaving No One Behind which means reaching the furthest behind first and addressing inequalities鈥.
Part of Kafa鈥檚 task is to support and monitoring the work of the gender focal points at the 42 field directorates across Jordan. Recently, a gender audit revealed some significant gaps in gender equality considerations in education. 鈥淪ome of the results have shown a gap in leadership with very few females holding decision maker positions in the Ministry of Education. Many barriers to women鈥檚 success exist and it can be as simple as women not being able to come to a training held on a Saturday, because of their family or childcare obligations鈥, shared Kafa. 鈥淚n addition, women who do enter the technical and vocational education stream tend to select specialties that don鈥檛 offer significant prospects of employment, like hairdressing or cooking. In a country where women make up less than 15% of the workforce, we must seek to address this issue鈥.
鈥淏etter integration of gender equality considerations in education also aims at addressing specific challenges faced by male students and teachers. For example, while we have observed that the percentage of school enrollment in Jordan is strong compared to other countries, about 97-98% until grade 10, enrollment drops off sharply after that, especially among boys. Moreover, evidence is showing poorer learning outcomes for boys at all grade levels and in all subject areas compared to girls. These challenges highlight the need to better equip principals and teachers with the required tools and skills to enhance student learning outcomes鈥, said Kafa.
The leadership and ownership of all components of the Gender Equality strategy remain with the Government of Jordan and the MoE. 鈥淥ur team is passionate about playing a role in disseminating the GE strategy and feels inspired by its holistic, comprehensive nature. Some teachers may not even know what gender considerations are; from this starting point we are engaging them about how to become gender sensitive and how to mainstream gender into curriculum. To succeed, we must encourage a change in people鈥檚 minds and I feel strongly that these changes will trickle down to the children鈥. Kafa and the MoE share an ambitious task; a goal worth pursuing kingdom-wide, with ongoing support from and in partnership with UNESCO, Canada and Norway.
