A second chance at education for gender equality

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Reading Time: 6 min read

By Dr Karen Nyangara
COL Adviser: Gender

In The Gambia, 88 out-of-school girls have attended Second Chance Education at the Unique Foundation Learning Centre in Faraja. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) supported a three-month tuition-free programme specifically for single mothers raising children independently and facing difficulties pursuing further education due to caregiving responsibilities. The Director, Solomon Ifeanyi, stated that this “offers them a valuable opportunity to resume their education, acquire new skills, and enhance their prospects for personal and professional growth”. Twenty-year-old Fatoumatta Sowe, a participant in the programme, applauded the programme for helping her complete her studies and write her exams. She looks forward to being enrolled in a tertiary education institution in the near future.

Under the Girls Inspire Initiative, COL is also supporting young mothers in returning to school to complete their secondary education. In Tanzania, 40 young mothers are enrolled into Gairo Secondary School under the Alternative Secondary Education Pathways, while in Kenya, 20 young mothers have re-enrolled into public secondary schools to continue their education.

Why do girls in the Commonwealth need a second chance? Education, a basic human right, has a multiplier impact on the realisation of other human rights. Realising SDG Goal 4 on Education would be the most significant catalyst for the realisation of SDG5 on Gender Equality. Completing secondary school education increases the ability to participate in higher education and training and a country’s civic and social development. Women with a secondary school education have the potential to earn nearly two times more income than women who do not, have fewer unplanned children, are less likely to marry early and are therefore more likely to drive national economic growth.

Yet worldwide, one out of five youth aged between 15-24 – primarily girls and women – are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). NEETs are at a very high risk of becoming socially excluded individuals with income below the poverty line and lacking the skills to improve their economic situation. Second to poverty, pregnancy is the next leading cause of dropout for girls between 15-19, with nearly half of those pregnancies unintended. Girls who do not complete their education are more likely to perpetuate cycles of early marriage and childbearing and the associated social and economic deprivations for themselves, their families and their communities. On the other hand, retention and completion increases the capacity of girls and women to generate income through employment or entrepreneurship and to take part in the social and political spaces in their communities.

Due to responsibilities at home, including the need to earn an income to support their children, many young mothers cannot attend regular classes. Open learning, recognised by COL as a flexible and cost-effective response to providing secondary education at scale using open and distance learning (ODL), can address social justice issues by reaching out to girls and out-of-school youth and providing second-chance opportunities to complete schooling.

COL works with partners across the Commonwealth, leveraging the transformative power of education to advance gender equality and women’s participation to fulfil its social justice imperative to leave no one behind through gender-responsive learning pathways in open schooling. With increased investment and resources backed by good policy frameworks, Second Chance education pathways improve re-enrolment and ensure retention and support completion, offering vulnerable girls hope for a brighter future.

Image caption: Second Chance participants (The Gambia) during a field trip to a local radio station to discuss their experiences. Source: GIRLS Inspire

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