Draft Platform for Action
B. Unequal access to and inadequate educational opportunities
Strategic objective B.4. Develop non-discriminatory education and training
Actions to be taken
85. By Governments, educational authorities and other educational and academic institutions:
(a) Elaborate recommendations and develop curricula, textbooks and teaching aids free of gender-stereotypes for all levels of education, including teacher training, in association with all concerned: publishers, teachers, public authorities and parents associations;
(b) [Develop training programmes and materials for teachers and educators that raise awareness about the status, role and contribution of women and men in the family and society; in this context, promote equality, [equity], cooperation, mutual respect and shared responsibilities between girls and boys [at an appropriate age, consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and recognizing the rights, duties and responsibilities of parents and other persons legally responsible for children] [from pre-school level onward] [and develop, in particular, educational modules to ensure that boys have the skills necessary to take care of their own domestic needs and to share responsibility for their household and for the care of dependants];]
(c) Develop training programmes and materials for teachers and educators that raise awareness of their own role in the educational process, with a view to providing them with effective strategies for gender- sensitive teaching;
(d) Take actions to ensure that female teachers and professors have the same opportunities as and equal status with male teachers and professors, in view of the importance of having female teachers at all levels and in order to attract girls to school and retain them in school;
(e) Introduce and promote training in peaceful conflict resolution;
(f) Take positive measures to increase the proportion of women gaining access to educational policy- and decision-making, particularly women teachers at all levels of education and in academic disciplines that are traditionally male-dominated, such as the scientific and technological fields;
(g) Support and develop gender studies and research at all levels of education, especially at the postgraduate level of academic institutions, and apply them in the development of curricula, including university curricula, textbooks and teaching aids, and in teacher training;
(h) Develop leadership training and opportunities for all women to encourage them to take leadership roles both as students and as adults in civil society;
(i) Develop appropriate education and information programmes with due respect to multilingualism, particularly in conjunction with the mass media, that make the public, particularly parents, aware of the importance of non-discriminatory education for children and the equal sharing of family responsibilities between girls and boys;
(j) Develop human rights education programmes that incorporate the gender dimension at all levels of education, in particular by encouraging higher education institutions, especially in their graduate and postgraduate juridical, social and political science curricula, to include the study of the human rights of women as they appear in United Nations conventions;
(k) Remove legal and regulatory barriers to [sexual and reproductive health] education within formal education [regarding women's health issues];
(l) [Encourage, with the support of their parents and in cooperation with educational staff and institutions, the elaboration of educational programmes for girls and boys and the creation of integrated services related to youth sexuality, to raise awareness of their responsibilities and to help them to assume those responsibilities, taking into account the importance of such education and services to personal development and self-esteem, as well as the urgent need to avoid unwanted pregnancy, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, and phenomena such as sexual violence and abuse];
(m) Provide accessible recreational and sports facilities and establish and strengthen gender-sensitive programmes for girls and women of all ages in education and community institutions and support the advancement of women in all areas of sport and physical activity, including coaching, training and administration, and as participants at the national, regional and international levels;
(n) Recognize and support the right of indigenous women and girls to education; promote a multicultural approach to education that is responsive to the needs, aspirations and cultures of indigenous women, including by developing appropriate education programmes, curricula and teaching aids, to the extent possible in the languages of indigenous people and by providing for the participation of indigenous women in these processes;
(o) Acknowledge and respect the artistic, spiritual and cultural activities of indigenous women;
(p) [Ensure that gender, cultural and religious diversity are respected in educational institutions and reflected in educational materials;]
(q) Promote education, training and relevant information programmes for rural and farming women through the use of affordable and appropriate technologies and the mass media - for example, radio programmes, cassettes and mobile units;
(r) Provide non-formal education, especially for rural women, in order to realize their potential with regard to health, micro-enterprise, agriculture and legal rights;
(s) [Remove all barriers to the schooling of pregnant girls and young mothers and provide child care and other support services.]
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