Q4
How does MTB MLE support gender equity?
In spite of international efforts to improve gender equity in education, girls in many countries are still more likely than boys to lack access to a quality education. Girls from language minority communities are the most disadvantaged of all:
From UNESCO:
Women and girls are disproportionately represented amongst the world’ s most marginalized people. In developing regions overall, despite improvements since 1990, many millions of girls are still not in school. Nearly two-thirds of the world’ s 796 million illiterate people are women, and a high proportion of these are from ethnolinguistic minority communities.
Women from minority groups are often particularly excluded from opportunities to improve their situations. They suffer the“ compound” impact of discrimination based on gender and discrimination based on ethnic, religious or linguistic diversity( UNESCO Bangkok, 2012, p. 24).
MTB MLE provides specific benefits for girls from minority language communities because
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When girls are able to use their home language in school, they gain confidence in their ability to learn and to use what they learn.
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MTB MLE encourages communication between parents and teachers. Parents are able to visit their daughters’ school and meet their classmates, teachers and other school staff. This helps parents feel more confident that their daughters are in a safe learning environment.
MTB MLE RESOURCE KIT Including the Excluded: Promoting Multilingual Education
• • As girls build confidence in their ability to learn and to communicate what they know, they are encouraged to take leadership in the classroom and to help other students who might have learning problems. Successful interactions in the classroom build girls’ confidence in their ability to take responsibility outside the classroom.
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