Survey: Most Primary School Teachers Are Women, But Leadership Roles Highlight Gender Disparity.
A recent survey on gender dynamics in basic education has revealed significant disparities between male and female representation in teaching and management roles across primary and secondary schools.
The report, titled “Gender Report 2024: The State of Gender Relations Transformation in Our Basic Education” by Usawa Agenda, highlights key findings regarding gender distribution among educators and administrative roles, as well as differences in school facilities.
The report shows that women are the dominant gender in primary school teaching positions, making up 56.6% of the teaching staff.
However, despite their larger presence in the classroom, women are significantly under-represented in leadership roles.
Only 32.3% of primary school heads are women, and just 14.4% of Board of Management (BoM) chairpersons are female.
In secondary schools, the proportion of female teachers drops to 41.8%. Similar to the primary level, women hold a smaller share of leadership roles in secondary schools, with only 33% of school heads and 15.7% of BoM chairpersons being women.
This under-representation is less pronounced in girls’ secondary schools, where 66.7% of the heads are women, although only 28.4% of BoM chairpersons in these schools are female.
School Facilities: Libraries and Playgrounds
The report also examines the state of school facilities, particularly libraries and playfields. Boys’ secondary schools were found to be better equipped, with 63.5% having functional libraries, compared to 46.6% of girls’ schools and 25.6% of mixed schools.
Conversely, girls’ secondary schools lead in connecting their libraries to online resources, with 31.4% of their libraries linked to the internet, compared to 23.2% in boys’ schools and 10.1% in mixed schools.
The survey further revealed disparities in learning environments. A higher percentage of girls’ schools (7.9%) reported incidents of students learning in open spaces, more than double the percentage in boys’ schools (3.5%).
The availability of space for physical activities also favored boys’ schools, with 78.8% having adequate playfields, while only 56.6% of girls’ schools reported the same.
Survey Methodology and Scope
The research, conducted across all 47 counties, involved interviews with over 1,800 primary school head teachers and 1,317 secondary school principals.
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Dr. Emmanuel Manyasa, Executive Director of Usawa Agenda, emphasized the comprehensive nature of the study, which sheds light on critical gender-related disparities in the country’s basic education system.
Survey: Most Primary School Teachers Are Women, But Leadership Roles Highlight Gender Disparity.
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