Demonstrative Interventions

Though great strides have been made in the effort to improve the participation of girls in education, challenges persist in terms of their access, retention and performance.

Among the barriers existent in the majority of African countries are the poverty, long held harmful cultural and traditional attitudes, practices such as early marriage, poor management of sexual maturation, the impact of HIV/AIDS at the household level, the teenage pregnancy and the disempowerment of girls.

In addition, the gender insensitive school environments as well as the lack of gender responsiveness in education delivery negatively affect girls' education process.

This results in high rates of drop out, repetition and poor performance for girls in all subjects and particularly in mathematics, science and technology.

For FAWE, the issue of improving retention and performance for girls passes through the transformation of ordinary schools into gender responsive environments aiming at empowering girls with skills to handle the various forms of gender discrimination and inequalities vetted on them.

As a response to this concern, FAWE has set up the strategy of demonstrative interventions on the ground in order to show what works in improving girls' access, retention and performance. The ultimate goal is to use the best practices emerging from these demonstrations to influence national education systems and practices through a mainstreaming process.

Accordingly, FAWE implements various demonstrative interventions through the national chapters, which intend to create a conducive school environment for girls. These demonstrative interventions include:

The FAWE Centre of Excellence Model

The COE is the conceptual mechanism for gender responsiveness in education. The programme intends to demonstrate how to practically create a conducive environment for girls at the school level through the establishment of a school environment that is gender responsive academically, socially and physically.

The creation of an enabling environment for girls' education quality can be achieved through the involvement of the teachers, parents, community leaders and members, and the boys and girls. Similarly a strong partnership coupled equipped with appropriate skills can assure effective sustenance of the program and spirit.

Started in 1999, the COE programme has since been expanded to several other schools in sub-Saharan Africa. However, after six years, it has became clear that the GRS-COE is an effective intervention in improving girls' participation in education and has emerged as a best practice in girls' education in sub Saharan Africa.

The grants

The second demonstrative intervention is the provision of grants to the National Chapters to facilitate programme implementation.

Various grants are provided with a particular regard to the programmatic objective of increasing access particularly of rural girls, the very poor, the geographically and culturally isolated or marginalized.

The main grants available include for the National Chapters include:

Conflict grant
To enhance girls access to education in conflict countries;

General access
To increase girls' retention within institutions with the FAWE girls clubs. Within the clubs girls are exposed to various life skills.

SMT grants
To improve Girls' participation in Science, Mathematics, and Technology (SMT) through the science camps which include innovative practical and problem solving sessions, site visits to local industries, and selection of instructions and resource persons for the respective national chapters; development of a new SMT gender responsive pedagogy and organization of in service Teacher Training in gender responsive SMT teaching, and the sensitization seminar for parents.

To effectively implement SMT activities through science camps, National Chapters run activities such as SMT clubs, Science newsletters, teacher capacity building, guidance and counseling Manuals, study tours, gender sensitization, and school resource centres.

Higher education grants
These grants are awarded to universities to undertake action research. The research findings are targeted to develop programmes within the universities to address the issues affecting female university students.

Empowerment grants
Capacity building through the Girls' Clubs for life skills, empowerment techniques, guidance and counseling, and theatre performance. .

Bursary Grants
To assist the grossly disadvantaged girls to access school stay there and ultimately perform well. The assistance includes school fees, sanitary towels, books, transport and other expenses.

Agathe Award
A reward for innovations that promote girls' education at the grassroots level. (Agathe Uwilingiyimana Award).

FAME Award for Media Excellence - FAME
The award is given as a token of hard work to female journalists who promote girls' access. So far FAWE has rewarded 16 female journalists within 4 national chapters. Ethiopia - 4; Mali - 4; Kenya - 4.

Inter - chapter visits
Inter chapter experiences sharing and exchange visits are facilitated by FAWE. Results include the implementation of what has been learnt by other National Chapters. After the inter visits organized in 2004 in five national chapters, Zanzibar implemented ''Back to back programme'', Zimbabwe adopted '' the Reading circles'', Gabon adopted ''Grassroots Advocacy'', Malawi adopted ''Safe clubs''; while Malawi and Mozambique adopted the establishment of sub-branches.

Training of Trainers Workshop
A TUSEME empowerment of girls TOT is facilitated by FAWE. Activities range from empowerment of girls to nurturing the effectiveness of national chapters and COE modules. During the workshops, the participants are taken through a six-step approach: familiarization, data collection, data analysis, theatre creation, theatre performance, and post performance. Thereafter, the teachers are asked to translate those skills into classroom activities.

COE - Bursary.
This is a special bursary awarded to the COEs to enhance access among the poor girls within these centres.

FATA programme
To enhance the strengthening programme of the National Chapters, FAWE initiated the FAWE Attached Technical Assistant (FATA) Programme. A skilled Programme Officer hired for two years in order to build the capacity of the NC coordinators in specific fields (e.g. resource mobilization, proposal writing, monitoring and evaluation).