Contents

Purpose of the checklist

Why is gender important in education projects?

Key issues
Key questions and action points in the project cycle
Gender issues in education projects

4
7
8

Gender issues in basic and primary education

12

Gender issues in secondary education

14

Gender issues in tertiary education

15

Gender issues in nonformal education and training

16

Strategies for gender mainstreaming in education

19

Appendices
1: Project Implementation Process

22

2: Sample Terms of Reference for Gender Specialist

23

Selected References

Abbreviations
DMC

developing member country

GAD

gender and development

ISA

initial social assessment

M&E

monitoring and evaluation

NGO

nongovernment organization

PPTA

project preparatory technical assistance

TOR

terms of reference

24

Purpose of the checklist

The checklist is meant to assist staff and consultants in
implementing the Banks
policy and strategic objectives
on gender and development
(GAD) (see the Banks Policy
on Gender and Development,
May 1998). It guides users
through all stages of the
project/program cycle in identifying the main gender issues
in the education sector and in
designing appropriate gendersensitive strategies, components, and indicators to respond to gender issues.
ADB staff should use the
checklist in identifying gender
issues in the initial social assessment (ISA) during the
fact-finding phase of project
preparatory technical assistance (PPTA). Consultants
should use it in carrying out
more detailed social analysis
during the PPTA. It should be
emphasized, however, that
not all questions are relevant
to all projects, and staff and
consultants must select the
questions that are most relevant in the specific context.

Guidelines on the preparation

of gender-sensitive terms of
reference for the ISA and the
social analysis are also included, as are case studies
from ADBs project portfolio,
to demonstrate good practices
in mainstreaming gender in
education projects.
For project preparation, the
checklist may be used together with the Banks
Handbook for Incorporation
of Social Dimensions in
Projects (1994), Guidelines
on Benefit Monitoring and
Evaluation, and the Briefing
Papers on Women series.
Other useful references are
listed at the back of this brochure.
The checklist was prepared
by Susan Wendt and Shireen
Lateef using preliminary
work by a staff consultant,
Penelope Schoeffel. Mary Ann
Asico edited the text and,
with the help of Jun dela Cruz,
prepared the final layout.
Marivic Guillermo provided
production assistance.

Why is gender
important in
education projects?
Education is a human right and an essential tool for
achieving equality, development, and peace. Nondiscriminatory education benefits both men and women
and ultimately equalizes relations between them.
To become agents for change, women must have equal
access to educational opportunities. Literacy of women
is key to improved health, nutrition, and education,
and to the empowerment of women as full participants
in decision making in society.
Investment in formal and nonformal education and
training for girls and women, with its exceptionally high
social and economic return, has proved to be one of
the best means of achieving sustainable development
and economic growth.
Every person must have access to basic education and
other essential services. Without such access, the poor
in particular, and their children, will have little opportunity to improve their economic status or to participate fully in society.

Key issues
Education is key to improving the status of women. A preliminary step in gender analysis in the education sector
will be to examine the gender indicators for the sector in
the developing member countries (DMCs). The following questions should be asked:

What are the overall participation rates at the

various levels of education?

How do girls compare with boys, and women with

men, in educational participation rates at the
various levels of education?
Do the gender participation rates differ between
regions?
What are the broader social and economic factors
that influence access to educational opportunities?
On the basis of this preliminary analysis, the extent of a projects GAD poWomen and
tential can be evaluated. Education
the poor must
projects with the highest GAD potential will be those that target the arhave equal
eas of greatest gender inequity in the
access to
education system and regions of a
DMC. For example in industrializing
educational
DMCs, or in modern urban areas
opportunities
within DMCs, women may benefit
most from projects that include stratto be full
egies to increase female enrollment
participants
at the senior secondary and higher
educational levels, particularly in
in society
technical and nontraditional career
areas for women. In DMCs or in areas within them that have a predominantly rural population, projects that focus on the primary
education of girls, nonformal education in rural and small community settings, literacy classes, and distance education may
be the most beneficial to women.

School projects at both primary and secondary levels

should address the following:

Levels of access and attainment of women

Where the participation rates for girls/females
are lower, the PPTA feasibility study should carefully examine the underlying causes, and the
project design should contain elements designed
to overcome the constraints identified.

Textbooks and curriculum improvement

Projects focused on textbooks and curriculum improvement should aim to remove gender stereotypes
in the content and images of textbooks.

Training of female teachers

GAD issues in the education sector focus on girls
and women not only as students but also as members of the educational profession. Teachers are important role models to boys and girls and to their
communities. Significant numbers of women in the
teaching profession, particularly at the higher levels
and in decision-making positions, can raise the aspirations of girls and young women and positively
influence social attitudes toward women.

Social attitudes
To promote female access to education, an analysis
of social attitudes toward education and the values
attached to the education of males and females is
important.

Box 1: Basic Education (Girls) Project,

Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, 1998
The long-term objective of the
activities supporting school
project is to bring more women
construction; (iii) help maintain
into the mainstream of sociotextbooks; (iv) participate in
economic development by proschool and community activigressively improving their eduties; and (v) identify the need
cational level. In the short term,
for targeted assistance to help
the overall project objective is
relieve some of the household
to expand access to improved
costs of education.
primary education for girls. The
The success of teaching deproject approach is flexible,
pends to a large extent on the
which means that project imavailability of teaching and
pact and effects are continually
learning materials. The project
assessed during implementasupports the review of existtion, and lessons learned are
ing materials and best pracapplied to subsequent activities.
tices, as well as the developThe project provides
ment, testing, producselected unserved or
tion, and distribution of
CASE
underserved small ethsupplementary materiSTUDY als and teachers guides
nic minority communities with village-based
in needed areas. This
primary schools staffed by
component includes the revitrained teachers and equipped
sion of curricula and instrucwith adequate relevant learntional materials to conform to
ing materials. The project also
the learning needs of students,
provides targeted assistance to
especially the girls.
reduce the private cost of eduFinally, the project is focation to poor families.
cused on teacher training. It
To increase female enrollseeks to increase the number
ment and improve the retention
of female and ethnic minority
of girls in particular, the project
teachers by supporting minorpromotes community participaity students, mainly females,
tion in school management by
with scholarships, health-care
involving village committees,
allowances, books, educathe Lao Womens Union, and
tional materials, and comNGOs.
modities such as blankets,
The project supports commosquito nets, and torches.
munity-level mobilization activiAfter completing their studies,
ties that motivate villagers to
the recruits will teach in eth(i) send their girls to school and
nic minority schools in project
keep them there; (ii) assist with
districts.

What cultural norms and

practices work against equal
opportunities for women in
education?

Key questions and

action points in
the project cycle

To what extent do women

hold decision-making positions
in the educational structure?

10

Does the project

have mechanisms
for measuring its
impact on women?

Gender issues in education projects

Key Questions
Are the project objectives spe-

T I P
Reserve seats for
female staff in
development
programs for
teaching staff

cifically related to the needs

of poor girls and women?
Did women participate in setting these objectives?
What are the causes of gender differences in enrollment?
Are the differences caused by
admission policies and practices or inadequate school facilities (lack of boarding facilities) for girls? Are school fees
a barrier to female enrollment?
at which levels of education?
Are the constraints related to
concern for the safety of girls
in long-distance travel from
home to school?
How should the project deal
with cultural norms that keep
women and men separate? Is
separate infrastructure of
equal value and equal quality
needed for girls/females and
boys/males? Do schools accessible to the client population have female teachers?
What are the financial and

political implications of these

considerations?
Who decides on education expenditures in the household?
How are the investment returns on educating girls and
boys viewed? Is educating girls
considered a good investment
for the family? Is there an expectation that boys will support their parents in later life,
thus making boys educational
attainment more important
than girls?
Is the education of girls considered an advantage or an
impediment to marriage? What
impact will education have on
customs such as dowry or
bride price?
Are there concerns that the education of girls will make them
unwilling to comply with their
parents plans for their future?
Is the labor of female children
considered more necessary to
the household than that of
male children?

11

Do the project
objectives deal
directly with the
needs of women,
particularly
among the poor,
and did they have
a hand in setting
the objectives?

Are the sexes segregated in

training programs, schools,

or colleges because of social
beliefs (e.g., that girls or
women should be taught only
by female teachers)?
Are female students being
taught the same subjects as
male students, or does the
curriculum differ for male and
female students? Are there
beliefs that girls should learn
only certain subjects? Are
these subjects taught at
schools that are accessible to
the client population?
Do textbooks or other educational media promote gender stereotypes (e.g., images
of women holding babies and
men holding agricultural implements)?
Is training of female teachers included in the project?
Are women being encouraged
through career counseling to
participate in all forms of
training?

Are women involved in

school management, in the

parent-teacher association?
And what proportion of
women hold decision-making
positions in the ministry of
education?
How committed is the executing agency to involving
women at various levels in
education projects?
Will special funds or other
provisions be required for
monitoring and for gender
impact and benefit analysis,
to ensure that women benefit from education projects?
Are gender aspects integrated sufficiently in the project to meet the Banks country strategic objectives for
GAD or the DMCs goals for
GAD?
Does the monitoring and
evaluation system explicitly
measure the projects effects
on women?

T I P
Implement an
affirmative action
plan to bring
more women
into school
management
boards and
teacher
organizations

12

Key Strategies

T I P
Sensitize the
local community
to the
importance of
girls education

Assist the DMC in formulating

Consider involving NGOs to in-

goals, strategies, and action

plans to increase the education
of girls and women.
Develop participatory strategies for project design, implementation, and monitoring and
evaluation (M & E). Include
stakeholders, students, teachers, communities, local government, and non-governmental
organizations in project planning and design.

crease community participation by women in particular.

Conduct a study to examine
economic and social factors
affecting enrollment, dropout
and attrition, and graduation
rates among girls/women at
the various levels of the education system. Include data on
employment issues or labor
demand for women and barriers to womens participation in
the workforce.
Consider using social marketing approaches to influence
cultural attitudes and to promote the value of education
for girls and women.
Consider the need for remedial actions at lower school levels or for upgrading programs
to increase female participation in the academic and technical fields prerequisite to entry into professional schools
and higher education.

Design specific measures to address identified constraints on girls/female participation. For example:
Consider providing scholarship/stipends to en-

courage female enrollment at levels of the education system where female enrollment is low.
Establish separate schools for girls in rural areas.
Allocate funds for stipends for girls to ensure
their access to educational opportunities.
Mobilize communities and train government
extension workers to raise the level of community awareness of the need to educate girls.
Consider allocating flexible school hours.
Allocate resources for girls hostels.

13

Ensure that opportunities for

training or scholarships that

might be provided by the
project are equally accessible to males and females.
Ensure that schools accessible to the client population
have female teachers. Ensure the security of female
teachers through the involvement of the local community or other means.
If vacancies for teachers
positions are to be filled,
identify local candidates if
possible.

Allocate funds, if necessary,

to enable the executing

agency to develop strategies for increasing womens
participation. Gender advisers may have to be recruited for this purpose.
Include staff deployment
programs to ensure that
teachers are available in
rural schools and to reduce
absenteeism and transfers.
Integrate gender as a specific subject in all training
for primary/secondary
teachers.

T I P
Provide
extension and
continuing
education
programs for
marginally
qualified people,

Design specific mechanisms to facilitate womens involvement in school

management, teacher organizations, etc. For example:
Set quota systems or implement an affirmative action plan.
Ensure that role models for decision-making and leadership positions

(program directors, school principals, etc.) are included in the project.

Involve NGOs to facilitate community participation in school
management committees.

especially
women, to equip
them for entry
into professional
schools and
higher education

14

Gender issues in basic and primary

education
Key Questions
Are there education and trainT I P
Lower the
educational
attainment
requirements
for female
candidates to
increase the
number of
female teachers

ing opportunities for girls, particularly among the poor?

What are the constraints on
girls access to school in various social groups?
What are the underlying
causes of the unequal participation rate between girls and
boys?
What facilities (separate dormitories, toilet facilities, special financial incentives to ensure female retention rates,
etc.) are needed to improve
girls access to schools?

How can the dropout rates of

girls/boys be reduced?

Are female teachers available?

What is the quality of teaching/training?

Are women involved in school

management?

Is female participation affected

by intersectoral factors? Are

counseling and health service
components needed to offset
those factors?
Will opportunities for training
or scholarship in the project be
equally accessible to girls/
women and boys/men?

Are the training locations

accessible to both women
and men? How can school
facilities be improved to
make education more
accessible to girls/women?

15

Key Strategies
Choose a location that is

Ensure that the project inc-

appropriate for both girls

and boys. Does the school have
sufficient facilities (e.g., secure
girls/womens dormitory accommodation, study facilities
for girls/women, separate and
private bathrooms) to allow
girls to enroll?
If the enrollment of girls is low,
consider integrating in the
project design incentives (e.g.,
stipends, free books and
school uniforms) to increase
enrollment.
Consider how cultural norms
that keep women separate
should be dealt with in the project, by ensuring the availability of female teachers,
sensitizing the local community
to the importance of girls
education, or other means.
Allocate funds specifically for
the development of strategies
for increasing poor girls
womens participation.
Include in the project specific
measures to address the identified constraints on female
participation. (Examples are
given in Box 1.)

ludes the qualitative aspects of

teaching practices and the
school environment.
Ensure that the curriculum is
adequate for the local community, given its social needs
and the productive sectors in
the area.
Consider reviewing and
changing images that reinforce
gender stereotypes in curricula, textbooks, and other
educational media. For example, textbooks can be revised
so that images and stories in
them refer to both women and
men in sciences, math, and
agriculture, as well as health
and education.
Design specific mechanisms to
facilitate womens involvement in school management,
etc. (Examples are given in
Box 4.)
Consider involving NGOs in
project implementation.
Allocate funds, if required, for
monitoring and gender impact
analysis, to ensure that girls/
women are benefiting from the
education project.

T I P
Make the
curriculum
responsive to
the social needs
of the community
and its
productive
sectors

T I P
Expand incomegenerating
opportunities
for women by
providing skillbased training

16

Gender issues in secondary education

T I P
Teach gender
sensitivity to
primary and
secondary
teachers

Key Questions

Key Strategies

Are education and training

Consider providing career

opportunities for girls in all

available programs widely
publicized? Is secondary
education offered in rural
communities?
What are the constraints on
girls enrollment in
secondary education?
Are their sufficient facilities
at secondary training
institu-tions (e.g., secure
womens dormitory
accommodation, study
facilities for women where
sex segregation is a
cultural norm) to allow
women to enroll?
Are female teachers
available at this level?

School projects
should address the
causes of low
participation rates
among women;
remove gender
stereotypes in
textbooks; train more
female teachers; and
reshape social
attitudes toward the
education of women

counseling at the stage

where boys and girls make
career choices, and using
successful female role
models to help them make
better choices.
Include in the project specific
measures to address
identified constraints on
female participation.
(Examples are provided in
Box 1.)
Assess the need for remedial
actions at lower secondary
levels or upgrading programs
(such as extension and
continuing education) for
marginally qualified people,
especially women, to prepare
them for entry into
professional schools and
higher education.
Establish quota systems or
stipends to encourage female
participation in science and
technical subjects.
Provide hostel facilities for
girls to facilitate their
completion of the secondary
level.
Hire more female teachers.
Encourage educated women
to become teachers through
affirmative action plans, a
female-friendly work
environment, etc.
Design specific mechanisms
to involve more women in
school management, teacher
organizations, etc. (Examples are given in Box 4.)

17
Box 2: Secondary Education Development Project,
Bangladesh, 1993
This ADB-funded project gave special
training for female teachers was proincentives, including scholarships and
vided. Girls enrollment in secondary
stipends, to encourage families
education has increased considto send their female children to
erably as a result of such measCASE
school regularly. New schools
ures and the increased awareSTUDY ness of the importance of girls
were built to complement these
incentives. The curriculum was
education. Other positive effects
updated and reviewed to eliminate
of the program were delayed marriages
sexual stereotyping, and additional
and improved health awareness.

Gender issues in tertiary education

Key Questions

Key Strategies

How are women students

Establish quota systems for

distributed within various

subject fields in tertiary
education?
What are the constraints on
womens enrollment in
tertiary education?
Are there sufficient facilities
at tertiary training
institutions (secure womens
dormitory accommodation,
study facilities for women,
etc.) for women to enroll?
Are female teachers available
at this level?

Are poor women, in

particular, informed about
opportunities in nonformal
education and are they
encouraged to participate?

female students at the

tertiary level.
Establish quota systems for
female participation abroad,
by offering stipends and
other incentives.
Establish affirmative action
and other programs to give
encourage female students
to enter math and science
courses.
Develop staff opportunities
and ensure that a certain
proportion of places is
allocated to female
candidates.
Provide the necessary
support (proper training
facilities, stipends and funds,
etc.) to ensure that seats are
reserved for female staff in
staff development programs.
Provide for the training of
guidance counselors in
gender-sensitive counseling.

18
Box 3: Nonformal Education Project, Bangladesh, 1995
In spite of the policy of the government
Project is to reduce poverty and improve
to eradicate illiteracy, many children,
the status of women.
adolescents, and adults remain uneduThe project supports the development
cated. Without specific actions to inof an organization for expanding and imcrease opportunities for second
proving nonformal education prochance education in Bangladesh,
grams for young adults, particuCASE
the country could have about 20
larly females, in the medium and
STUDY long term as well as ensuring their
million illiterates aged 1524 by
the year 2000. Lack of literacy and
sustainability. It makes use of the
life skills is a major factor contributing
existing practice of community involveto the perpetuation of poverty. The obment in identifying learners, providing
jective of the Nonformal Education
shelter to learners, recruiting teachers

Gender issues in nonformal education

and training
Key Questions
Do women in the client

population have enough free

time to participate in
training?
Are courses offered at times
when women with family
responsibilities or jobs can
attend? Did women help
choose the training
programs?
Are the courses or training
sessions held in locations
that are accessible to women
as well as men, considering
cultural norms and womens
mobility? Are childcare
services needed to facilitate
womens participation?
Are there plans to ensure
that poor women in
particular receive information
about nonformal education/
training opportunities? Are
networks being used to

inform women about the

project opportunities and
encourage them to
participate?
Will the cost of such training
permit the participation of
women without independent
sources of income? Is there
a need for scholarships,
adequate physical facilities,
and other special
arrangements to ensure
female participation?
Will training improve
womens productive capacity
and increase their
marketable skills and
income-earning potential?
Will it address health and
population issues or other
issues relevant to women?
Does the projects monitoring and evaluation measure
its effect on women?

19

from the local community, and establishing a management committee with local
people. The community is also involved
in curriculum revision and the development of postliterate and continuing education materials. Strategies specific to
female education have a significant part
in the project. Nonformal centers are located in communities, close to the users; female teachers are hired for female
groups; instruction is given free of cost;
a gender-responsive management infor-

mation system has been designed; and

support is given to experimental models
and social mobilization. NGOs are the
main implementers of the project.
The project approach is participatory,
with a high degree of involvement of local communities. Comprehensive studies carried out with the help of various
resource persons identified major constraints on the education of women and
formed the basis for the development
of strategies.

T I P
Provide
scholarships
or stipends
to increase

Key Strategies
Ensure equal access to

project training for males

and females.
Assess whether the
executing agency needs
additional funds to develop
strategies for increasing
poor womens
participation.
Assess the possibility of
including health,
environment, and other

enrollment

issues in the training

programs.
Consider the possibility of
skill-based training for
women, to expand their
income-generating
opportunities.
Ensure that monitoring and
evaluation explicitly measure
the impact of the project on
social groups, disaggregated
by gender.

among women

Mainstream gender equality in education through

more accessible schools, more and better-quality
female teachers, reduced costs, relevant curricula,
responsive delivery, community participation, and
decentralized educational administration

20

Box 4: Girls Primary School Sector Project,

Pakistan, 1996
Cultural practices such as the
structure needs to be supplesegregation of the sexes can and
mented by other measures to
often do restrict the participamake sure the schools function
tion of girls in schooling. Parproperly, that both teachers and
ents hesitate to have their
students attend regularly, and
daughters study alongside male
that the education is of a high
students or be taught by male
standard.
teachers. To deal with this probIn the Pakistan project, a
lem, a concern in Pakistan, the
participatory approach is being
Girls Primary School Sector
adopted to ensure that all this
Project is helping to establish
happens. Separate committees
community model schools
for men and women have been
(CMSs) for girls in rural areas.
established with the help of
Each school has five
NGOs to ensure full comclassrooms, one for each
munity participation in
CASE
primary school grade.
the management of the
STUDY CMSs. The committees
Each school also has five
female teachers trained
are playing a major role
under the project, and accomin encouraging the community
modation for the teachers to ento send their daughters to school
sure that they can live comfortregularly, providing security for
ably near the school. Some of
female teachers, and identifythe CMSs are existing schools
ing local candidates to fill vacant
that have been converted. Othteaching positions. Further caers are new. Under an initial
pacity-building support under
ADB-financed project, 800 CMSs
the project includes staff deploywere established. The second
ment programs to ensure that
project aims to expand and esteachers are available in the rutablish CMSs in 1,000 union
ral schools and to reduce absencouncil areas throughout the
teeism and transfers.
country.
Under the Primary School
Building the schools is only
Sector Project, families are seehalf the story. How do you get
ing girls attend school regularly
girls into the schools and keep
for the first time. It is hoped that
them there? In Pakistan, what
in time parents will recognize the
is required to transform a buildadvantages of having literate
ing into a school? Among the isdaughters. They may apprecisues that need to be addressed
ate the greater contribution their
are: How do you encourage pardaughters will make to their own
ents to send their daughters to
and their families well-being
school? How do you recruit and
and economic prosperity. Tradikeep female teachers? How do
tional barriers may break down
you discourage absenteeism
as families and governments
among students and teachers?
recognize the value of educatThe provision of physical infraing the girl child.

21

Strategies for
gender mainstreaming
in education
Make schools more accessible
Shortening the distance to school will encourage girls enrolment
in particular. Girls safety and social reputation are less at risk when
schools are closer to communities. Ensure that separate facilities and
closed latrines are available.

Improve the quality of teachers and

increase the number of female teachers
Set minimum quotas for female teachers. Because relatively few women
meet standard teaching requirements, active local recruit-ment is
essential, especially in rural areas. Bringing training closer to communities often attracts women who might otherwise not consider teaching because of cultural constraints on female mobil-ity, lack of housing, or family responsibilities. Incorporate gender awareness in the
teacher-training curriculum.

22

Lower the costs to parents

In many societies, parents regard schooling for girls to be less
affordable than that for boys. In their view, the direct costs (e.g.,
tuition and textbooks), hidden costs (e.g., uniforms and supplies),
and opportunity costs (e.g., for girls household tasks, agriculture
responsibilities) of educating girls outweigh the benefits. Scholarship programs can be introduced to cover certain costs, such as
tuition, textbooks, uniforms, and boarding facilities. Stipends can
lessen opportunity costs (see Secondary Education Development
Project, Bangladesh, Box 2).

Develop relevant curricula

Girls will be attracted to and benefit from a curriculum that is
relevant to their lives, that links education with agriculture and
productive activities, addresses health and nutrition issues, employs the local language, seeks out the potential in the given setting, and at the same time eliminates gender stereotyping.

Increase parental and community

understanding through participatory
approaches
In many communities, there is a need to change attitudes toward
the education of girls. The support of influential community members
and
religious
leaders
can
be
harnessed
to encourage parents to send both male and female children
to school. The involvement of parents and communities in planning, management, decision-making, and advocacy efforts has a
positive effect on girls education.

23

Promote
decentralization in
administration and
management
When school management functions are
transferred from the state/provincial level
down to the district and local levels through
education or development committees and
other local management mechanisms,
there is usually also an attempt at fairer
distribution of female and male membership in the school committees.

Teachers are
important
role models.
Are female
teachers
available and
are there
enough of
them?

Design systems that meet students

gender-specific needs
The specific cultural and other issues that constrain girls and boys
educational activities and achievements should be studied so that
meaningful programs can be designed. Flexible forms of schooling, such as half-day primary schools, part-time primary schools,
and primary schools established in poverty-stricken areas, could
make schools more accessible to girls with domestic responsibilities as well as boys with competing activities in the marketplace.

Design multiple delivery systems

Formal education alone cannot achieve the objective of providing
universal basic education. Education for boys and girls, men and
women should be delivered through a variety of channels. Nonformal
educational alternatives are often also useful.

24

Appendix 1

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS

Key Issues

Suggested Actions

Executing Agency (EA)

Gender sensitivity of
implementing agency

Conduct gender and participation training

for high-level EA officials/staff.

Encourage gender training for staff at all

levels.

Contact the national womens machinery for

support.

Staffing and budgeting

Obtain EAs commitment to increasing

Project management

Ensure that women are represented in any

Monitoring and Evaluation

(M & E)

Develop M & E arrangements: (i) internal

Reviews

Incorporate an assessment of the projects

female permanent staff and ensure budget

allocation for gender training.
project steering committee.

M & E by project staff; (ii) external M & E

by NGOs/consultants, as necessary; and
(iii) participatory monitoring by male and
female beneficiaries.
Disaggregate all relevant indicators by
gender.
impact on various social groups,
disaggregated by gender.

25

Appendix 2

TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) FOR GENDER SPECIALIST

Initial Social Assessment (ISA)
in PPTA Fact Finding

Social Analysis and Design in PPTA

Identify and analyze poverty fea-

Ensure that women and men are con-

tures and gender issues in the education sector, and suggest the educational sector instrument that will
be most effective in reducing poverty.
Identify and describe the target
population. Disaggregate data by
gender, considering gender differences in educational status, enrollment, and dropout and completion
rates by age and level.
Examine the differences between
subpopulations. Point out any differences in access to education between girls/boys and women/men
within these groups.
Examine the target populations
needs and demands for the project.
Consider, for instance, whether girls/
women and boys/men have different needs for physical facilities for
education/training, and how these
differences might affect the proposed project.
Identify absorptive capacity. Consider how women and men will participate in the projecttheir motivation, knowledge, skills, and organizational resourcesand how the
project will fit into their culture and
society. Identify constraints on girls/
womens participation in educational
projects (school fees, gender-based
roles and responsibilities in the
household, etc.).
Identify government and nongovernment agencies and organizations
that have a focus on women or interest in GAD and that might contribute to the project.

sulted and involved in project design

and implementation.
Conduct gender analysis, as follows:
Identify the differences in educational needs and opportunities between boys and girls, men and
women.
Identify structures and processes
legislation, social and political institutions, cultural practices, learning
and teaching institutions practices,
etc.that can perpetuate womens/
girls advantage.
Assess whether the curricula and
schoolbooks reinforce gender stereotypes.
Identify gender gaps among professional teachers.
Identify the role of women in school
management at the local and national levels.
Examine the proposed institutional and
organizational framework and determine
the extent of womens participation in
the proposed intervention and their representation in project management.
Examine the capacity of the proposed
project to improve access and participation for major target groups, particularly the poor.
Assess the relevance of the proposed
system for monitoring and evaluation,
including the availability and use of gender-disaggregated data and gendersensitive indicators suitable for measuring womens participation and empowerment.
Examine possibilities for cooperation
with NGOs, including those that focus
on womens issues or on GAD.

26

Selected References
Asian Development Bank. 1996. Education of Women
in Asia. Proceedings of the Regional Seminar, 30
May2 June, Manila, Philippines.
AUSAID. 1997. Guide to Gender and Development.
Checchi, D. 1999. Inequality in Income and Access to
Education: A Cross-Country Analysis. World Institute for Development Economics Research.
Filmer, D. 1999. The Structure of Social Disparities in
Education: Gender and Wealth. Gendernet, World
Bank.
UNESCO. 1998. Gender-Sensitive Education Statistics
and Indicators.
USAID. 1998. Promoting Education for Girls in Nepal.