A report published by United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organisation says that male literacy rate in Nepal is at 72.2 per cent while only 51.4 per cent females are literate, pointing to the fact that gender bias is widely prevalent in the education sector in the country.

Mainstreaming gender issues in education is therefore the agenda of a seminar the Research Centre for Educational Innovation and Development of Tribhuvan University in collaboration with the Ministry of Education — with the financial support of UNESCO — is going to organise tomorrow at Yalamaya Kendra in Lalitpur.

The main objective of the event is to find ways to encourage people to enroll girl child in school, change their perspectives towards female literacy and to outline a strategy to curb gender-based discrimination in education.

Around 50 experts from several departments of Tribhuvan University, institutions of the Ministry of Education, teachers’ unions and development partners will participate in the seminar.

Gender-based discrimination in education is both a cause and a consequence of deep-rooted disparity in society. Poverty, geographical isolation, ethnic background, disability, traditional attitudes about their status and role, all undermine the ability of women and girls to exercise their rights, the UNESCO report said.

The report further said that ill practices such as early marriage and early pregnancy, gender-based violence, discriminatory education laws, policies, contents and practices still prevent millions of girls form enrolling, completing and benefiting from education.

“UNESCO is working to promote equal opportunities for quality learning, free from gender-based or other forms of discrimination,” it added.

source: the himalayan times,12 Dec 2013