Twenty-three years ago, Georgia committed itself to the goal of removing all discrimination against women. This pledge occurred at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, where the involved nations signed an international convention that called on each country to create an action plan.
While social norms continue to reinforce a gender divide that undermines girls’ education in Georgia, a lot has changed since the momentous convention. Here are seven things to know about girls’ education in Georgia.
7 Important Facts About Girls’ Education in Georgia
- Georgian girls outperform boys in reading, mathematics and science. Indeed, the average mathematics score for 4th-grade girls was seven percent more than that for boys; in addition, the average science scores favored 4th-grade girls by nine percent.
- The graduation rate from upper secondary schools in 2012-2013 was 74.4 percent for females, compared to 68.8 percent for males. In those same years, 91.2 percent of all females transitioned from lower secondary to upper secondary schools, compared to 85.8 percent of males. The dropout and repeat rates, on the other hand, were the same for both girls and boys, with a dropout rate of 0.2 percent and a repeat rate of 0.1 percent in grade three.
- Despite their academic achievements, Georgian girls are underrepresented in STEM and entrepreneurial occupations. In fact, 58 percent of all respondents to a research report by the U.N. Development Program saying that a man would make a better business leader. According to the World Bank, Georgian girls are brought up to believe that STEM careers are more suitable for men; young Georgian women overwhelmingly major in arts, education and healthcare. Men, on the other hand, tend to major in high-wage sectors like engineering and manufacturing. Organizations like the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and Girls Up are stepping up to fill in the gap in Georgian girls’ STEM education. Since 2015, MCC has arranged exchange programs between Georgian and American students, placing a special emphasis on women participation and allowing Georgians to earn reputable STEM degrees. The global initiative Girls Up has organized a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Design and Mathematics camp to help girls realize their leadership potential and explore new disciplines.
- In some cases, early marriages have prevented teenage girls from completing their education. In 2015 alone, 224 girls aged 14 – 16 left school on the grounds of marriage. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) found that 17 percent of Georgian women married before the age of 18. Recognizing that early marriage carries adverse effects for girls’ education in Georgia, the Georgian Parliament ruled in a law passed on January 1, 2017 that only individuals who have reached the age of 18 are legally allowed to marry.
- Girls from ethnic minorities — Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Russians, Ossetians — are more likely to drop out of school. In an effort to engage these ethnic minorities with the school curriculum, Georgia’s Ministry of Education and Science has supported bilingual education programs and professional development for teachers residing in ethnic enclaves. In 2014, the Ministry awarded certificates to 80 teachers for their completion of the “Teach Georgian as a Second Language” program, which offered professional development for educators in non-Georgian schools.
- While Georgian girls are more likely than boys to enroll in tertiary education, educated women make up the largest category of underemployed women. Once employed, these women face a 37 percent earnings gap with their male counterparts. Diminishing this gap will incentivize more girls to pursue higher education. The Law on Gender Equality — passed on January 1, 2014 — sought to do just that by raising paid maternity leave from 126 to 183 calendar days.
- U.N. bodies have collaborated with Georgia’s Ministry of Education and Science to foster gender equality at school. The U.N. Women initiative, which took root in Georgia in 2001, supports girls’ education in Georgia by hosting training sessions for women interested in entrepreneurial careers. On July 25, 2018, a U.N. Women training on organizational management and leadership brought together 25 aspiring women entrepreneurs. Likewise, the Peace Corps sent 114 volunteers to Georgia to assist with English education in geographically remote areas of Georgia. After being assigned to a public school, volunteers work with teachers to organize after-school English clubs and teacher workshops in regional centers.
Increased Opportunities
With more national awareness and international assistance, Georgia has worked to promote educational opportunities for girls. Laws like the ban on early marriages help keep girls in school for longer and further their career goals.
– Mark Blekherman
Photo: Flickr