7 October 2008
Maputo — The presence of women students and teachers in Mozambique's professional education institutions is very low, the Professional Education Reform Executive Commission warned on Monday.
The report of a study on the gender situation in five out of the 16 institutions covered by a pilot phase of the professional education reform showed that 80 per cent of the students are male and only 20 per cent female.
According to Eugenia Rodriguez, of the consultative group that carried out the study, among the reasons for this imbalance is that only a small number of girls meet the requirements for entering professional education. But there is also an alleged lack of interest among girls for professional studies, linked to gender stereotypes in the family. On a practical level, housing for girl students is described as "precarious".
"There are socio-cultural factors that determine the poor participation of girls and women, such as the reproductive role that is socially linked to women, or the perception that technical and professional specialisms such as electricity, welding or mechanics are for men, because women are destined for domestic chores", Rodriguez said.
As for educational performance, girls on professional courses have high drop-out and failure rates, because of premature marriages, discrimination, even in the classroom, and sexual harassment by teachers.
The study also concluded that the number of women teachers in professional education had scarcely increased at all between 2005 and 2007. "Only 20 per cent of the teachers in the professional schools and institutes, and 14 per cent in the training centres, are women", said Rodriguez.
Likewise when it comes to management positions. Over three quarters of these positions in the professional training institutions are held by men.
Perhaps even worse is the bias against women graduates from professional education. They study found that the women graduates had much greater difficulty in obtaining jobs than their male counterparts. The study blamed this partly on "lack of motivation", but also said there were few apprenticeships for women in industrial companies, and that many companies are simply reluctant to hire women.
The study called for material incentives that would attract more girls into professional education. These could include improved accommodation, free school equipment, and exemption from enrolment fees.
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