Gender and education in Latin-America and the Caribbean

Please visit: http://www.campanaderechoeducacion.org/sam2011

Latin America and the Caribbean have observed in the last years a raise in the access of young women to school – what was misunderstood by public opinion as the disappearance of gender inequalities in education. Reality is much harder. Actually, in spite of the fact that globally more girls have access to education centres, there are still many obstacles that make their path through education more difficult.

Among the barriers are the domestic labour they perform, the obligation for them to take care of younger siblings, marriages and teenage pregnancy, the influence of religions in decisions regarding education policies – especially the ones referring to sexual and reproductive rights –, poverty, armed conflicts and a dangerous and violent school environment – not to mention that in many places the problem of access to education remains far from being properly addressed.

As CLADE sees it, this is an issue of major relevance, which occupies a central place in our political agenda. As part of our strategies to address this issue, CLADE wants to make visible the inequalities that still exist between men and women in education, producing different forms of discrimination. Thus we affirm the important role of education to change reality.

For further information about our strategies and resources on this subject, and to read other news on gender and education, please visit: http://www.campanaderechoeducacion.org/sam2011 (in Spanish).