Gender Inequality in School

In some communities in Asia, gender bias has a strong influence on children from the moment a child is born. This bias appears in many areas of life, especially in school and at home. Gender inequality in school in South Asia generally impacts females more than males. Among primary school age children, 5.9 million girls are not in school, compared to 5.5 million boys.1 UNICEF reports,

“Of the region’s out-of-school girls, 81 percent are unlikely to ever start school, compared to 42 percent of out-of-school boys.”2

The United Nations’ ESCAP shares an important aspect of the issue:

“Equitable opportunities for education are a fundamental human right. Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights each enshrine this right.”3

Many factors contribute to the gender inequality in school among the poorest communities in Asia, including the following:
  • One factor is familial poverty. Among the region’s poorest families, girls are unlikely to even start school. School fees and the necessary school supplies cost more than many impoverished families can afford. These families often struggle just to meet their basic needs, which leads some parents to have their children work and help provide for the family. This work keeps children from school.
  • Community poverty also contributes to gender inequality in school. When there is lack of available buildings and classrooms because the community is impoverished, this sometimes contributes to boys being selected before girls. Community poverty can also contribute to a lack of teachers, especially in remote rural areas. In addition, girls require sanitation facilities, which some poor communities can’t offer.5
  • Harmful social norms can also contribute to gender inequality.     In some areas of Asia, early marriage and early pregnancy keep girls out of school. In other families, girls are required to stay home to complete domestic duties or to babysit younger siblings.6
  • Domestic and gender-based violence also contribute to lower rates of girls in school.7 Some parents in Asia keep their daughters home from school because transportation routes are unsafe for girls and they want to protect them.
  • Another factor in this inequality is that some parents don’t consider education a priority, especially for girls. This lack of priority could be because the parents aren’t educated or literate themselves. They are more likely to send their daughters to work or into early marriage because they don’t understand the importance of education in breaking the cycle of poverty. This is one of the major reasons why gender inequality is a problem in South Asia.
But there are signs of improvement. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS),

“The number of girls and women who have gained access to education in the region increased substantially from 2000 to 2016. During that time, the number of female out-of-school children, adolescents, and youth of primary and secondary school age in the region dropped by 67 million.”8


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