News from our Associates: Equality In Tourism’s Associate Professor Shirley Randell reflects on her work to improve the quality of teaching in secondary schools in Bangladesh.
Blog by Shirley Randell
I have now returned to Bangladesh after the last nearly nine years in Rwanda, and am back in education – where I first began my career in 1959. One of the joys of being back in Bangladesh has been to catch up with the staff from my previous position here in 2004-5 with UNDP and the Ministry of Women and Children. In that Capacity Building for Gender Mainstreaming project we talked a lot about professional development and career paths, and all of the consultants have done well.
I hope to be here for the next three years contributing with six Bangladeshi, a Filipino (team leader) and an Indonesian consultant to the Ministry of Education/Asian Development Bank’s second input into improving the quality of teaching in secondary schools in Bangladesh (QTI-II).
An inclusive education component will increase the proportion of female teachers, teachers from disadvantaged groups, and female members of school management committees (SMCs) targeting disadvantaged locations where student performance is low. Scholarships to attract female teachers are being offered and incentive packages targeted to encourage teachers, preferably women, to seek appointments in disadvantaged areas, using advocacy campaigns and providing capacity building training. The Gender Action Plan explicitly integrates gender concerns within the project outputs.
As I serve as patron and board member of some wonderful organisations, I’m including a snippet about them. One is the Sunflower Foundation, which provides education grants to empower women and girls around the world: http://www.sunflowerfoundation.com.au/. The second is the Paper Crown Institute in Rwanda that is sponsoring the Uwicyeza Project, nurturing the personal and professional development of girls and young women – worth looking up: http://www.paper-crown.org/
Please do also take a look at the The Global Engagement Institute’s Rwandan Friendship Tours are advertised on http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=ca1bdf9165939db98ba6a2e09&id=ee8ed6bca4&e=[UNIQID]
