1. Barriers in access to education (worldwide)
Agenda Learning objectives
• Barriers on state level • to learn about
• Barriers on school and multidimensional and
classroom level interrelated barriers that
• Social barriers girls and women, boys and
• Cultural and religious men face in accessing
barriers education;
• Personal barriers
• Interconnectivity
Sandra Pertek
sandra.pertek.10@ucl.ac.uk

2. Barriers on state level
(governance and political system)
Poor normative framework, women are not seen as citizens with
individual rights (India), (Subrahmanian);
No enforcement authorities: e.g. lack of compulsory registration of
names and birth dates of children;
Poor gender mainstreaming - insufficient understanding of gender issues
in curriculum and instruction (Aikman, Unterhalter, p. 25);
The curriculum based largely on foreign ideologies, “this has been a
vehicle for subordinating rather than strengthening and transforming
local indigenous cultural values” (Konai Helu Thaman 1993 cited in Fox,
Heward and Bunwaree p. 43).

3. Barriers on school and classroom level
Failure in
Teachers
protecting girls’ Inappropriate
reinforcing gender
rights within the curriculum
bias practices
school
Non-gender Poorly trained
teachers Lack of female
sensitive teaching (not mentioning gender teachers
methodology training)
Universal teaching
styles
(women and men learn
differently)

4. Social barriers
Societal norms – expectations that
girls will become housewives (division Behavioural aspects;
of domestic labour);
Integration of kinships structures and
social norms with labour markets Social segregation;
variables (North vs. South India);
Westernised approach to education
Patrifocal family structure (higher
e.g. uniforms clash with cultural
status of man);
norms;
Conviction that boys need to provide Inter-sectional power relations (class,
for family (male gender gap); race, age etc.).

5. Cultural barriers
Early
marriage
Lack of Structural
constraints
information e.g. production
or role of gendered
models subordination
(e.g. images)
Practices
Preference and beliefs limit
freedom and
of sons over choices (e.g.
daughters reinforced by
teachers)

6. Interplay between culture and religion
– Across religions there is a Case study based on Islamic principles
‘need to hide older girls from • "Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has
created (all that exists). He has created man
exposure to boys and men from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most
restricts their access to Generous. Who has taught (the writing) by the
secondary schools…’ (Sibbons pen. He has taught man that which he knew
in Heward, p. 192); this not" [Quran, 96: 1-5]
happens across religions;
• The Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) said:
– Lack of inclusion of religious
“Acquire knowledge even if it be in China”
principles and values. (Kanz al-Ummal, Hadith 8697).
“The seeking of knowledge is obligatory upon
every Muslim (men and women)” (by Bukhari).
Often people do not have means to
Why in Muslim countries access to study their religion that could
education is so limited? encourage them to education.

7. Personal barriers
family
attitudes expectations
VS. claims
content of low self- cultural and
curriculum concept  social norms
low self-
esteem
Internalised process  girls perceive
themselves as subordinate  poor agency 
failure to succeed

8. Interconnectivity between barriers in accessing education

9. Bibliography
• Whatmore Sarah, Little Jo (1989), Gender and Geography,
Contemporary Issues in Geography and Education, London,
• Heward, C. and S. Bunwaree (eds) (1999) Gender, Education and
Development: Beyond Access to Empowerment. Zed Books, London,
• Maton Kenneth Making a Difference: The Social Ecology of Social
Transformation American Journal of Community Psychology,
Volume 28, Number 1 – SpringerLink,
• Subrahmanian, R. (2002). “Engendering education: prospects for a
rights based approach to female education deprivation in India” in
Razavi and Molyneux (eds) Gender Justice, Human Rights,
Economics. Oxford University Press, Oxford,
• The Noble Qur’an *www.quran.com+, (accessed 01.02.2012).