Girls’ education is the organized provision of equitable learning opportunities for girls across all levels of education, including access, participation, progression, completion, and transition under safe and non-discriminatory conditions [1][2][3][4]. It concerns both formal entitlement to schooling and the practical conditions required for meaningful participation, such as affordability, safety, sanitation, freedom from gender-based violence, and social support for continued learning[1][2]. Girls’ education is characterized by attention to gender-specific barriers and by targeted policies or interventions that address structural constraints affecting girls’ educational trajectories [2][3][4]. In policy and research contexts, the term denotes a rights-based and equity-focused educational domain aimed at ensuring that girls can realize educational opportunities on equal terms with boys [1][2][3][4].
- girls’ education
- gender equity in education
- access to education
- gender-responsive schooling
References
- UNESCO. Global Education Monitoring Report 2020: Inclusion and Education—All Means All; UNESCO: Paris, 2020. Available online: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373718.
- UNESCO. Global Education Monitoring Report 2023: Gender Report—Technology on Her Terms; UNESCO: Paris, 2023. Available online: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000387421.
- United Nations. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); UN General Assembly: New York, 1979; Art. 10. Available online: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-elimination-all-forms-discrimination-against-women.
- Klasen, S. What Explains Uneven Female Education and Fertility Declines in Developing Countries? World Bank Econ. Rev. 2002, 16 (3), 345–373. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhf004.