Fake gold, sometimes preferable to the real stuff
Efforts continue to up number of rural area women teachers
Various organizations are working to improve on the number of women teachers in rural area schools.
The Life Makers Meeting conducted studies regarding employment policies and reviewed the opinions of offices at the helm of this business. The field study concentrated on employment policies and the techniques used to employ women teachers, in addition to viewing documentary films on the issue.
Nabeel Al-Khadir, the foundation’s manager, said the My Teacher Project works to employ thirty percent of women teachers in Yemen and provides education—particularly for girls—as well as bridging the employment gap between men and women.
“The My Teacher Project directly serves education issues,” Al-Khadir said. “It is an interactive, qualitative, media program that supports women’s rights to education.”
He said the project offered a number of training courses to build up the abilities of project partners, in addition to workshops pertinent to the decision-making process and to the augmentation of women teachers.
The percentage of women teachers in Yemen remains scant, according to a study conducted by Hana Al-Hiweidi, who works for the Life Makers Meeting. The study shed light on girls’ education in light of the social traditions and customs, particularly in rural areas.
Studies indicate the percentage of women teachers in Yemen’s primary and preparatory schools is 24 percent; male teachers make up 76 percent. The studies also found that the shortage of women teachers directly impacts girls’ enrollment and dropout rates.
The majority of studies found that the inadequacy of women teaching staff members is one of the major reasons behind the problems with girls’ education.
For her part, Sabria Al-Thawr, a supervisor and an examiner of one of the studies, said, “The situation creates a challenge. The challenge is the creation of a special policy in relation to employing the female staff in the education field. This is a new step toward solving the problem of female teachers’ inadequacy.”
The study targeted Shabwa, Sana’a and Hodeida, owing to the fact that rural areas in these governorates suffer from a sharp shortage of women teachers and a high dropout rate for girls. On the contrary, there is redundancy of women teachers in urban areas of these governorates. For example, women teachers city make up 50 percent of teachers in Sana’a and 95 percent of teachers in Aden, according to a study conducted by Abdulhakeem Al-Shamiri, a consultant for the Istijaba Project.
During the course of the My Teacher First Meeting, project participants were rewarded, in addition to their exposure to case studies and a viewing of a documentary film. Government staff as well as representatives of civil society organizations were in attendance.
