How is Gender Equality Included in Education Sector Planning? An Analysis of Power, Voice, and Social Norm Change in Eight Sub-Saharan Countries

To better understand how MoEs can embed gender equality in their education systems, we wanted to investigate where the bottlenecks lie, as well as identify good practices. UNGEI, with support from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, commissioned Cambridge Education to undertake this study in the 8 GCI partner countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Niger and Sierra Leone) to identify examples of good practice, opportunities for change and to highlight where there are opportunities and threats to progress in achieving gender transformative education systems. 

The study looks at the political economy of education sector planning, zooming in on issues of power and voice, and seeks to answer the following questions: Are education sector planning processes including gender transformative ambitions and intentions? Who within the MoE has the power to push this gender agenda? How are civil society and other gender experts engaged within education planning? 

The study examines education sector planning processes in the 8 GCI countries. The analysis looked at the interactions between actors in planning processes and the content being discussed within planning. It also sought to determine the level of power or influence each actor had in the process.