UNESCO initiative promotes gender equality in education

The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) and UNESCO launched the initiative “Gender Equality and Girls’ Education in Vietnam: Empowering girls and women towards a more equal society” in Hanoi on October 28.

The initiative aims to provide technical assistance to ensure gender equality in curriculum and textbook reforms, train education managers and policymakers, and design new teaching and learning materials.

It also supports coordination between parents and the community to help schools create a favourable environment for students to practice what they have learned.

At the launching ceremony, MoET Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Nghia said the ministry is pushing up fundamental and comprehensive reforms in education and training while highlighting that including gender equality and women and girls’ education in educational reforms is a central priority of the MoET.

UNESCO Representative in Vietnam Katherine Muller-Marin said gender equality is a global UNESCO priority and is associated with efforts to promote the right to education and support the realisation of national development goals in Vietnam.

The initiative is important in Vietnam as it assists the education sector to continue implementing the sustainable development goal (SDG) on education and gender equality. As it requires specific skills and knowledge to solve social, economic and environmental and natural resources issues harmoniously, the realisation of the SDGs depends greatly on the quality of education, she noted.

She also recognised the private sector’s financial assistance to the initiative and called for other sectors to get involved, adding that UNESCO is a trustworthy partner of Vietnam and willing to aid the country in building a sustainable learning society.

UNESCO is coordinating with the UN Entity for General Equality and the Empowerment of Women, the UN Population Fund and the UN Development Programme to provide technical support for the initiative.-VNA