Every girl goes to school: Professional reading
English Faculty
Belief in the value of girls’ education underpins our learning and teaching at Shelford Girls’ Grammar. In the spirit of ‘acting locally and thinking globally’, the English Faculty recently read and reflected on the policy paper, Every girl goes to school, stays safe, and learns: Five years of global action, published by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in 2021. The report focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on girls’ education around the globe. Stressing the fact that education is a fundamental human right, the report details the vital importance of education for gender equality, ‘resilient economies’, ‘peaceful, stable societies’, as well as for providing ‘children the ability to shape their own lives and realise their potential.’
Our Faculty group was struck by learning that ‘two-thirds of the world’s illiterate people are female’ and, even before the onset of the pandemic, a staggering number of school-aged girls around the world were not learning to read. These numbers are higher still in regions of the world where conflict leads to school closures. The FCDO details how the pandemic has exacerbated threats to girls’ futures, including gender-based discrimination and violence. In the opinion of the FCDO, advances in women’s rights over the past 25 years worldwide ‘are being rolled back’ and the ‘threat to girls’ futures could not be clearer’. Their strategies for responding to the crisis include addressing sources of disadvantage for girls within and without the classroom and investing in teacher training.
At Shelford, we believe that improving learning and teaching here contributes to larger improvements in learning and teaching at the state, national, and international level, benefitting girls and women everywhere. To continue this conversation, Julia Lloyd Bruin, Senior Years Coordinator, also presented this report to the Year 11 and 12 students, reminding them of the interconnectedness of people around the world.
Madeleine Coloumbe
Head of English