Close up of a young South Asian girl smiling with a painted blue wall in the background Close up of a young South Asian girl smiling with a painted blue wall in the background

Girls’ Education

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Tune in to Inside Global Girls’ Education for conversations with global experts in gender and girls’ education as well as local leaders from across the Teach For All network.

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The stakes are high for girls who do not complete a comprehensive, quality education.

Disproportionate Consequences

Girls remain at greater risk than boys of not attending or staying in school due to child marriage, unintended pregnancies (and policies that punish girls for pregnancy and sexual activity), and disproportionately bearing the burden of housework and care for family members.

Lifelong Impact

Girls are also more likely to bear the lifelong consequences of not completing their education, including facing a greater risk of being in violent personal relationships, having more children than desired, experiencing increased child mortality and malnutrition, and facing reduced job prospects, and thus lower economic agency and ability to contribute.

Persistent Gender Bias

Schooling often doesn’t serve girls’ needs and rights, as many classrooms are still characterized by gender bias, lack of belief in girls’ ability in math and science, and traditional gender roles, which girls and boys observe through teacher attitudes, textbooks, widespread acceptance of gender-based violence, and lack of leadership opportunities for girls.

Teach For All is committed to supporting the global network to identify and address the barriers that keep girls from learning and fulfilling their potential.

Five girls in blue dresses, one wearing a white head scarf, face the camera clutching mathematics workbooks Five girls in blue dresses, one wearing a white head scarf, face the camera clutching mathematics workbooks

Global Girls' Education Fellowship and Certificate Course

Teach For All offers a virtual, web-based Global Girls’ Education Fellowship for staff, alumni, and participants of network partners seeking to significantly deepen their expertise in girls’ education best practices. The fellowship (and course) cover important areas of girls’ education, including:

  • Challenges and Solutions in Girls’ Education
  • Reducing Barriers to Access - Health, Safety, Wellbeing
  • Addressing Negative or Limiting Attitudes about Gender (including working with boys, men, and communities)
  • Classroom Pedagogical Change for Gender Equity
  • Sexual Health, Power, and Relationships
  • Girls’ Empowerment (including socio-emotional learning, skills, STEM, and girl-led interventions)

Through this fellowship, participants will develop their expertise as girls’ education practitioners through interactive online modules, group video calls, and engagement with experts in the field. They will also have an unparalleled opportunity to connect with a diverse, global cohort of like-minded advocates who share their convictions and will be working over their lifetimes to improve outcomes for girls and women. Space permitting, we will strive to admit all applicants who express genuine interest in girls’ education and are able to make the time commitment.

The 2023 fellowship will be announced shortly. In the meantime, all members of the Teach For All Network who plan to apply to the fellowship are required to take the course and earn a certificate as a pre-requisite.

The fellowship is an intensive experience, and fellows will be required to attend or watch a minimum number of webinars, join discussion groups, and design and complete a project. Network members who are passionate about girls’ education but cannot commit to the full fellowship requirements are welcome to take the course for or without a certificate.

To ensure you are able to register for the fellowship, you must take the course on Bridge. If you do not have a Bridge account, please complete this request, and we will respond to you as soon as possible with an account. You can then register for the course here.

The revised Global Girls’ Education course is open to all; you do not have to be affiliated with Teach For All in order to view or take the course. The course can be taken at your own pace, and you can choose your own level of engagement. Members of the Teach For All network can complete the course with or without taking the questionnaire at the end to receive a certificate (the certificate is only available if you take the course via Bridge). To be eligible for the fellowship, you must complete the course, answer the questionnaire, and receive a certificate of completion. Once you have earned your certificate, your information will be captured and you will be informed about the opening of the next fellowship.

Please register here.

Fellows have shared that the course and webinars provided them with a high level of insight, leading them to make changes in their classrooms and communities. Read below for some of the Fellows’ reflections:

“My biggest learning was that of how to implement solutions to tackle issues regarding girls' education. The resources, discussion with my peers and sessions by other educators opened up a whole new world of possibilities which will help me in my practice as an educator for years to come.”

“I've been able to apply what I've learnt in this Fellowship to programme development discussions in my current workplace. For example, in a strategy planning session for a programme focused on getting girls into STEM, I was able to reference material from this Fellowship.”

“I invited an external group to do an FGM workshop with a select group of my y7 (11/12 year old) pupils. More reserved pupils were chosen to develop their leadership skills. They then put together a workshop for the rest of their peers. They were mature in their handling of the difficult subject matter and felt empowered whilst raising awareness to their peers and other staff members. The feedback was incredible and staff were taken aback by their maturity and delicacy in handling issues raised. They created a safe environment that encouraged conversations.” 

“I wasn't comfortable enough to talk about girls things like pads etc. But after attending a few sessions here I designed one short discussion within my cluster in a meeting. I also organized a residential learning and sisters shared their period pains and others. I think I won their trust applying my learnings from Global Girls' Education Fellowship.”

Several children facing the camera and giving a thumbs-up hand gesture

Develop Your Expertise

Everyone has a role to play in ensuring that girls receive the education they deserve. Teach For All has developed a resource repository to support anyone in the network to develop their own expertise in issues of girls’ education. Visit our repository to learn more about the challenges facing girls around the world, gender equity, how to engage boys and men in this work, and more.

See more resources >

Learn More About Global Girls' Education Fellowship Projects

The first three Global Girls’ Education Fellowships have welcomed over 300 leaders from across the network.

Network Innovators

Motivated by their experiences in the classroom, dozens of alumni of Teach For All network partners are launching and leading initiatives focused on the education and empowerment of women and girls. Meet some of these inspiring innovators:

Mariana Sanz de Santamaria

Through Poderosas, an Enseña por Colombia alumna is breaking the silence around sexual education

Learn More
Samia Habli

Exploring gender dynamics inside and outside of the classroom in Lebanon

Learn More
Carole Seera

A focus on gender equity within and beyond the classroom walls

Learn More

Girls’ Education & Women’s Leadership Stories

Across the Teach For All network, teachers, students, and alumni are raising their voices about the need for gender equity and leading initiatives focused on the education and empowerment of women and girls. 

More Girls' Education stories