in cOnclusiOn

Across South Africa, learners are making the slow, often unsteady journey to completing their basic education.

inishing Grade 12 widens

Fopportunities for employment, further education, job security and earnings, improving young people’s wellbeing and civic participation. But most learners have the odds stacked against them, battling disruptions at home, in the classroom, on the playground and in their neighbourhoods. as learners make their way through school, gender matters. Gender impacts learners’ vulnerabilities and responsibilities; their relationships with peers, caregivers and teachers; and the types of care and attention they are likely to receive. This publication shows how gender intersects with other inequalities – including race, geography, disability and household income – to shape learners’ experiences of, and disengagement from, school.

Meaningfully integrating gender into dropout prevention demands a context-specific, inclusive and intentional approach. rather than reinforcing gender stereotypes, or working from gendered assumptions, schools would benefit from understanding the specific gender dynamics unfolding in learners’ lives. As with any strong dropout prevention strategy, this means tracking, monitoring and understanding learner-level data, and noting where there are gendered trends in school disengagement. it also means creating safe and nurturing learning environments for all learners through proactive gender programming and psychosocial support. finally, since gender inequalities are embedded in social, economic and political structures, schools, families and civil society must work together to build effective partnerships, tackling gender injustice and building networks of support around learners.

a dropout prevention plan that is responsive to gender not only promotes gender equity, but also gives learners the targeted support they need to stay in, and succeed at, school. this publication offers a framework for deepening our understanding of gender and schooling, and charting a pathway to genderresponsive dropout prevention.