Lucina Di-Mecco and Linda Tran presented to the BEC Gender & Girls' Education working group about Room to Read's Girls' Education Program (GEP). The GEP is specifically designed for girls in low-income countries, where skills like how to speak confidently, build relationships and communicate their needs can be crucial for young girls facing big life decisions like early marriage.
GEP supports entire classes of girls (cohorts) and operates in Lower Secondary School (Grade 6-9) and Upper Secondary School (Grades 10-12). Room to Read, therefore, support girls for approximately seven years - from Lower Secondary School until they graduate. Once they begin working at a school, the program remains at the school for three subsequent cohorts or about nine years in total. Across countries, this year, Room to Read is working in 444 schools with 37,700 girls.
Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program has four key components: Life Skills, Mentoring, Family and Community Engagement, and Material Support. The Life Skills Education component is highlighted below:
Based on the research of the World Health Organization, Room to Read identified 10 core skills that are needed for children to succeed in school and beyond, including communication, empathy, critical thinking, self-confidence, perseverance and relationship building, among others. To support this learning, Room to Read Social Mobilizers (local women who implement all GEP activities) facilitate a life skills curriculum with participating girls. Through life skills lessons, girls develop these foundational skills and learn about reproductive health, nutrition, financial literacy, career choices and begin to challenge limiting gender stereotypes around girls’ abilities and expectations.
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