10 Resources on Girls’ Empowerment and Education

Today is International Women’s Day, and to celebrate, we’ve rounded up ten of our favourite stories, articles, and videos—old and new—for you to explore the theme of female empowerment and the importance of girls’ education. Happy reading and watching!

1. Education is For All – Boys and Girls
   We chatted with parent Pierre to hear how his perspective of girls’ education shifted after a Wellspring training, how he’s working to break into the cultural beliefs of his community, and how he’s now prioritizing the education of his three daughters and cheering on their dreams.
2. Talk with a Trainer—Girls’ Education
   Wellspring’s Quality Education Trainer Beatrice shares her heart for girls’ education and how she dreams of being part of a solution that sees girls empowered to not only chase after their dreams but to make them come true.
3. A Worthy Investment—Quality Education
   Education is the root of healthy and vibrant communities and is a long-term investment with a ROI too good to ignore. Quality education reduces gender inequities, expands future opportunities, and breaks the cycle of poverty—it’s the most powerful investment for our future.
4. Gender Responsive Formative Assessment Training Highlights
   At the end of 2021, we launched our Gender Responsive Formative Assessment (GRFA) training module, designed to help teachers combat gender bias, identify the specific learning needs of girls, and develop strategies to make sure they succeed in their learning. This pilot project has the potential to change the lives of girls across the nation to ensure every girl is learning and empowered in her classroom. Get an inside look at how the GRFA training went, and hear what Wellspring trainers and participants had to say about all that was taught and learned.
5. Thinking Outside the Gender Box: Part 1
   Following day one of our GRFA training, teacher Fidele began challenging traditional gender stereotypes and started thinking outside of these gender boxes to see boys and girls no longer prescribed certain roles and responsibilities within society, and as equally capable of learning.
6. Thinking Outside the Gender Box: Part 2
   After being equipped with Gender Responsive Formative Assessment tools, teacher Fidele realized the impact gender bias has had on his leadership and on the student’s learning performance. He shared practical ways he will better engage girls, make space for their learning, and give them more opportunities to discover their skills and reach their full potential.
7. Thinking Outside the Gender Box: Part 3
   Teacher Fidele is ready to teach and reach every child by making classrooms child-friendly and girl-friendly places, addressing students’ learning needs, and assessing their understanding and learning performance through goal setting and data collection.
8. “What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?”
   Parents from the Bweramvura school community are breaking through the traditional mindsets that have hindered girls from receiving a quality education and instead are rallying around their goals for their education and dreams for the future.
9. Female Empowerment at Bweramvura
   When it comes to education, girls around the world are often overlooked in favour of boys. While this sentiment still rings true among some communities in Rwanda, things are changing in the Bweramvura School community as students look up to their female teachers, parents prioritize their daughters’ education, and the community shakes up long-held norms about girls’ role in society.
10. Girls: Education Changes Everything
    While boys have traditionally been given more opportunities to learn, girls have the potential to be world changers and community shapers, too. It’s time to equip them with the education to reach their dreams.

Interested in learning more about Wellspring’s work in empowering girls? Read about our work and see how you can be part of transforming the future for girls across Rwanda and beyond.