Girls’ and women’s uptake of sciences, mathematics in particular, remains low despite existing policies and support system to have more women on board. This was highlighted during a virtual event celebrating International Day for Women in Mathematics that was held on Wednesday. The event was organised with an aim to have the essentials in place to positively affect the rest of Rwanda’s education system. The day is celebrated annually around the world and seeks to inspire women to celebrate their achievements in mathematics and to encourage an open, welcoming and inclusive work environment in mathematics-related fields. In her remarks, Dr Marie Christine Gasingirwa, Applied Sciences Analyst High Education Council said the present barriers are entrenched deep down in families and that for this to change, it’s important to deal with the family structure. She explained that why barriers still exist despite strategies in place, is due to the fact that resilience among humans is very difficult and that the desired changes can’t happen overnight. “But with policies in place and continued support for the girls, change will happen eventually. They will learn from the women in the space, their passion will encourage them. Currently we have more opportunities, if we had them back then, we would have more women in mathematics,” she said. Gasingirwa noted that the more we have all people empowered the better the development will be. “What we need to understand is how relevant mathematics is on every level, this is why it matters that we introduce this to the girls earlier in life. In Rwanda, we want to go much faster but there are still obstacles; these may be conscious or unconscious, but there is progress.” “What is remaining is for people to remove the stereotypes that keep blocking progress. We want to fly because we are in a changing world, we need to be equipped with tools, we need to be bold, feel empowered academically and be able to apply the knowledge that we have acquired,” she added. Chantal Bizimana a Sector Learning Facilitator with Building Learning Foundation, mentioned the case with the learning process that at times doesn’t consider challenges girls face in accessing education especially those in the science field. “Girls are sometimes not quick when learning mathematics but when a teacher has the right techniques they can excel just like boys. It’s important for teachers to encourage them and ensure that they are not lagging behind. Teachers should be supportive too and help them overcome that fear of science subjects believing that it’s meant for boys alone,” she explained. Adopted approaches Jean Marie Vianney Munyaneza, a gender specialist with BLF revealed that what needs to be done is to address the exiting inequalities between men and women, boys and girls. When you dig deep, you see that these differences are rooted in the habits and attitudes of society. It makes it difficult for the girls to be on equal ground with their male counterparts. These negative stereotypes, unconscious biases, issues of sexual abuse, is what affects their mental health and consequently their health and performance in school, he observed. “Girls often report lower confidence than boys do in their math and science abilities as a result of the cultural belief that science and math are male domains. This affects girls to offer mathematics as a subject and for even those who have taken it, to continue performing.” Munyaneza hence challenged women and men to defy their social norms and empower both boys and girls. “BLF has adopted a gender transformative approach at all levels of program implementation. Our approach works at intersections of gender equality, diversity and inclusion. This is what we hope to help counteract these misconception.” He also mentioned the need to expose both boys and girls to successful role models in the science field. “A combination of general and goal-targeted interventions which foster supportive, stereotype-free learning environment will build girls’ interest and confidence in maths.”
