Out of 13,000 teachers, 69% are female and 27% of them held leadership position like head of school.

Permanent secretary for the Ministry of Education Anjeela Jokhan confirmed the statistics while officiating at the Maarthar Sangam Cultural night at the Churchill Park grounds, Lautoka on April 15.

This was also revealed in a survey conducted by the Ministry in October 2021.

“We did a survey to find out what it was that was preventing women from aspiring for higher leadership positions,” Ms Jokhan said.

“Interestingly enough, we found that 48 per cent of women were in the middle leadership positions.”

“So, when we looked at the qualifications, we found that more women were qualified than male teachers.”

“So, it was obviously not the qualification,” she said.

“Many said that heads of schools was a man’s job.”

She said other women said that if they took higher positions it would conflict with their roles at home.

“So, there’s a lot that we intend to do to help empower these women to reach their aim or to achieve their goals and I think in the Maarthar Sangam we can also play a very important role in empowering our women and young girl,” she said

“One of the best ways we can empower girls and women is by mentoring them through people who they see as their role models, these are successful women in the society.”
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