The region of Oceania is unique in particular because it is made up of many small islands, excluding Australia. The total population of the region is 42,940,815, 30.3 million of whom are in Australia and New Zealand. Countries in that region face a common thread of challenges as a result OECF their small size, geographic isolation, and natural disaster vulnerability (United Nations, 2015). Although Australia and New Zealand are not impacted by the same challenges experienced by the surrounding islands, gender disparity in education is prevalent between Indigenous girls and non-indigenous girls (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). It is traditional in most Pacific culture that girls and young women are expected to regularly support the family’s welfare (Murray, 1993). Young girls starting at the age of 6 or 8, are required to start caring for their younger siblings (Murray, 1993). A girl’s job at that age is to “entertain her young charge, keep it from disturbing adults, discipline it for misconduct, protect it from other children and prevent it from engaging in dangerous adventures” (Murray, 1993). Transitioning into adolescent years girls are expected to learn and participate in household chores alongside other female members of the family (Murray, 1993). Girls would be required to master cooking, weaving, and child caring. As a result, girls are susceptible to early marriage and pregnancy. 

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The 2015 Millennium Development Goals Report tracking Oceania’s progress stated that Oceania has made substantial advancements in expanding primary school enrolment between 1990 and 2015, increasing enrolment rates from 69% to 95% (United Nations, 2015). For Oceania’s progress to be considered an achievement, children are required to stay in school for the full cycle of primary education. However in 2015, “fewer than one in two pupils in Oceania are able to complete primary school, the lowest among all developing regions” (United Nations, 2015).

 

While slight progress is occurring in gender parity in education, girls continue to face many barriers to schooling in all levels of education. In the same year, it was estimated that for every 100 boys only 86 girls were enrolled in secondary schools (United Nations, 2015).

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Comparing Oceania’s most recent statistics from 2018 to other regions of the world, the Pacific State’s progress to reduce gender inequality is visible (figure 2). However, looking at regional and national statistics structural barriers are still firmly planted in the legislature of most countries. A big obstacle in girl’s education in the Solomon Islands is the literacy rate, according to the World Bank only 69% of the female population aged 15 and above is literate (The World Bank, 2019). Data collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics totalled approximately 47,000 girls to be illiterate (UNESCO, 2020). 

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Australia and New Zealand have eradicated widespread gender gaps in their education. In both Australia (figure 3 (a) (b)) and New Zealand (figure 4 (a) (b)), the percentages of gross enrolment ratio of girls and boys into primary and secondary education are almost identical (UNESCO, 2020). In 2018, Australia’s gross enrolment of girls into primary education was 100.1% while boys were 100.21% (figure 3 (a)). In comparison, New Zealand’s rates were 101.38% for girls and 100.78% for males (figure 4 (a)). Considering tertiary education such as college or university, both countries have higher female enrolment rates than males. In Australia, the gross enrolment ratio of girls in tertiary education is 33% higher than the male’s rate and 32% higher in New Zealand (figure 3(b) & 4(b)). The statistics collected for these countries by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics gives the illusion that educational inequality is non-existent, however, these statistics neglect Australia’s indigenous population. In 2016, an Australian study reported that “only 34% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women aged 15 years and over have completed Year 12 or its equivalent, compared with 59% of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women” (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). Educational equity cannot be claimed in Australia and New Zealand if their Indigenous populations are being left behind.

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When evaluating female access to education in the MENA region, the region’s history and experiences must be taken into consideration. The wealth distribution varies significantly in different parts of the region. With the exception of the oil rich States, many Arab States are politically and economically weak due to years of political and economic hardship. This has curtailed government efforts and funding to grant girls equitable education. Regional outliers exist in the area and began to appear in the early 2000s (UN Girls' Education Initiative, 2005). In 2001, Tunisia achieved gender parity in both its primary and secondary level of education (UN Girls' Education Initiative, 2005). In Bahrain, more girls were enrolled in primary school than boys (UN Girls' Education Initiative, 2005). Despite the progress the region has made in regards to female access to education, the gender gap still exists in most Arab States. In 2019, UNICEF reported that an estimated 9.3 million children between the ages of 15 and 17 are out of school; girls accounting for over 50% of unenrolled children. The cost of conflict in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen has been significant on girl’s education. Across these three countries, “over 2,169 education facilities have been attacked since 2014” (UNICEF, 2019). Yemen has been under intense conflict for the past couple of years which has left 76% of Yemenis in need for humanitarian assistance (UN Women, 2018). This has increased the already high level of vulnerability of girls and women in the country. In 2017, Yemen was ranked last of the Gender Gap Index (144th of 144 countries) (UN Women, 2018).  In 2016, it was reported that 431.2 thousand girls and 323.01 thousand young women were out of school (figure 5). The illiteracy rate of girls aged 15-24 is over 807.64 thousand girls and 3,386.12 thousand for all girls over the age of 15 (UNESCO, 2020).

 

As the United Nations Gender Equality Initiative (UNGEI) reported back in 2005, “Yemen is illustrative of how poverty, high fertility rates and mounting external debt are detrimental to fulfilling the right to quality education” (UN Girls' Education Initiative, 2005).

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In contrast, rich Arab States in the Gulf such as Qatar, have managed to achieve high gender parity for girls in education. Since poverty is not a major issue in the State, many families do not have to consider their finances as an obstacle for sending their daughters to school. Most obstacles facing women in Qatar are culturally derived. In fact girls over the age of 15 in Qatar are more literate than men, the female literacy rate is 94.2% while the male rate is 92.9% (UN Women, 2019). Narrowing the data to just consider the age group between 15-24, UIS documented that in 2017 3,536 females were illiterate compared to 17, 628 males who were illiterate (figure 6). Moreover, female enrollment in tertiary education exceeds male enrollment (UNESCO, 2020). In 2019, the gross enrollment percentage for females was 96.6% while only 7.3% for males (figure 7).

 

The UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, applauded Qatar for having “the highest labour force participation rate among women in the broader Arab region” (United Nations, 2019). Despite this success due to availability of education for women, girls are still subject to physical, verbal, and sexual harassment at school and in the workforce (UN Women, 2019).