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Achieving gender equality in education participation, in the teaching and learning process and in access to social and economic opportunities that education can facilitate are key interlinked ambitions in two of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: SDG 4 on education and SDG 5 on gender equality. These aims are also key to the Education 2030 Framework for Action, which calls on countries to adopt strategies that not only cover access to education for all but also address substantive gender equality issues: ‘supporting gender-sensitive policies, planning and learning environments; mainstreaming gender issues in teacher training and curricula; and eliminating gender-based discrimination and violence in schools’. The 2019 Gender Report is based on a monitoring framework first introduced in the 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report.

In addition to focusing on gender parity in education participation, attainment and learning achievement, the framework examines broad social and economic contexts (gender norms and institutions) and key education system characteristics (laws and policies, teaching and learning practices, learning environments, and resources). The framework also looks at the relationship between education and selected social and economic outcomes. For instance, a move towards parity in education attainment may increase women’s labour force participation rates, but low levels of labour force participation feed into existing norms and may constrain expansion of education opportunities for women.