English-medium education in low- and middle-income contexts: Enabler or barrier to gender equality?

Rapport, 2024

Empowering girls and enhancing their educational opportunities is a longstanding policy priority and part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, there has been little consideration of how the global push for English-medium education (EME) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) impacts on the attainment of these goals. Although EME is widely regarded as offering opportunities and improving life chances, it is also known to create difficulties in understanding subject content, and in some LMICs it is associated with a colonial past. The extent to which EME affects specifically girls’ opportunities to access and participate in good quality education is not well understood. This report assesses the extent to which the rapid rise of EME in LMICs affects girls’ educational participation, and if some girls are affected more than others. Drawing on in-depth research in three government secondary schools (L3 in the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCE)) (UNESCO, 2012) in Nepal and Nigeria, the report brings to
the fore the voices and practices of those directly involved in and affected by EME: students, parents, teachers and policymakers. The research tackled the overarching aim of assessing whether EME serves as an enabler or a barrier to gender equality in LMICs by addressing three research questions:
How does EME mediate educational access and participation for girls in LMICs? To what extent does EME impact on learning for girls in LMICs?
To what extent does EME disadvantage girls, and are any girls at particular risk? This report offers some findings and should be read in conjunction with a separate policy brief, available at www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/case-studies-insights-andresearch that offers recommendations for policy, practice and future research in the area.