Vocational school teachers enhance their gender equality skills during an OSCE-supported workshop
Fifty seven teachers from vocational schools throughout Moldova successfully completed a training-of-trainers workshop on gender equality organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova. The event was organized in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research and the NGO “Gender-Centru” from 21 to 24 August, 2018 in Chisinau. The aim of the training was to improve the teachers’ skills in promoting gender equality and contribute to enlarging the pool of teachers able to challenge gender stereotypes and create a gender-sensitive educational environment.
“Teachers impart a great deal of values and knowledge to students and contribute to developing their potential and skills. Therefore, gender mainstreaming should begin at school,” said Valentina Bodrug-Lungu, a leading gender expert and a professor at Moldova State University.
During the two-day workshop, teachers learned new tools for integrating gender equality and concepts of non-discrimination into curricula and how to debunk gender stereotypes in the field of education. They also discussed guidelines on gender equality, which were developed by local experts and tested during the training.
“This workshop offers a unique opportunity to learn new gender-sensitive teaching methods and exchange best practices with our peers. I am proud to be part of a select group of vocational school teachers who will work with vulnerable youths in the remote regions of the country upon completion of this course,” said Valentina Albu, a teacher from the Vocational School in Ceadir-Lunga.
These capacity-building efforts are demand-based and prompted by positive feedback received during last year’s training sessions on gender mainstreaming. The sessions aimed to consolidate a national platform of teachers from vocational schools throughout the country able to promote gender equality among vocational training students from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River. It is also part of the Mission’s confidence-building measures targeting professional communities on both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River.