The joy of sitting for final exams, Malawi News, Generation Supplement

Gender-aware reporting

This article focuses on the future generation of Malawi and presents a picture of girls and boys working to achieve an education.

The story is told through the voices of girls (2) and boys (2), and the images which accompany it are of both girls and boys in the classroom. One girl quoted in the story is captured separately and she is depicted as a confident, self-assured student with her ruler in hand.

The girls and boys sourced in the article show a keenness to begin to prepare for secondary school during their holidays. Both say they will concentrate on their books and prepare for Form I. There is no difference in the perspective of the girls and boys on what they will do before secondary school starts.

This is a good example of how gender aware reporting on an issue such as pupils sitting their final exams can be approached. There is no gender-biased language in the story; no prejudices conveyed about the abilities of girls versus boys; and the voices of both girl and boy students are sourced.

It also is an example of harmony in the total packaging of the piece because the message of girls and boys achieving equally is reflected in the text, headlines and captions.

The story could have been enhanced with:

• The total number of Standard 8 pupils disaggregated by sex.
• Interviews with teachers, education officials, researchers on whether the number of girls in school begins to decline at secondary school level and the possible reasons for this (teen pregnancy; parents unable to afford school fees and opting to send boys for further education instead of girls, etc)
• Voices of teachers, school heads (women and men) on the performance of girls and boys in school and the general trend of the pass rates by sex on the Primary School Leaving Certificate final exams.

Training exercises

Exercise one: Review first with students what is gender-aware reporting and gender mainstreaming in the news found in the Definitions in the Training Tools Section of the database.

Give trainees a copy of the article and discuss the following:

1. What is the gender message conveyed through the text and images of this case study?
    

2. Are there a diversity of voices in the story? Which voices are represented?
    

3. How are the boys portrayed? How are the girls portrayed?
    

4. What data is missing from the story?
    

5. What other information would have enhanced the gender perspective of this story?
    

6. Is the headline appropriate?
    

7. Do the images reflect the message of the article?
    

1. Ask students to cite other examples they have seen in the media which are positive examples of how gender can be mainstreamed into any coverage area.