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A comparative analysis of strategies to transform early childhood education curricula for gender equality and social inclusion across six SADC countries
Mudiwa B, Darara O, Kahlari M, Mofokeng S, Phiri S et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view ·Key points
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Abstract
Abstract Early childhood education (ECE) shapes gender identity and social inclusion from a child's earliest years, yet whether Southern African Development Community (SADC) curricula translate gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) commitments into classroom practice remains poorly understood. This article compares ECE curricula, teacher guidance materials and policy instruments across six SADC countries – Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Eswatini – drawing on a regional desk review commissioned by the TRANAC consortium and cross-referenced against eight studies across East and Southern Africa. Using a GESI curriculum assessment tool grounded in Sen's capability approach, Unterhalter's dimensions of educational equity, and Walker's list of capabilities, the analysis finds that all six countries have ratified international instruments, yet gender-responsive and disability-inclusive guidance remains largely implicit in curriculum frameworks, weakly reflected in teaching materials, and inconsistently delivered by inadequately trained educators. A policy-to-practice “pipeline leakage” pattern emerges, whereby GESI intent weakens from policy, to curriculum, to materials, to classroom practice. Cross-referencing against studies of Namibian ECE, continental gender-inclusion econometrics, gender in technical and vocational training, SADC-wide inclusive-education implementation, a Botswana multi-sectoral partnership, Southern African cultural-pedagogy reform, East African social-protection integration, and a continental synthesis of girls' and women's education shows this pattern recurring across levels, sectors, regions and methods. Findings are synthesised into a seven-pillar Regional GESI-Responsive Curriculum Transformation Framework, extended with a social-protection component, with staged immediate, medium-term and long-term reforms for governments, curriculum developers, teacher-training institutions and regional bodies.