During a teacher’s council meeting to prepare the election of school representatives, the teaching staff were unanimous in approving a proposal put forward by David Keith, CP teacher, to set up a participatory assembly for students from CP to CM2, in the manner of the Greek ecclesia. The theme for this term was “Gender Equality on the Pretoria Campus”.

The main objectives were to allow our students to express themselves on their feelings and how they experience gender equality at school, and also to allow them to try their hand at participatory democracy.

Thus during several sessions, the students of the different classes prepared their speeches and their proposals, some of which were voted on and adopted by the assembly.

On Monday, 7 February, the speakers took the floor to present their point of view, which then led to interventions and discussions on the points raised. Following that, proposals were made to improve gender equality

Amongst other things, it emerged that some boys were taking over the football field and not letting the girls participate. But also that some made fun of boys wanting to play “girls’ games”.

Two proposals were adopted:

• Establishment of a schedule for the use of the football field with a defined daily game where everyone could play.
• Setting up a writing table in case of teasing between students.

Our students showed a lot of common sense and relevance in their interventions. Listen to some of their ideas in the video. (click here)

This project also highlights the commitment of the AEFE to advance the culture of equality between girls and boys from an early age and to implement professional equality between women and men.

The teaching team of the Pretoria campus