‘Inexplicably’ low gender education score leaves equality body puzzled

A lower score registered in educational attainment resulted in Malta registering an overall lower score in the 2016 Global Gender Gap report, the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality has argued.

Malta ranked 108 out of 144 countries in the report released by the World Economic Forum last year.

The NCPE said the decrease was due to Malta registering a lower score in the education sub-indicators of enrolment in primary and secondary education.

“This is inexplicable considering that enrolment in Malta is equally obligatory for both girls and boys. It was this decrease in the educational attainment score that led to lower overall score in the Report compared with the previous year,” the equality commission said.

Global Gender Gap Report 2016

The Commission said it carried out an in-depth analysis of the Report, in which it argued that the results point to both progress and challenges in relation to gender equality.

“These results are only fully understood by bearing in mind that the Report looks at gaps, and not at levels of development,” the Commission said.

The Report uses four indicators to measure the gender gap: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

Malta slightly improved its score in the indicators of economic opportunity and participation and political empowerment. Although the score in these two areas has improved, it is still relatively low. This reflects the low, albeit rapidly increasing, participation of women in the labour market and the consistently low representation of women in political decision-making.

The score for the health indicator, where Malta has almost full equality, has not changed.