Plan International China is an NGO working for children’s rights and girls’ equality. It is a member of the global Plan International family. In China, Plan’s work focuses on health, child protection, DRM, and youth economic empowerment (YEE). As part of its work on YEE, Plan works to bridge the digital gender divide by empowering girls in rural areas with digital skills. The Chinese government is aware of the importance of teaching children and youth digital skills.
A baseline survey conducted by Plan China in six rural schools in Chunhua County, Shaanxi province found that while IT education is featured on the formal curriculum, it is rarely taught, due to a combination of lack of qualified instructors, outdated learning materials, and other subjects taking precedence. Children in rural areas are thus at a disadvantage compared to their urban peers: they have less opportunities to acquire key digital skills needed in the labour market of the future. Rural girls a doubly disadvantaged. While the survey found that rural girls are keen to learn digital skills, they are less confident in their existing skills, less knowledgeable about the digital environment, and face greater challenges in acquiring digital knowledge and skills than their male peers. The survey also found that teachers were unaware of how prevailing gender inequality is reflected in the digital context, although some indicated they thought boys/men have more aptitude for technology than girls/women. There is marked digital gender divide in China. The registered number of male programmers was nearly four times that of female programmers in 2016, while salaries of male programmers are generally higher than female programmers in the same position. Rural girls in China thus face a double hurdle to benefiting from the digital economy, one based on their location and the other based on their gender.

https://plan-international.org/china

• China
• Finland

• Youth
• Remote and rural communities

A key goal of the pilot project was to demonstrate impact of the approach and encourage replication. A significant success of the project was the strong engagement of the local education authorities, who following the pilot’s closure have implemented the customized Scratch programming course in two further local schools in cooperation with the two corporate partners. The replication of project activities in two further schools and the ongoing cooperation between the corporate partners and the local education authority without Plan’s involvement is very positive in terms of the project’s sustainability. Following the project, Plan China has also continued working with Thoughtworks and Kidscode.cn. Based on the experience and learning from the pilot project, Plan China is currently finalizing plans to build on the programming course and scale its gender-aware STEM education work to 20 rural schools in 3 years. The project aims to reach 1200 rural school children (65% girls) in Shaanxi Province, enhancing their opportunities to take advantage of digital tools and technologies and bridging digital gender and rural/urban divides.

By improving girls digital skills and strengthening their self-confidence.