International Women’s Day, on March 8 each year, has become a staple in the annual calendar – a day of focus on the importance of equality for women and girls around the world and a day to celebrate the many achievements of women and consider what can be done better to ensure that every girl fulfils her potential and has choices in life.
We are lucky that here at Exeter School, after a quarter of a century of proud co-education, we have a school full to bursting of ambitious, able and confident girls and young women. They are respected and celebrated by their male peers and my male colleagues and also show great respect, encouragement and admiration for the boys and men with whom they work alongside every day, celebrating their accomplishments and successes in just the same way. This natural and comfortable co-education, where there is no sense of stereotyping or of expectation, is critical, and is what ensures that our Exonian girls are a great success in their lives beyond school, wherever that takes them. Whether into work, further study, travel or volunteering, our aim is to ensure that they have a wide range of choices when they leave us at 18 and that they have the confidence to take risks, try new things and take up the opportunities that are on offer. Of course, having women as role models in school is an important part of this – and we are not only confidently co-educational in our pupil population, but in our staff too; there are almost exactly the same number of male and female team members in the school staff, with men and women at all levels of leadership and management and in all sectors of the school staff team both in the classroom and in our operations and professional services team.
Sadly, this is not the case for all girls and young women globally – and that is one reason why IWD is so important in other parts of the world especially. There are parts of the world where girls cannot go to school when they are menstruating, for example, due to a lack of suitable toilet facilities, or where the regime is dominated and controlled by men and girls cannot attend secondary schools at all, full stop. Or parts of the world where maternity services are not adequate and where pregnancy and childbirth are life-threatening events, or where childcare is poor or unavailable, meaning that mothers cannot get paid work and develop financial independence and autonomy.
Organisations like PlanUK are crucial in getting the IWD message out to us all. They advocate and campaign for education for all girls – and bring to the fore the importance of education as a key facilitator for better health, nutrition and life chances for children and for families and help these girls grow to have children of their own. Well educated, literate mothers are much more likely to have children who are well nourished and enjoy good health in childhood. They are also more likely to have children who go on to receive an education themselves, and pass on this educated status to the next generation. This drives improved chances for women to secure paid work, or to set up (micro) business of their own, so that they can be financially independent, and start to have control over their lives more generally, including their relationships, working habits and family situation.
Click here to find out more about PlanUK
The work of PlanUk is focused, inevitably, on countries where there is not ubiquitous, free and high-quality education for all, because that is where the need is greatest. It is important for all of us, though, whether male or female, to remember how lucky we are to live and work in such a high-quality place as Exeter School. Every boy and every girl at Exeter School has myriad opportunities to explore their passions and interests, whether those are on the sports field, in the science lab, the art or drama studio, in performing music on stage, in the outdoor adventurous activities, the maths classroom, library, or the swimming pool – the list goes on, and always alongside each other, in a natural and positive way, boys and girls collaborating together, working collaboratively and coherently towards their goals. Isn’t that a great aim for all of us on International Women’s Day, 2025?
