Looking back, looking forward: analysing gender equality in South African education 10 years after Beijing

abstract This article reflects on the reasons why, 10 years after Beijing, gender inequality, particularly against girl children, persists in the South African education system. A review of the brief of the Beijing Platform for Action, especially as it relates to the education of the girl child, suggests that several educational and contextual factors tend to inhibit the implementation of interventions aimed at addressing gender inequality in education, as well as progress towards achieving the goals agreed to in the Beijing Platform for Action, and later in the Outcome Document of Beijing +5 in relation to education. The article concludes with an assessment of the various achievements and/or failures of South Africa's education system in its efforts to engender gender equity in education, particularly for the girl child.