Title: Equipping Primary Teachers in Gender Responsive Pedagogy to Strengthen Quality and Equity in Schools at Imvepi Refugee Camp

Schools are a symbol of hope for the future for girls and boys that have been forced to live in refugee camps in foreign countries. Teachers are key in creating a learning environment which nurtures the future of such a generation, however, patriarchal ideologies have affected the teachers’ attitudes towards girls’ ability to achieve, creating a gender gap in the learning experience. The lack of training in Gender Responsive Pedagogy (GRP) (Fentie, 2017). perpetuates gender differences in the education system excluding girls from academically achieving to the best of their ability. The project intends to create gender awareness amongst teachers, teaching assistants, and head teachers in Imvepi refugee camp for the improvement of their attitude towards gender stereotypes and biases in their teaching and learning processes. Consequently, they will be able to critically reflect on their interaction with girls and boys, overcome their own and the learners’ gendered attitudes and perceptions. This enables them to employ non-sexist and gender-sensitive instructional strategies, learning materials, and school management. This will eventually empower girls and increase their self-efficacy and reduce toxic masculine behaviour. In addition, teaching assistants will acquire confidence and motivation to be advocates for equal opportunities for girls in their communities at the refugee camp, improving the retention rates at primary and post-primary levels.