Early childhood education (ECE) programmes in Ghanaian schools aim to enhance educational outcomes among children, with potential implications for gender equality indices amongst secondary school teachers. A mixed-method approach was employed, including a survey of 150 secondary school teachers and semi-structured interviews with 20 educators from randomly selected ECE programmes. Findings indicate that participation in ECE programmes correlated positively with higher scores on gender equality indices among respondents. Specifically, those who had direct experience teaching children aged 3 to 6 years demonstrated a 15% increase in gender equity awareness compared to their peers. The findings suggest that early childhood education can play a significant role in fostering gender equality within the teacher population of secondary schools. School administrators and policymakers should prioritise integrating ECE programmes into existing curricula, with particular emphasis on enhancing teachers' understanding of gender equity issues.
Khumalo et al. (Tue,) studied this question.