Since the problem of equal opportunities for women and men transverses sections, affecting the activities of all the specialised sections of the MEYS and directly-managed organisations, the Minister appointed the Working Group for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men at the beginning of 2008, comprising employees of not only the MEYS but also of not-for-profit organisations and specialised academic workplaces.
The main objective of the Working Group is to prepare a long-term vision for the activities of the MEYS in this area
on the basis of the policies of gender equality as a relatively new political theme in order to achieve
gender-equal education and support in the area of gender research and the position of women in
science as a result.
The basic topics for implementing gender equality for women and men at the MEYS in 2008 are:
- the training of employees in education in the gender issues;
- agenda connected with the gender issue in the internal functioning of the organisation;
- personnel provision of the organisation for this issue;
- the presentation and promotion of the policies of equal opportunities (activities as well as results) on the internet, in seminars, through campaigns, etc.;
- the inclusion of the equality of women and men into the grant scheme;
- the integration of the area of research and development into the Priorities of the MEYS;
- the coordination of the activities concerning gender issues in education, science and research;
- the preparation of informational materials explaining the origin and manifestations of gender inequalities to assist schools when including gender issues into the School Education Programmes;
- the mediation of gender awareness in persons working in education, science and research;
- the inclusion of the ideal of gender equality in all the research tasks implemented at the MEYS as ‘horizontal priorities’;
- the proposal of measures for the management of the ministry, or regions and municipalities as founding entities of schools, concerning how to promote gender equality in their policies;
- the usage of gender-appropriate language.
The basic topics are elaborated into individual steps in the document, Updated Priorities and Procedures of the MEYS
in the Advocacy of Equal Opportunities for Women and Men for 2008.
The guarantor of the implementation of gender policies and gender mainstreaming at the MEYS is the Equal Opportunities in Education Department.
