Day five of the UN Women/ACCORD training on gender mainstreaming in the security sector education starts with a simulation exercise on curriculum development.

Day five, which is the final day of the UN Women/ACCORD training on gender maisntreaming in security sector curricula in Durban, participants are enacting a simulation exercise where the Curriculum Development Team of an imagine 'Pan-African University' in Zimbabwe has been invited by the Cabinet in your Training Institution to present and defend a proposal which seeks to offer a compulsory module on Gender, Peace and Security to all students in the university. The Cabinet is made up of decision-makers in the institutions, and they are curious about the benefits of such a course to the overall curriculum, and its potential impact on their programmes. They would also be keen to hear from you the strategic value of this course, including the following issues: Evidence of Needs and Context Analysis; How the course is in line with the institutional policies and frameworks; Relevance of the course to contemporary developments; How the course can fit within the overall curriculum Sustainability Plan; Resource Mobilisation Plan; How much it will affect the financial, human and technical resources from the institutions and Monitoring and Evaluation Framework on the impact of the course.

Participants have organized themselves into two groups which speak to the respective roles (Curriculum Development Team (4 members), Cabinet 6 member ) to enact a simulation to depict the exchanges that take place on this issue, including the outcomes.

The debate is heating up, and the curriculum development team has presented the following points in support of a curricula revamp to mainstream gender:

• The curricula Board has undertaken a needs analysis and students and alumni who all indicate the need for a gender-sensitive curriculum as they need such skills to navigate the societal world and employment sector. This is in line with the need to move with the global trends that are cognizant of the importance of gender mainstreaming (e.g. UNSCR 1325, Maputo Declaration)


• The situational analysis reveals increasingly high rates of sexual violence and gender based violence not only on campus but also in the community (even at the national level)


• The country has recently adopted the AU Gender Policy and domesticated it, and the national constitution calls for gender mainstreaming in all government, public institutions. The President of the country is currently chairing AU, and 2015 happens to be the year of Women’s Empowerment in Development. Moreover, 2010-2020 is the AU Decade for Women. Also, Agenda 2063 calls for the inclusion of women in all decision making processes.


• In 2015, the UN Secretary General appointed a woman from the country as the special envoy on sexual violence. Additionally, the AU appointed a special envoy on Women, Peace and Security in 2014. This has increased the pressure of the government institutions to comply and align their policies with the objectives of gender-mainstreaming.


• The country is one of the biggest contributors of peacekeepers (police, military and civilians) to UN and AU Peace Support Operations. It is therefore imperative to train human resources that are gender-sensitive, and will have the requisite skills and aptitude to undertake their work in peace missions.


• During this year’s graduation in May 2015, the Minister of Gender and Development challenged the Pan African University in Zimbabwe to live up to its role of producing gender-sensitive graduates who can effectively contribute to the African peace and security agenda.


• In armed conflicts in Africa, data indicates that sexual violence and gender based violence by peacekeepers, peace builders and humanitarian workers are on the raise. These points to a gap in training that the university can play a role in addressing.


• The recent consultative mission by the AU Peace Support Operations Division (AU PSOD) to the university resulted in a call to action for academic and training institutions to design curriculum that can be effectively used by the AU in its quest for promoting peace and security in the continent. Universities and training centres were encouraged to partner with the AU in designing African-centred and gender-sensitive curricula.


• In terms of addressing cost implications, the Curriculum Development Team has already secured partnerships with institutions such as the UN Women, AU PSOD, ACCORD and the Government who have committed some resources (financial, technical and human) to assist in launching the programme.


• In terms of addressing course work loads, the Curriculum Development Committee has also explored the various options of addressing this conundrum, and these include: Teaching it as a compulsory one week Module; Teaching it as a weekend classTeaching it as an online class; Teaching the course in Block Release Format (during the holidays); Considering removing some courses which were approved 20 years ago, but are no longer speaking to the immediate needs and challenges in society; A suitable sustainability plan (think about strategies) and evaluation plan (think about it).

On the other hand the cabinet opposes the curricula revamping strategy and presents the following arguments to the contrary:

• Cabinet is worried about adding a new course on Gender, Peace and Security because the institution has already approved a strategic plan from 2015-2018 and it outlines the list of compulsory courses that are in the prospectus


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  Cabinet is also hesitant about adding more course loads on students who have been complaining through their Student Representative Council that there are too many compulsory courses such as: Information and Communication; Technologies; African Studies; Communication Skills; Ethics and Leadership Physical Education and Wellness; Research Methodology

  
  


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  Cabinet is also worried about the low rates of student enrollment and the financial implications that the course will have especially as the money from tuition fees is dwindling. The course will have implications on training venues, timetabling, human resources (lecturers, external examiners etc). The institution is currently under pressure from stakeholders to add other cross-cutting compulsory courses which respond to the changing times of the 21st Century including Counter-terrorism; Human Security and Public Health Management.

  
  


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  The institution already has some courses that cover gender issues even though they are not compulsory. These are offered as electives in certain Departments. There is another training institution in the country which is already focusing mainly on Gender, Peace and Security and the Cabinet feels that taking a theme which is outside of their niche will result in unnecessary competition.

  
  


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  As a training institution, Cabinets is aware that they have already started embarking on some processes of gender mainstreaming, e.g. student population is 51% female and 49% male, and staff ration is 30:70 (female: male), so they feel that they are not doing badly at all. Why would they want a course to teach them what they are already implementing? As Cabinet, they also argue that adding this course on the compulsory list would be not financially, politically and technically viable and feasible at this moment.

  
  

Debate is heating up and taking interesting dimensions as participants unearth the underlying social, economic and political issues affecting the education system in general and the peace and security conundrum in particular. Indeed issues of security sector curiculum development are value driven and noraative driven, but there are also huge economic and poltiical implications that the practitioners live with and face on a day to day basis, yet the Curriculum Development Board in this simulation remained alert to the need to push for development despite the difficulties our institutions and societies may face. It is interesting to note also that the issue is not only about curriculum development, but also about teasing out negotiation skills amongst the participants who are key leaders in academic institutions in Zimbabwe.