What does it mean to be a boy? Implications for girls’ and boys’ schooling experiences in Lesotho rural schools

A doctoral study on constructions of gender in Lesotho rural primary schools has found that meanings attached to children’s identities play a role in undermining gender equality in schools. The study employed the social constructionist paradigm as its theoretical framework. Drawing from ethnographic data (conversations, observations and informal discussions), this article discusses boys’ constructions of gender and their implications for gender in/equality in the schools. Analysis shows that being a boy was closely linked to certain qualities that every boy had to perfect. Boys’ strivings to attain these qualities was the source of gender-based violence. Boys’ failure to attain these qualities was the source of anguish and embarrassment for them. Gender inequality in the schools could be traced to forms of masculinities that boys were encouraged and pressured to perform. The conclusion provides strategies that Free Primary Education could employ to address the scourge of gender inequality in Lesotho schools.