A/HRC/41/33/Add.2 at accelerating de facto equality for women in corporate leadership, entrepreneurship and trade. B. Education 35. The Constitution provides for free and compulsory education up to the age of 18 years, and discrimination in education is prohibited under the 2016 Law on School Education. In recent years, the Government has been undertaking reforms of national curricula for basic compulsory education, including measures to advance equal opportunities for women and men. 36. Girls have achieved a high educational attainment at all levels, particularly at the tertiary level. According to OECD, 54 per cent of women and 34 per cent of men complete tertiary education. Fifty-five per cent of new entrants into doctoral programmes in Poland are women, one of the highest rates across OECD countries. However, women represent a minority among academic staff in higher education institutions. Furthermore, only 39 per cent of graduates in vocational education and training are female, compared with the OECD average of 46 per cent.19 37. In addition, Roma girls are at a disadvantage in the education system. Not only do challenges to secure non-discriminatory education for Roma children persist, as there are still attempts to place them in special schools on the ground of their insufficient knowledge of Polish,20 Roma girls are more likely than Roma boys to stop school before 16 years of age.21 38. Human rights education is not a compulsory stand-alone subject. At the primary and secondary school levels, this type of content may be conveyed during the teaching of other subjects, but the topics of gender equality and gender stereotypes are largely left out of the core curriculum, according to the Commissioner for Human Rights. Non-discrimination and gender equality do not seem to be part of the values underpinning the core curriculum, which include generosity, cooperation, solidarity, altruism and the building of social relations. These topics have been taught only in interested schools through cooperation with human rights NGOs, after obtaining the consent of the school’s headmaster and the parents’ council. However, such cooperation has become increasingly difficult, due to the pressure put on the schools by various actors. For example, many interlocutors mentioned the cancellation of the “Rainbow Friday” event, an important initiative undertaken by various schools to address homophobia, in the light of the pressure they were facing from ultraconservative groups, which were sometimes supported by the authorities. In this context, some municipalities such as Gdańsk have developed their own human rights education programmes. 39. The Working Group learned about the problems with sexuality education, which is indispensable for the practical realization of women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive rights. According to information from the Government, sexuality education has always been a part of general education and is included in the subjects of science, biology and social studies. There is also an optional “Education for Family Life” course. However, as the title suggests, the focus of this course is on preparation for heterosexual marriage and women’s traditional roles in the family, while important dimensions of reproductive and sexual health and autonomy seem not to be addressed. According to some interlocutors, the teaching of the subject is frequently infused with references to Catholic religious doctrine and raises questions about its consistency with the current state of scientific knowledge and respect for the principle of gender equality. 19 20 21 OECD, Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2018, Poland Country Note. Information provided by the Commissioner for Human Rights to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in September 2016. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, “Analysis of FRA Roma Survey Results by Gender”, 2013. 9