CEDAW/C/CAN/CO/8-9 (a) The low representation of women in the House of Commons (26 per cent) and the Senate (37.3 per cent), in provincial and territorial legislative assemblies (26 per cent on average), as well as in locally appointed positions, such as mayors (28 per cent) or councillors (18 per cent); (b) The structural obstacles to the realization of women’s political rights and engagement in public life. 35. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Strengthen its efforts to increase the number of women in elected decision-making bodies at the federal, provincial and territorial levels as well as in appointed positions at the local level, and to achieve equal representation of women in political and public life, including through the adoption of temporary special measures, such as quotas, in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25 (2004) on temporary special measures; (b) Adopt proactive measures, including temporary special measures, to address the structural obstacles to the realization of women’s political rights and engagement in public life; (c) Intensify awareness-raising campaigns for politicians, journalists, teachers and the general public, to enhance the understanding that the full, equal, free and democratic participation of women on an equal basis with men in political and public life is a requirement for the full implementation of women’s human rights; (d) Continue developing and providing targeted training and mentoring programmes on leadership and negotiation skills for potential women candidates and potential female leaders in the public sector, including those who are underrepresented, such as migrant, Aboriginal and Afro-Canadian women, as well as women belonging to other minorities and women with disabilities. Education 36. The Committee welcomes the measures taken to ensure that gender equality permeates all levels of education and to overcome gender-stereotyped educational and vocational choices. However, the Committee notes with concern: (a) The continuous lower educational and academic achievements of indigenous and Afro-Canadian women and girls and their high dropout rates at all levels of education; (b) The significant barriers, including lack of grants and fragmented funding of educational programmes, which prevent disadvantaged and marginalized women and girls, in particular indigenous, Afro-Canadian women and those with children in need of childcare, and other women in remote and rural areas, from accessing post-secondary education; (c) That women are still concentrated in traditionally female-dominated fields of study and career paths and are underrepresented in vocational training and in certain fields of higher education, such as mathematics, information technology and science; (d) The lack of a comprehensive set of national guidelines or standards for education on sexual and reproductive health and rights curriculum, which resulted in severe discrepancies among provinces/territories in terms of curricula; (e) The high number of girls who suffer from discrimination and sexual harassment in schools and the disproportionate number of migrant, refugee, asylum 11