CEDAW/C/GC/36 as a proportion of the school-age population relevant to the respective levels of education; survival, drop-out, attendance, and repetition rates; average years of schooling for females/males; transition between levels [early childhood, primary, primary-secondary, secondary/tertiary/vocational]; number of male/female teachers, i.e., parity in teaching supply; and, female/male literacy rates at different age levels and using the information to inform decision-making, policy formulation and periodic reports to the Committee on barriers to girls’ and women’s access to education; e) adopt strategies to encourage and monitor school enrolment, attendance, retention and reintegration after drop-out based on disaggregated data; f) improve sanitation facilities by providing sex-segregated toilets and washrooms in all schools as well as access to safe drinking water. 32. The Committee recommends that States parties take the following measures to ensure accessibility to education for all girls and women: a) ensure that girls and women living in rural and remote areas have access to education in line with articles 14 d) and 4 of the Convention and adopt temporary special measures, when appropriate, to support their right to education; b) ensure that schools are physically accessible and within safe reach between home and school, particularly in rural and remote areas; c) provide opportunities for access to programmes of continuing education, including adult and functional literacy programmes, particularly those aimed at reducing any gaps in education between men and women [article 10 e)]; d) institute policy initiatives including social protection programmes, school feeding initiatives and provision of sanitary protection material to increase school attendance particularly in rural and remote areas; e) provide hostels/transportation for girls where distance between home and school inhibits access to education and ensure that girls in these facilities are protected from sexual and other forms of abuse; f) train teachers to provide a supportive environment and culture which allows pubescent girls to participate confidently in learning without fear, shame or risk. Technological accessibility 33. Where financing is limited, an alternative to providing physical access to education and facilities is through the use of information and communication technologies in distance and open learning settings. These approaches provide distinct benefits for girls and women with limited access to conventional forms of education and training, including those who are excluded because of: distance from school in rural areas; domestic work and parental responsibilities, particularly in cases of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy; and, exclusion based on other social and cultural barriers. Women who want to pursue advanced education while combining work and domestic responsibilities also benefit from these possibilities. 34. Other distinct benefits that can be derived from the use of open learning technologies are: the development of new patterns of teaching and learning and the fostering of a new learning culture; increased flexibility for adult learners; opportunities for employers to provide cost effective professional development on the job; opportunities for governments to increase cost-effectiveness and capacity for education and training. 35. The Committee recommends that where opportunities for girls’ and women’s access to education through distance and open learning do not exist States parties take the following measures: a) examine the feasibility of introducing access, at the upper secondary and tertiary levels, by setting up facilities to provide certification through the pursuit of open learning opportunities; 8