CEDAW/C/GC/34 firewood, the long distances to travel to school and the lack of adequate water, toilet facilities and sanitation in schools, which fail to meet the needs of menstruating girls. In some regions, students and teachers in girls’ schools face threats and attacks from opponents of girls’ education. 43. States parties should protect the right of rural girls and women to education, and ensure that: (a) High-quality education is accessible to and affordable for all rural women and girls, including those with disabilities, by improving educational infrastructures in rural areas, increasing the number of qualified teachers, including women, and ensuring that primary education is compulsory and provided free of charge and that education is provided in local languages and in a culturally appropriate manner; (b) Systematic training is provided for teaching personnel at all levels of the education system on the rights of rural girls and women and on the need to combat discriminatory sex-based and gender-based, ethnic and other stereotypes that limit the educational opportunities of rural women and girls. Curricula should be reviewed to eliminate discriminatory stereotypes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society; (c) Awareness-raising is implemented to change negative attitudes in rural areas towards girls’ education and incentives are provided to support rural girls and their parents in offsetting the direct and indirect costs of education, including through scholarships and financial support, loans and cash transfers, and transportation; (d) Programmes are in place, both inside and outside the school system, to reduce the engagement of rural girls in unpaid care work, which constitutes a barrier to school attendance, and to protect rural girls from labour exploitation, child and/or forced marriage and gender-based violence, including sexual violence and abuse; (e) Where girls and teachers face attacks from opponents of girls’ education, the protection of educational institutions is a priority for security forces; (f) Rural girls and women are encouraged to choose non-traditional fields of study and careers, such as mathematics, informatics, natural and agricultural sciences and technology, including through career guidance and academic counselling programmes that may also be applied to home-based or community-based micro-entrepreneurial activities; (g) Pregnant girls in rural schools are not expelled during pregnancy and allowed to return to school following childbirth, and childcare facilities and breastfeeding rooms, as well as counselling on childcare and breastfeeding, are made available; (h) Schools in rural areas have adequate water facilities and separate, safe, sheltered latrines for girls and offer hygiene education and resources for menstrual hygiene, with special focus on girls with disabilities; (i) 16-03601 Adult literacy programmes are provided for women in rural areas; 13/25