Education for Girls

For so many girls around the world, going to school remains a distant dream, an unattainable ecstasy that hovers beyond their reach. This baffles me. We have distinguished representatives of countries preaching for a developed nation but how so, when women are deprived of basic education? Women play a vital role in the progress of a country. If democracy is to be successful, women should be educated as rightfully as men. This issue is one of the worst forms of gender inequality that society faces today. Among children not receiving education, the rate of girls are twice as many as boys. Sadly, this rate also applies among illiterate adults.

In the developing world, independent girls who fight for education often encounter a multitude of obstacles in their way, including the misfortune of being coerced to marriage at a young age. Violence that hits young girls also becomes common when they make the decision to attend school. Imagine sending your daughter to school, only to find death awaiting her by the school gates? Makes you want to take less of a risk with educating her, doesn’t it? This is a sad reality unveiled by a recent United Nations report.

Attacks against girls seeking education are on the rise. Victims of murders, kidnappings and acid attacks are increasingly focused on young girls who go to school. These are usually in relation to the belief that girls are only good for family and domestic work. Consequently, child marriage, sex trafficking and forced prostitution become atrocious alternatives to schooling that leave a country confined in a never ending web of gender-based violence and economic paralysis. This mentality needs to be demolished for the betterment of our future. The lack of education limits prospects and decreases family income, which nationally leads to an economic downfall.

Women who receive education understand their rights in this world. This builds up self defence, and it comes to be effective when their basic human rights are compromised or violated. They are able to raise their voices against oppression and trigger a change in cultural norms. It equips them with the confidence to speak up in power and challenge the inequalities that still exist for other girls worldwide. Education is undoubtedly the most critical style of women empowerment as it helps girls to defy social limits beyond what society has set.

Furthermore, education is a catalyst for gender equality. Gender-biased treatments in education seldom make the news. However, the evidence gathered by the EFA Global Monitoring Report conveys that when such inequalities are eliminated, educated girls will go on to improve their own prospects and those of their communities. It is one of the most effective ways to end poverty as it can lower infanticide and child mortality rates, and simultaneously grow jobs with higher earnings. Intellectual ladies also have the benefit of expanding their knowledge and build character throughout her school life. This is most important to fight for their rights, to have a say in the happenings of the world.

Us girls need to stand strong against people who dare to say that women are unworthy of an education. Education is the light that will guide girls to make genuine choices for a better tomorrow. It should not even be considered a luxury. As established in Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is a basic human right. This aspect helps to shatter the conventionally distorted image of what a woman should be. Quoting from the inspirational women rights advocate, Malala Youfsazai, “Education is power for women.”