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Rotimi Alagbe
Joined: Aug 23, 2003
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Province/State: Oyo
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Educating Girls...Transforming the future
December 15, 2003 - 07:41 AM
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Uneducated and undereducated girls are robbed of the opportunity to improve their own lives.Denying them their to a quality education effective denies them all other human rights and shrinks the chances of succeeding generations, particularly the chances of their daughters to develop to their fullest potential.
WHAT IS KEEPING GIRLS OUT OF SCHOOLS?
In every region of the world, gender discrimination is pervasive and persistent, affecting all aspects of the lives of women and girls. Its powerful influence on ayoung girl's life is evident as families decede whether their daughters should atend school.
* Poverty keeps girls out of school. Poor famiklies tend to see educating girls as a luxury which they simply cannot afford.
* Cultural practices and traditions that girls are usually kept at home to take care of younger ones and do household chores.
* Discrimination and myths that education is wasted on girls and money is wasted on their education.
* Other reasons include: Vulnerability to sexual harassment and violence in school, exclusions of pregnant adolescents and young mothers, lack of reading and writing materials such as books,pens etc.
WHEN A SOCIETY EDUCATES GIRLS
Educating girls educates nations. It is one of the best investments a society can make. An educated woman has the skills, information and self-confidence she needs to a better life.
* An educated woman tends to make more independent personal,political and economic decisions.
* An educated mother will encourage her children to go to school and be educated as well.
* An educated mother tends to be healthier and to raise ahealthier family. Liteate mothers are 50% more likely to immunize their children .
* The income of families increases as educated women are more productive at home and better paid at work.Wages increase by approximately 15% for each additional year of schooling.
* Educated girls can better protect themselves against sexual violence, forced labour and diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
* There is longer life expectancy of women who are educated than women who cannot read nor write.
Finally, educating girls can help eradicate poverty and promote peace.Education decreases social burdens on government, increases family incomes and produces a larger and better prepared workforce. It raises living standards and gross national products. Women have emerged as major agents of social progress-as citizens,
community leaders, political figures and mothers. Their education is critical to sustaining this momentum.Without swiff and concerned action, another generation of girls woll be left in the margins in their human rights unfulfilled.
EFFORTS IN BRIDGING THE GENDER GAP
At the millenium summit in 2000, world leaders promised to get as many girls as boys into school by 2005. With only two years to go, they are well short of their target. Without emergency action they will fail out-right.
Girls education is a fundamental human right and is linlked to all other rights. it is enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Article 2 reinforces gender equality by ensyring all the rights of children without discrimination of any kind. In 1990, 100 governments at the landmark world conference on Education For All (EFA) made access to qquality education for girls and women "the most priority"
UN agencies including UNICEF, UNESCO AND the ILO are supporting educational programmes for girls in various countries. Thousands of NGOs are working to advance girls education. Despite these efforts, gender disparities have remained static or even increased. Resources have remained inadequate. Acknowledging this short-fall in progress and political will, the governments that attended the 2000 world education forum in Dakar and 10 year review of EFA, renewed thier commitment to ensuring quality primary education by 2015 with a special emphasis on girls.
Achieving these goals require expanding on going activites, strenghening partnerships and increasing resources. One of such efforts is a new 10 year initiative the UN Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) in which 13 UN agencies are working together to help governments meet their commitments.
WHAT CAN AND SHOULD BE DONE
THE NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS MUST:
* Increase spending on education to provide enough classrooms and books and adequatly trained teachers
* Adapt policies to eliminate gender bias and discrimination at all levels of education.
* Show a demonstrated commitment to quality throughout education systems.
* Make primary education free for all. Abolish fees and drop charges for books and uniforms
* Ensure that all studies and extra-curricular activites are available to girls
* Help working children go to school as most poor families often depend on their daughters' labour
* Provide a second chance for girls and women who missed out on school or drop outs, as literate mothers are most likely to educate their daughthers
OTHER IMPORTANT ASPECTS INCLUDE:
* An understanding of the specific reasons why girls do not enroll and why they do not often succeed in school as well as boys
* Teachers, Heads,Principals, Supervisors and other administrators being sensitive to gender issues and aware of the rights of children
* More female roles in educational systems
* Learning enviroments that are safe and healthy for girls
* All studies and extra-curriculum activities available to girls
* Early childhood programmes
* Community based child care centers
* Parental and community involvement
* Broad cross sector mobilisation efforts including NGOs and the civil society
* Measureable progress indicators
The most urgent priority is to ensure access to, and improve the quality of education for girls and women and to remove every obstacle that hampers their active participation.
ROTIMI ALAGBE
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melissy
Joined: Oct 29, 2003
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Re: Educating Girls...Transforming the future
December 15, 2003 - 12:54 PM
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I agree - sex shouldn't be a determining factor when it comes to education. In fact I hope one day that there are no limitations on who can/can not receive an education. I am fortunate to be able to read and write and discuss my views with others and to share my knowledge. It's a torch that is definetly worthwhile to pass on.
-missa
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Cara
Joined: Dec 26, 2003
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Re: Educating Girls...Transforming the future
December 27, 2003 - 11:27 AM
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I agree that all girls should have an equal chance to have an education.
However, for developing countries, especially for those in economical crisis, prioritization and proper allocation of limited resources are essential to its development.
Although equality is important, achieving it cannot miraculously solve a country's problems.
There has to be a definitive order in which issues are addressed, and this is also for developed countries. Hence a step in the right direction is very important. Of course I don't know what they should do; otherwise I would be the president.
Equality for women didn't exist in Britain when it became the most powerful country in the world and it certainly wasn't fully implemented when United States became a superpower.
Developed countries have their own share of problems that also exists in developing countries. However the problems of developed countries usually have, at most, a minor effect on developing countries. It is in my opinion that they should focus on their own problem and not add more burdens on countries that are trying to make ends meet.
My message isn't meant to be against women rights and equality, so please don't take this in the wrong way. I'm just worrying that we are leading developing countries to a dead end.
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