Half Way to Development
A recent study by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, found that 15 million girls across the world will never enter a classroom, and half of those girls live in sub-Saharan Africa (Girls’ Education). Lack of girls’ education means that almost 50 percent of the population in Africa is incapable of participating in the workforce and earning money to contribute to the economy. One key to development is ensuring that African girls are not being prevented from receiving basic education.
Traditional sub-Saharan African culture is a major contributor to the lack of women’s education across Africa. The social norm is that girls attend primary school, if any school at all, and immediately return home to take on the role of caregiver (Girls Education Movement). Several other factors like poverty and unsafe school environment also discourage girls from attending school. However, without knowing how to read, women and girls cannot decipher important notices or understand official documents. Without knowing basic arithmetic skills, women and girls are not able to calculate household costs and pay bills. Women across sub-Saharan Africa face a handful of roadblocks that discourage them from attending school, ultimately preventing them from strengthening their country’s social and economic development.
Girls all over sub-Saharan Africa struggle to receive a quality education. In sub-Saharan Africa, there is stigma around girls receiving education. Generally, girls only attend primary school, if any school at all, and then are expected to return home and take on the role of caregiver. Jessica, South African girl in the 10th grade, is an exeptional example of someone who has been able to overcome this stigma. She writes about breaking this stigma, “I sit in my seat striving to receive the education my parents were deprived of, knowing I am a girl and it is against my tradition for a female to attend school and be educated. However I sit in class holding my future in my heart, trying to overcome society and the prejudice that still exists against a young girl being educated”(Girls Education Movement). On top of that, girls like Jessica, who are able to fight the stigma and attend school, are not receiving the same quality of education as the boys their age. In Malawi, 56 percent of boys while only 48 percent of girls learn basic skills by the end of primary school (Mwabu).
Women without education lack the knowledge to boost the development of their communities. They have shown to marry earlier and give birth to more children in comparison to educated women (Girls’ Education). Not only do women with fewer children save money that might otherwise be spent on caregiving, but they also have additional free time because they don’t need to raise children. This means there are an increased number of people in the workforce generating money to pour back into the economy. Additionally, women who do receive education are proven to earn higher salaries, which decreases poverty and increases interaction within an economy (South Africa).
Sub-Saharan African women must be educated in order to participate in their communities and contribute to their country’s socio-economic growth. It is important that women become educated so they can become doctors, engineers, scientists, and government officials, who receive higher paying jobs. When more people are earning more money, poverty levels decrease and communities—whether large or small—benefit from the variety of services (South Africa). The World Bank has financially assisted sub-Saharan African governments in finding methods to combat child marriage and other obstacles that keep girls out of the classroom (Girls’ Education). This is only one solution to reducing the overwhelming number of young girls who will never step foot into a classroom, but who are the key to development.
Traditional sub-Saharan African culture is a major contributor to the lack of women’s education across Africa. The social norm is that girls attend primary school, if any school at all, and immediately return home to take on the role of caregiver (Girls Education Movement). Several other factors like poverty and unsafe school environment also discourage girls from attending school. However, without knowing how to read, women and girls cannot decipher important notices or understand official documents. Without knowing basic arithmetic skills, women and girls are not able to calculate household costs and pay bills. Women across sub-Saharan Africa face a handful of roadblocks that discourage them from attending school, ultimately preventing them from strengthening their country’s social and economic development.
Girls all over sub-Saharan Africa struggle to receive a quality education. In sub-Saharan Africa, there is stigma around girls receiving education. Generally, girls only attend primary school, if any school at all, and then are expected to return home and take on the role of caregiver. Jessica, South African girl in the 10th grade, is an exeptional example of someone who has been able to overcome this stigma. She writes about breaking this stigma, “I sit in my seat striving to receive the education my parents were deprived of, knowing I am a girl and it is against my tradition for a female to attend school and be educated. However I sit in class holding my future in my heart, trying to overcome society and the prejudice that still exists against a young girl being educated”(Girls Education Movement). On top of that, girls like Jessica, who are able to fight the stigma and attend school, are not receiving the same quality of education as the boys their age. In Malawi, 56 percent of boys while only 48 percent of girls learn basic skills by the end of primary school (Mwabu).
Women without education lack the knowledge to boost the development of their communities. They have shown to marry earlier and give birth to more children in comparison to educated women (Girls’ Education). Not only do women with fewer children save money that might otherwise be spent on caregiving, but they also have additional free time because they don’t need to raise children. This means there are an increased number of people in the workforce generating money to pour back into the economy. Additionally, women who do receive education are proven to earn higher salaries, which decreases poverty and increases interaction within an economy (South Africa).
Sub-Saharan African women must be educated in order to participate in their communities and contribute to their country’s socio-economic growth. It is important that women become educated so they can become doctors, engineers, scientists, and government officials, who receive higher paying jobs. When more people are earning more money, poverty levels decrease and communities—whether large or small—benefit from the variety of services (South Africa). The World Bank has financially assisted sub-Saharan African governments in finding methods to combat child marriage and other obstacles that keep girls out of the classroom (Girls’ Education). This is only one solution to reducing the overwhelming number of young girls who will never step foot into a classroom, but who are the key to development.
"Girls Education Movement South Africa." UNICEF, https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/SAF
_resources_gembrief.pdf.
'Girls' Education." World Bank, World Bank, 25 Sept. 2017, www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gir
lseducation#1.
Mwabu, Germano, and Xanthe Ackerman. "Focusing on Quality Education in Sub-Saharan
Africa." Brookings, Brookings, 29 July 2016, www.brookings.edu/blog/education-
plus-development/2013/05/28/focusing-on-quality-education-in-sub-saharan-africa/.
"South Africa, United States : Reforming Tertiary Education in South Africa Could Reduce
Inequality of Opportunity, Boost Growth." Mena Report, 23 Jan. 2019, https://link.gale
group.com/apps/doc/A570741128/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=de735690.
I really liked the way in which you connected your article topic to even more significant issues such as poverty to deepen the significance. Do you know if there are any statistical estimates surrounding economic growth/the decrease in poverty if more girls were to become educated?
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting article! I did education in Ethiopia, so it was cool to see more specifically women's education.
ReplyDeleteGreat job! You article was very informative and well written! I really liked your hook and your entire paper included a lot of supported evidence.
ReplyDelete