Education Growth

‘The first step is for societies to recognize that educating girls is not an option; it is a necessity.’ – Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General Since Kofi Annan’s statement at the Dakar World Education Forum in April 2000, where the UN Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) was launched, a lot of progress has been made regarding girls education in the developing world. More and more girls are attending school even in the most disadvantaged countries, while in the Middle East, East Asia, Africa and Latin America the number of girls going to school equals that of boys. In global education strategies, access of girls to school is a top priority. However, there are certain challenges faced when these strategies are employed, which are mostly related to cultural and religious factors. In particular: In Muslim countries, girls still do not receive equal education as the boys. In the 30th Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind convention, a leading body of Muslim clerics held at Deoband on Nov, 3 2009, Muslims were called upon establishing institutions for providing religious and modern education to girls, based on an appropriate syllabus. However, the syllabus must be in full accordance with fundamental religious limitations of Shariah and the Pardah rules. According to the convention, mixed schooling (co-education) is not an option in the fear of doing more harm than good. Besides, Muslims oppose the teaching of non-religious education to girls viewing it as unnecessary since Muslim girls will never be allowed to work outside from home as this is against Islam. In the Arab family, it is considered improper for a girl to receive non-religious knowledge because she should stay at home and be prepared for her married life. These long-standing traditions constitute a vicious circle that often undermines education strategies in Muslim countries. In China, girls’ education is broadly viewed as an obstacle to economic growth. If more girls are getting educated, fewer girls contribute to labor; if more girls are getting educated, social costs increase and population growth decreases. Although compared to other Asian countries, such as India or Nepal, the education gender gap in China is relatively small girls are not encouraged to attend school mostly for economic reasons. Opportunity costs for girls are higher than for boys and male education is always associated to higher income. In African urban areas, access of girls to education is limited by poverty and early pregnancy. In rural regions, girls are sent to the fields to help in rural work and contribute financially in the household. Boys are always favored by cultural norms in regards to education, while girls are always the ones to stay at home and take care of ill relatives. In Latin American societies, although there is a relative educational equality compared to other developing areas of the world, girls experience physical and verbal harassment at school. In Nicaragua and Costa Rica there is an increase in machismo and machista values that demean women and affect to a great extent their motivation to participate in education.

All these inequalities do not hurt only the girls, but also their families and the societies they live in. Due to cultural and religious reasons, many girls around the globe miss wonderful opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills that can offer them an autonomous and healthy life. Educated girls, who later become educated mothers, provide better nutrition to their children and know how to promote a health-seeking behavior thus reducing child mortality rates. In the broader context of society, educated mothers invest in their children’s development raising the productivity of future generations. From an economic perspective, economies are capable of making full use of their workforce, where each member contributes to the best of its ability. Encouraging and promoting girls’ education requires a change of attitudes across societies. It is not easy, but it’s not impossible as well. It requires funding for girls education using evidence that girls can perform as good as or even better than boys at school if they are provided with equal opportunities. It also requires the involvement of businesses that need to provide equal opportunities to women knowing they have the same skills and knowledge with men. Perhaps the most difficult obstacle to overcome is culture. It requires putting pressure on parents and religious leaders to achieve a shift of attitude in regards girls’ education in countries that is considered irreligious. Yet, changing cultural attitudes is always an intricate process. No matter how expensive it is, both financially and politically, to promote girls’ education, there is any doubt that it is fundamental to a country’s progress. If developing countries wish to become equal to the industrialized world by improving their living standards, they need to educate their girls to the same extent as they do with their boys.