Issue of Gender Discrimination in Education

 QUOTATIONS.

1. “To educate a girl is to reduce poverty.” (Annan)
2. “Women share this planet 50/50 and they are underrepresented—their potential astonishingly untapped.” (Watson)
3. “Educating girls is one of the most powerful tools to prevent child marriage.” (Girls Not Brides)
4. “The principle goal of education is to create men and women capable of doing new things not simply repeating what other generations have done. (Jean Piaget)

As the late UN Secretary Kofi Annan stated, ”To educate girls is to reduce poverty.” ¹Education is not only the best gift a parent can give to a child but also a basic need in this current times. It opens doors to opportunities, bring impact to the society and train them to become outstanding leaders.

 Educating a girl is one of the best investments her family, community and country can make. More educated girls means late marriages, healthier children, invest back into their families and communities, and they play more active roles in leadership. Over the last 25 years, there has been large gains in education and we as a global community can congratulate ourselves for the significant progress. However, there is still a struggle, particularly Africa, where we see so many girls are either forced out of school or denied such a precious jewel in their lives. Some of the hinderances to girls and education in Africa are poverty, gender discrimination and cultural activities. These barriers affect girls to achieve their academic potential.

 Gender discrimination is one of the sensitive issues we are still fighting against. This is seen in the education sector whereby girls are given less opportunities to do well in school and meet their goals in life. Poverty is a deadly disease that can be eradicated if a person is willing to stop it. Girls however , are the most affected . Cultural activities in the society, in the communities, in religions which affect them negatively. Africa is recognized for its abundance in culture and diversity. Some of the communities up to this day have maintained their culture and traditions which is a complimentary and positive deed. Regardless of all this, there are some which are costing the girl child and their future such as early and forced marriage.

 One of the many challenges that affect girls education in Africa is gender discrimination. This has been one of the subjects that have brought up for a period of time and still very delicate. Women have in the past been ignored in the development of education systems in Africa. In African traditions, the birth of a male child is more celebrated than a female child. This is evident in the blatant disparities in the rates of access, retention and completion of schools for boys and girls.

 School-related gender-based violence is one of the worst manifestations of gender discrimination and holds back education attainment. For a very long-time girls have comprised the largest proportion of children that have been unable to access education. The world is balanced in terms of men and female, thus there should be equal representation and access to social amenities such as education. “Women share this planet 50/50 and they are underrepresented—their potential astonishingly untapped.” (Watson)². This is evident to the fact up to this current day , we are still fighting, struggling for this equality.

“According to the Human Rights Watch investigations showed that girls are 56% more likely to have never enrolled in a school than boys at 42%. According to the UNESCO in Paris ,October 12, 2015, a gender report of Sub Saharan Africa showed how they didn’t achieve the gender balance. In Guinea and Niger, approximately 70% of0 the poorest girls had never attended school compared to less than 20% of the richest boys.”

 This small percentage of girls acquiring formal education show girls’ education is enforced in Africa. This is depicts that women are seen labor workers. The African culture depicts that girls should not educated or else they will not get suitable suitors and they are taken to be cleverer than their husbands (which is seen as a taboo). Not only are girls and forced out of school but also education opportunities are limited to them whereas boys are given so much encouragement and assistance by even the society! People have tried to fight for equality even in education which is a basic need to all children! Africa is still in a struggle to accept this fact. This however, when girls perform better than boys upon entering school but by the they graduate from high school or college, they fall back. The socialization of gender within schools shows how much girls are unequal to boys.

 Another major challenge is poverty. Poverty is one of the situations that leads to downfall of a country but also an individual. It is said to be a deadly diseases that affects a family’s generation until a person takes a stand on it. One is not able to meet their daily basic need such as healthcare, adequate food and home to live.

 Poverty has affected education in one way or another. As many say, education is the cure to poverty. “To educate a girl is to reduce poverty.” (Annan)1Education builds success in a person’s life. An educated girl is able to support the family, play a role in the society; leadership or service. This means she has to be supported in all ways possible, ironically she is the most neglected especially in education.

 Unfortunately, poverty destroys girls’ education in that they are not able to pay for their schools fees or requirements. This leads to parents opting to use their girls as source of income or breadwinners for their families. This is either through early marriages, go into hawking in the streets and even some get caught up in road accidents leading to their death. Even some girls are forced to do prostitution or sold as slaves to people even outside their countries. They face severe challenges at such a young age. Will these young girls grow up to become outstanding leaders, if they are not supported? The girls are then exposed to sexual abuse with strangers, contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexual transmitted diseases.

 They become pregnant , become mothers at an early age(in which they are not ready and their bodies are not fully developed to do such a role).In most cases, if the girl is found pregnant , the girl is forced out of school and the boy is left to study .This , to many girls is the end of the road to their dreams and goals in life. This portrays how poverty can bring a girl from a woman of steel, of impact to a miserable woman whose dreams or potential will never be tapped.

 Furthermore, if this young mothers go back to school, they still face challenges of stigmatization , supporting their families , limited support from the community and insufficient affordable healthcare of their children. Alternatively, many girls opt to have unsafe abortions which in may lead to loss of both lives. (the mother and the unborn baby)Many adolescent girls become pregnant due to lack of information on their sexuality, family planning, life decisions. According to the Human Rights Watch, governments should enforce laws to reduce stigmatization and adopt new laws to help children be educated. Poverty is a not only a challenge but a deadly disease that must be eradicated if we want children to be success and impact our world positively.

 The last but not the least, some of the cultural activities have hindered girls’ education. Africa is known for its abundance of cultures and tribes, the vibrant ways of life in different tribes and communities. Some of the communities up to today have been able to keep their culture in this modern times. This is encouraging but however some are negative which should be removed completely such as early and forced marriages, female genital mutilation (FGM), abductions and much more. They are playing a major role in stopping girls from acquiring their right to education. “The principle goal of education is to create men and women capable of doing new things not simply repeating what other generations have done.” (Jean Piaget)⁴People from time and time again, have been doing this for a long time.

 Forced early marriage is killing the African girl, girls as young as ten years old are taken away from their beloved homes and married to older men , which is a disadvantage to them. Some even are sold to people as far as out of Africa just to support their families. “Educating girls is one of the most powerful tools to prevent child marriage.” (Girls Not Brides)³ . At the end, these girls are abused , beaten by their husbands and later they go back to their father’s home which is considered a taboo and some go to the extent of committing suicide. Thus culture become “an enemy” to the girls education.

 Female genital mutilation also famously known as FGM. This is the process whereby young girls undergo circumcision. This activity has been fought by a lot of people and organizations such as UNICEF. This has affected girls throughout Africa and other regions in the world. Girls are denied opportunities to become what they want to be, since the girl can never go back to school. Later, they are forced into early marriage in addition to that, FGM does not have any health benefits but dangers such as childbirth complications and newborn deaths. This practice denies them their freedom and rights and it is still being fought against by educating the public.

 Polygamy is another practice that kills the girl child. This is whereby a man marries more than one wife. This ironically is accepted in different countries, tribes, religions and communities. This practice depicts a wealthy man, successful and fertile. The more the wives, the more the children, the more the wealth created through bride price.(this is a formal pay from the groom to the bride’s family as a symbol of owning the woman)This however, affects girls negatively.

 Women do not have a say or power to determine their suitor. This in return families decide on her behalf, later she is married to a family of six wives. Instead of learning in school and becoming a learned woman and a great mother through a period of time. Education equips girls to become not only an all rounded woman but also to be a good mother and wife. Polygamy denies young girls their right to education.

CITATIONS

1. “Africa: Make Girls’ Access to Education a Reality.” Human Rights Watch, 16 June 2017, www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/16/africa-make-girls-access-education-reality.
2. Leadershipngr. “Still On The Challenges Of Girl Child Education.” Leadership Newspaper, 1 Aug. 2017, leadership.ng/2017/08/01/still-challenges-girl-child-education/.
3. “The Role of Women in Education Systems in Africa.” The Global Partnership for Education, www.globalpartnership.org/blog/role-women-education-systems-africa.
4. “The Role of Women in Education Systems in Africa.” ADEA Peer Reviews Angola’s Education and Training Sector | ADEA, 18 Apr. 2018, www.adeanet.org/en/blogs/the-role-of-women-in-education-systems-in-africa.