Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

A Look at Girls’ Education in Azerbaijan

Girls' Education in Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan, school is compulsory from around the age of five or six to around 15 or 16 and consists of three levels of education from primary school to general secondary. In 2014, 1,474,000 children were enrolled in primary school with 11 percent of school-age children not enrolled.

Of those children who were enrolled, not all of them were able to finish the school cycle as the system is problematic when it comes to ensuring equality of girls’ education in Azerbaijan. This comes from several political and economic changes; however, there are several programs attempting to resolve this discrepancy. In order to make the necessary changes, it is important to understand the current status of girls’ education in Azerbaijan.

Reasons For Low School Attendance of Girls’ in Azerbaijan

In 1998, 10 percent of girls in Azerbaijan were not enrolled in primary school, and the rate of girls dropping out of school was higher than their male counterparts. According to UNICEF, there are four main causes accounting for the lower attendance rates, poorer performance in school and/or higher dropout rates when it comes to girls’ education in Azerbaijan:

  1. Financial difficulties may affect both genders; however, girls will feel a greater impact. It may be hard to invest scarce resources in the education of girls when families see more employment opportunities going to boys. Instead, women are often seen as “stabilizers” which means they are expected to preserve tradition while new opportunities go to men.
  2. Girls are viewed as being more vulnerable to both physical and cultural dangers. There is a concern of inappropriate behavior, whether by the girls themselves or by other males in the community toward the girls, that would result in the girls becoming unmarriageable. There are also concerns about the safety of young girls walking to school, the lack of female teachers and coeducational classrooms that could increase these dangers.
  3. There is a belief that girls have different mental abilities than boys. This comes from gender stereotypes, the girls’ greater societal responsibilities and classroom discrimination. Young girls also begin to lower their own expectations of how they can perform in school as a result of pressures. According to UNDP and its report on Azerbaijan Human Development, more importance is placed in providing males with higher quality education.
  4. Girls often marry early either as a result of religious beliefs or the fact that it is socially desirable to marry young. As high as 11 percent of girls are married by the time they reach 18 with 2 percent being married by 15. Higher rates can be seen around the country where there is a greater importance to marry and start a family. It is difficult to evaluate the exact number of child brides due to a lack of statistical data.

Each one of these factors is relevant to girls’ education in Azerbaijan and can be considered a reason for lower rates in female education. UNICEF has recommended strategies that could be implemented for the improvement of girls education, including alternative programs, interactive learning, bilingual education, scholarships, more female teachers, program based learning and single-sex schools.

While there is a push to have gender equality in school, more research must be done on current educational statistics. Azerbaijan has several challenges ahead while attempting to create an equal school system.

– Olivia Hodges

Photo: Flickr

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Empowering Women Through Education and Entrepreneurship Reduces Poverty

Empowering Women Through Education and Entrepreneurship
A majority of the world’s poor are women, and gender inequality pervasive in countries around the world is a key reason for this occurrence. Women face barriers to obtaining education and entering the economy that men do not — globally, 33 million fewer girls than boys are enrolled in primary education, and women constitute 61 percent of the illiterate population between the ages of 15 and 24.

Education and Entrepreneurship

Empowering women through education and entrepreneurship reduces poverty by increasing their employability and enabling them to provide for their families and contribute to the economic development of their communities.

Without education, girls are more likely to be trafficked or become child brides; it is also more likely that women and their families will live in poverty. Education is crucial to the reduction of poverty, as it enables women to acquire jobs, help provide for their families and contribute to their local economy.

Women’s incomes rise between 10-20 percent per year of education they receive. This rise in income can be the factor that raises families out of poverty, as women reinvest 90 percent of their incomes into their families (50-60 percent more than men do). This can improve a family’s economic status and increases its food security.

Empowerment in the Workplace

However, many women and girls do not receive the education they need to acquire good jobs. Even women who can obtain an education are not guaranteed work in some developing countries where social norms relegate women to the domestic sphere. In fact, these options can often consign women to duties of housework and childcare and discourage them from entering the workforce.

By empowering women through education and entrepreneurship, women can break down these social norms that restrict not only their own success, but also the prosperity of their communities.

Women who are able to work still face substantial inequality. They often have lower incomes than men in the same positions, and more than one billion women cannot access basic financial services. For example, women farmers in many developing countries are restricted from owning land, accessing credit and acquiring productive resources.

Women also do not receive the same support from national and international development organizations as men do, though they on average produce higher values of output than men. Empowering women through education and entrepreneurship can reduce poverty by allowing women to be productive workers and contribute to the economy.

Economic Benefits of Female Empowerment

The World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization estimate that developing countries’ agricultural output would increase by between 2.5-4 percent if female farmers had equal access to productive agricultural resources and services. If such resources became available, it would reduce the number of hungry people worldwide by 150 million.

In Malawi and Ghana, improving women’s access to resources increased the production of corn by more than 15 percent, and Burkina Faso experienced a production gain of six percent when fertilizer and labor were reallocated on an equal basis.

With the rapidly rising global population, this increase in food production is crucial to people’s survival. In addition, if gender inequality and the financial barriers women face are addressed, $28 trillion could be added to the global annual GDP by 2025.

Addressing & Reducing Global Poverty

To reduce global poverty, the world needs women; but women need the opportunity to obtain an education and be a part of the economy. The Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act and the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act both empower women. They both have the ability to reduce poverty by helping women achieve equality and would each cost less than $500,000 over a four-year period.

The Protecting Girls’ Access to Education Act would prioritize efforts to provide girls and women — particularly those in vulnerable settings such as conflict zones and refugee camps — access to safe primary and secondary education. It would focus on reducing discrimination against displaced girls and improving their educational and entrepreneurial opportunities.

The Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act would require the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to conduct a gender-analysis to identify and understand gender gaps so as to better address these in the workplace. Gender-specific measures to empower women would be established in USAID programs, and the agency would expand support for businesses owned and managed by women. The act also emphasizes the importance of eliminating gender-based violence.

Goal of Gender Equality

The United Nations, FAO, World Bank, World Economic Forum and others all recognize the importance of gender equality in the reduction of global poverty. The Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act and the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act are two bills the United States government could pass to help solve the issue of gender inequality and poverty.

Empowering women through education and entrepreneurship will reduce poverty levels among current and future generations, and will benefit not only developing countries but the whole world as well. ­

– Laura Turner
Photo: Flickr

Girls’ Education in Chad

Girls’ Education in Chad
Girls in Chad have more of a challenge receiving an education than boys do. This is a common issue in impoverished countries and the reasons are different and specific to each country. The girls in Chad are forced into child marriage and expected to do household chores at a young age. This results in girls having to drop out of school early to fulfill their role in the society. Girls’ education in Chad has seen some improvement given the limited resources they have to increase the quality of education.

Reasons Why Girls in Chad Receive Less Education

One of the main reasons why girls in Chad do not receive an equal education is that they are expected to fulfill gender roles. In Chad, as mentioned earlier, forced child marriages are a major reason for girls dropping out of school, leaving them with barely any education. Radia, a female high school student from a refugee site in Chad, has the following to say, “When they get married, these young girls usually have to leave their family, their friends, and their community and move to their husband’s house. Their studies are interrupted, removing another source of social support and education.” Clearly, these young girls are not ready for marriage or motherhood.

Girls’ education in Chad is not as important as their responsibilities at home such as ensuring there is enough water, food and that the family’s needs are met. These girls are not fully educated, yet they are forced to take care of others rather than prioritize what is right for them. On the other hand, boys are not expected to shoulder the same responsibilities.

Using Resources Wisely to Help Girls’ Education in Chad

The value of education may be less in Chad. However, there are ways of changing that by using resources the right way. People, especially children, living in global poverty often do not receive a proper education because resources are not used efficiently. For example, the number of dropouts reached 19 percent in Chad. Also, community teachers have been used as primary teachers in Chad.

This situation can be improved by employing teachers that are qualified to teach different subjects and are paid well. Chad currently does not have enough teachers to accommodate regular-size classes.

The Progression of Girls’ Education in Chad

Girls’ education in Chad shows signs of progressing. There has been an education plan called PIET which the government of Chad has started. This education plan is effective from 2018 to 2020 and consists of three different priorities which are as follows: continue to provide quality primary education, improve the relevance of education at every level as well as improve the management and coordination of the education sector in Chad.

Impoverished countries often do not offer the best education due to fewer resources. Girls do not receive as much education as boys in Chad because they are expected to get married and take over household responsibilities at a very young age. However, with the help of foreign aid, these impoverished countries might be able to provide equal educational opportunities to girls.

– Kelly Kipfer
Photo: Google

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10 Important Facts About Girls’ Education in Costa Rica

girls’ education in Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a country known for its dedication to its diverse environment. But less known is its dedication to educating its youth, predominantly girls. The range of resources offered throughout the country, whether institutional or grassroots oriented, are just as diverse as its environment. The following are ten facts that help illuminate the successes and improvements of girls’ education in Costa Rica.

10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Costa Rica

  1. As of 2018, four percent of the country’s total GNP, one-fourth of the national government budget, was given to education. More money is spent on education in Costa Rica than any other Latin American country.
  2. In 1869, the country made education free and compulsory for all citizens. After this mandate, the number of schools in the educational system have risen to more than 4,000. The World Bank reports as of 2016 that girls’ educational participation at the primary school level is 96.6 percent, with secondary school enrollment at 84.5 percent.
  3. Girls’ enrollment at the tertiary level of education in Costa Rica is 60.9 percent, which is much higher than the male enrollment at the same level who have a participation of 46.6 percent. This participation in higher education is substantial. The world’s average percentage of girls enrolled at the tertiary level of education is only 38.9 percent.
  4. UNICEF reports as of 2012 that girls ages 15 to 24 years old have a literacy rate of 98.7 percent in Costa Rica. This rate exceeds the literacy rate for males, which is 97.9 percent.
  5. There are several programs for girls’ education in Costa Rica that include sustainable development. Sulá Batsú is a local organization that targets young women, specifically in low-income communities, and provides education on technology. By integrating the arts and cultural practices into the process, girls learn more than just technical skills. They also learn how to incorporate their unique identities into the work they produce. The organization has seen the success of 250 students in their technology camps in 2018 alone.
  6. February 15, 2017, marked the inaugural event of the first International Day of Women and Girls in Science in the country. Along with the U.N., this celebration aimed to encourage girls’ education in Costa Rica in science-related fields. Positions in these fields have been traditionally held by men; only 28 percent of researchers are women. Science is viewed not only as the main component of creating a sustainable society aimed at protecting the planet but is also seen as a path to eradicating poverty.
  7. Young girls engaged in STEM are reaching unprecedented rates in Costa Rica. In 2014, at the Twenty-sixth Math Olympiad, 66 medals were given to 132 high school students who had achieved success in the final events of the academic competition. Of these 132 students, a high number of finalists were girl students. This trend was also seen at the Fifth Robotics Olympiad in Costa Rica, where many of the teams had girl participants and some groups being formed solely of females.
  8. The World Bank estimates that of the 4.85 million people living in the country, 1.1 million live in poverty. The Women’s Empowerment Coalition in the country is aimed at helping impoverished girls and women to ensure that they reach a higher standard of living through education. The Coalition works by educating socially vulnerable girls, ensuring they achieve a high school education and job placement assistance. The organization’s model is “collaborative, reciprocal and relational.” The classes are self-paced and mentoring, educational materials and resources are provided to students to assist them in achieving U.S. high school diploma equivalencies. The Coalition has reached over 4,000 women and girls thus far.
  9. Mujeres en Tecnología en Acción (Women in Technology in Action) was launched in January of 2015 and is an organization aimed at promoting the participation of girls in science and technology-related fields in Costa Rica. The group identifies girls aged 15 to 19 living in communities at social risk and invites them to take part in the program. Participating girls learn skills that will better serve them in technology-based careers, such as leadership, entrepreneurship and female empowerment.
  10. UNESCO has worked with the government to identify a list of goals to be reached by 2030. Several of the goals center on educational standards, which will be implemented throughout the country. UNESCO identifies girls as being vulnerable to poverty if not properly educated at an early age. As of 2016, less than 6,000 girls had dropped out of school, a significant decrease from the 2011 record of 10,000. This progress illustrates the dedication to girls’ education in Costa Rica as a means of eradicating poverty country-wide.

Costa Rica has taken strides to ensure that its population consists of well-educated, globally-minded citizens. These 10 facts about girls’ education in Costa Rica exemplify how an already progressive state will continue to work hard to maintain this standard well into the future.

 – Taylor Jennings
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing the Brain Drain

Reducing the Brain DrainThe “Brain Drain” is the migration of professionals from one country to another in search of a higher standard of living. In 2000, 65 million economically active people were living outside of their home country. This drain usually flows from developing to developed countries, which has extremely negative effects on the developing nations, who have lost many of their most talented professionals.

These professionals have attained high levels of education at home and abroad, but utilize their innovative potential in developed countries, where their opportunities are better. Developed countries reap the majority of the rewards from the innovation of foreign workers while the countries of origin for these professionals merely receive the occasional remittance.

The Economic Dangers of Brain Drain

This trend of skilled and educated citizens living in developed countries is being exacerbated by the growing inequality between the world’s wealthy and poor. Many developing countries have experienced a shortage of high-skilled laborers, taxpayer dollars from would-be members of their upper class and technological innovation. Among the doctoral graduates in science and engineering in the USA, 79 percent of those from India and 88 percent from China remained in the United States.

Overall, there are almost one million immigrants in the United States from South Asia who have achieved above a tertiary level of education. The skills these students acquire in the United States and in other developed nations don’t migrate back to their host countries, which makes reducing the brain drain seem impossible.

Additionally, many of these students become high earning professionals in some of the highest tax brackets; however, their countries of origin do not receive the tax dollars on these high earnings. Some South Asian countries are some of the poorest in the world and could desperately use the funding towards poverty-reducing measures.

More Than Just The Money

Besides higher wages and a better standard of living, professionals leave their origin countries for more developed ones because of a lack of research funding, poor facilities and limited career structures. These issues are extremely important to consider when evaluating how to combat the brain drain. Fortunately, these infrastructural deficiencies have more reasonable solutions that can over time reduce global inequality.

Research has shown that an increase in wages does not provide the sole incentive for educated professionals and students to remain in their origin country. A study in Pakistan revealed that a small portion of people funded for a doctorate faced many disincentives that did not stem from the wage gap.

Although, wage inequalities between the source and destination countries are so significant that a small increase in wages in origin countries will not be enough to reduce the brain drain. The focus then must turn to solving the infrastructural deficiencies that are driving young professionals toward developed nations.

Supercourse

Currently, foreign scientists in developed nations produce 4.5 more publications and 10 times more patents than those in their origin countries. This is mainly due to the infrastructural inequality between developed and developing nations. The solution to bridging the patent and publication gap is to increase the connectivity between professionals in developed and developing countries. One revolutionary network has already been developed to do just that at the University of Pittsburgh; it is called Supercourse.

Supercourse provides free online lectures to all and has already connected over 20,000 scientists to share their knowledge. This network continues to grow and make information less exclusive and contained only in the institutions of developed countries. Scientists around the world will have the materials necessary to create change in their origin countries. Supercourse has the potential to spearhead research and innovation in developing nations that will hopefully reduce brain drain.

Professionals will continue to migrate in search of better opportunities, but increasing access to information and support could be a long-term solution reducing the brain drain effects on developing countries.

– Anand Tayal
Photo: Flickr

Girls’ Education in Cameroon

Girls' Education in CameroonQuality education is the cornerstone of a prosperous nation. But in Cameroon — an ethnically diverse country in south-central Africa — only 53 percent of children attend secondary school. Also, the state of girls’ education in Cameroon is troubling since they do not have access to quality education and many of them are not even enrolled in schools. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 70 percent of Cameroonian girls are illiterate.

Facts about Girls’ Education in Cameroon

A variety of factors influence the lack of education among girls in Cameroon. Traditional values stifle chances of prolonged schooling or any schooling for girls. Poverty often forces women to leave school and to work and earn an income for their families. In addition, high rates of youth pregnancy and child marriage impede continued education for many girls. Although Cameroon ratified the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which sets the minimum age of marriage at the start of adulthood, yhe legal age of marriage in the country is still 15 with parental permission. In 2014, the UNICEF found that over 31 percent of teenage girls in Cameroon were married before age 18.

Patriarchal norms drive down girls’ education in Cameroon as well. Patience Fielding from the University of California, Berkeley found that women’s educational pursuits are further restricted in higher educational institutions as well, especially in the fields of math, science and technology. Even as girls struggle to enroll in schools, obstacles meet them in the classroom. Girls face a disproportionate amount of discrimination, sexual harassment and violence.

What’s Happening

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

International organizations are supporting Cameroonian girls and increasing female enrollment in schools. UNICEF works to advocate early childhood education as well as supply resources and classroom materials to students and teachers.

Cameroonian women are also spearheading efforts to make social change and promote girls’ education in Cameroon. In a 2016 Times article, Leila Kigha talks about her grandmother’s efforts to inspire other Cameroonian women and the ripple effect a single woman’s hope for the future can have on others. She refused to accept the status quo and sent her children to school against all odds. Her descendants went on to establish the Shine A Light Africa initiative — a nonprofit that works to allow women to sell farm products in groups.

This work has been monumental in ensuring that change happens. Research shows the positive externalities resulting from girls having access to better and continued education consequently leading to a higher standard of living. In addition, improving girls’ education can reduce maternal death and infant mortality rates substantially.

Conclusion

The Republic of Cameroon’s constitution outlines that the State shall guarantee a child’s right to education. However, equal and prolonged access to education is often not a reality for Cameroonian girls. Thus, it requires international attention from political leaders and focused agendas to help reduce the gender gap in education to greatly influence individual lives in such nations.

– Isabel Bysiewicz
Photo: Flickr

Trends in Girls’ Education in Palau

Girls’ Education in Palau

Palau, a democratic island nation located southeast of the Philippine Islands, has made significant strides and commitments to reducing gender inequality over the past two decades. The most significant improvements have been in girls’ education in Palau. 

Palau has a population of about 22,000 citizens. In the past, Palau maintained specific gender responsibilities on the island, typically relating to the division of labor and education. Now, gender plays an insignificant role in jobs, with the exception of politics. Despite the island’s ongoing tradition of a matriarchy, women seldom hold national political offices. Governmental commitments to education, however, are increasing. 

Girls’ Education in Palau

For a period of time, the percentage of females attending all levels of schooling was higher than their male counterparts. However, since 2012, the percentage of female enrollment in school has been steadily decreasing. Female education statistics are lower than males’, showing female education needs improvement. However, the Palauan government has been proactive in addressing the issues within girls’ education in Palau.

Palau has begun to confront this issue of girls’ education in Palau with programs sponsored by The World Bank, including the Access and Quality in Higher Education Project and Excellerating Higher Education Expansion and Development Operation Project. These projects aim to improve educational learning and access to education.

Measuring Up to Other Countries

The education system of Palau is comparable to the education system of St. Lucia, a developing nation. Both Palau and St. Lucia are island nations struggling with diversity due to the limited resources available in the respective countries. Lack of diverse educational resources has hampered educational progress. It has also been a cause for greater initiatives to further and enhance progress. Like St. Lucia, Palau has a history of gender gaps in education; however, unlike St. Lucia, Palau is working to bridge the current disparities.

Using the U.S. as a Model

Palau’s government and culture have increasingly imitated the trends of the U.S. While this has been key in the structuring of Palau’s government, it has also been used in education. In 1927, when Palau was under Japanese control, a trade school was founded. However, in 1969, just over twenty years after the U.S. took control of Palau, the trade school morphed into the first and only community college on the island. This transition imitates the U.S. dedication to learning and higher education. 

The goals for girls’ education in Palau are reachable and realistic because they are intended to improve the quality of education and post-educational hopes for all citizens, regardless of gender. The vision statement from the Palauan Ministry of Education sums this point up, saying, “Our students will be successful in the Palauan society and the world.”

– Alexandra Ferrigno
Photo: Google

Continuing the Fight for Girls’ Education in Tunisia

Girls' Education in Tunisia
Illiteracy rates and education levels for females in many Arab or Islamic nations are among the lowest in the world. This occurrence is often due to active suppression by theocracies, but Tunisia is an oddball in the case of Arab/Islamic countries in terms of the level of girls education. 

Girls’ Education in Tunisia

Tunisia has one of the highest female literacy rates amongst predominantly Islamic countries. In fact, 96.1 percent of females in Tunisia are literate — a statistic unheard of in multiple regions of the world. Girls’ education in Tunisia reflects the openness of the nation as opposed to its regional counterparts, and females within this nation actually rank higher than males. For example, females have a higher school participation rate than males, and girls actually last longer (meaning they drop out less) in primary school than males. Such dedication to academics is promising to not only these girls’ personal well-being, but also to their work and home successes.

These examples of gender equality and female success are rare in Arab and Islamic regions, as much of theocratic culture tends to prefer and adhere to a male-dominated society. In Tunisia, males may have higher enrollment rates than females, but females are either equal or dominant to males in terms of academic performance in school — except for literacy. Even in this respect, there is only a 2 percent difference between the genders, which is again unprecedented in predominantly Islamic countries. 

The Long Game

The high level of female education in Tunisia did not happen overnight. Prior to the 2011 overthrow of the Ben Ali regime, these trends of increases in female education were apparent because the Tunisian government actively took steps to decrease gender inequality to improve their overarching socioeconomic development.

Tunisian women have a higher level of rights than their regional neighbors. Article 21 of the 2014 Tunisian constitution stipulates that: “Male and female citizens are equal in rights and duties. They are equal before the law without any discrimination.” This aspect of gender equality should act as an example for numerous countries across the globe, in both the developed and developing worlds.

Steps for Improvement

This is not to say that Tunisia is a reservoir of egalitarianism. Abuse against women is disturbingly high — 70 percent of women are the victims of abuse in Tunisia. However, much has been done in recent years to attempt to mitigate such occurrences, including a law passed by the Tunisian parliament specifically aimed at reducing levels of abuse against women.

Tunisia is very liberal in terms of girls education, though, and continually makes strides in improving other human rights offenses against girls. Tunisia is learning that educating and empowering females brings a nation numerous benefits and resources otherwise unattainable.

From decreasing poverty, improving the economy and developing a more harmonious society, Tunisia’s prioritization of female education is admirable and bound for success. Tunisia’s future looks much more liberal and altruistic than many of its regional counterparts, and only time will tell if this optimistic hope proves out for the country. 

– Daniel Lehewych
Photo: Google

Amending Culture: Girls’ Education in Rwanda

Rwanda education
In Rwanda, culture plays an important role when it comes to education, as girls are often raised to be submissive at home and taught to not speak up like boys do.

Girls are “supposed to” focus on their household first and foremost and put education second. Justine Uvuza, a former advocate for women’s rights, reported a housewife’s words about gender roles: “Her husband expected her to make sure that his shoes were polished, the water was put in the bathroom for him, his clothes were ironed.”

Girls might need to break some barriers when choosing a career. Rwanda’s culture is male-oriented, so girls who choose a career path that is more common among men may experience sexual harassment in the workplace.

Girls Hygiene and School Attendance

Having a period while attending school is a normal part of western girls’ lives, but this experience might give Rwandan students a more uncomfortable outcome. A restroom with running water is still considered a luxury in some rural areas, which makes it difficult for girls to clean themselves while in school.

Staggering statistics are part of the facts about girls’ education in Rwanda: 10 percent of girls between 10-14 years old have access to menstrual pads in Rwanda. Male teachers also need to be more aware of their needs, as girls are not allowed to leave classrooms to use the restroom.

One student stated: “When I was on my period I would leave school and stay at home, sometimes for up to a week. I didn’t feel clean and didn’t want to use the bad toilets that we shared with boys. Because I was missing one week of school every month, I found it hard to keep up with my studies.”

Unwanted Pregnancy and School Dropouts

In 2016, 17,000 teens got pregnant in Rwanda. Girls don’t get the proper sexual education information from their parents and are often forced to drop out of school to take care of their children.

Puberty is still an uncomfortable subject for some parents, as one mother relates: “I have two sons and a daughter who are in secondary school. They often ask tough questions and I feel ashamed, or fail to answer. For example, one day my daughter asked me what follows after a girl develops breasts.”

If there were more straightforward parent-child conversation, many teenage pregnancies could be prevented from happening and help keep Rwanda’s teens on a stable academic path.

Farming Activities and Education Access

Most families in Rwanda plant what they consume; however, they often lack resources such as potable water, and some women in Africa even have to walk for six miles every day to get it. The lack of clean water causes parasite-inflicted diseases, which often keeps children from primary education.

Children are oftentimes unable to attend schools because they have to provide housework help for their families. In fact, some students have to walk three miles every day before school so as to take potable water to their families.

The Good News

There are still student success stories despite the challenges they face. The Akilah Institute for women gives girls a positive platform to voice their opinions. The group created a female debate team — the first in the country — as a way to become more confident about their role in a male-dominated society.

The team also discussed the topic of “Western feminism,” a concept still fairly new in Rwanda, in the process of taking the debate trophy home. In addition to such success, UNICEF started a program called Child Friendly Schools in 2001 which provides schools with improved infrastructure to deal with girls’ hygiene concerns.

One school located in the Bugesera district has now separated restrooms, provides sanitary towels for girls and has water and soap available for personal hygiene and clothes washing. The dropout numbers decreased after these ‘simple’ measures, and girls now feel less embarrassed about their periods while attending school.     

Girls’ Education in Rwanda

The Young Women’s Christian Association educates youth about preventing teen pregnancies. The GrowupSmart program teaches teens how to understand body changes during puberty. The program has taught more than a 1,000 girls about reproductive health, and it has also reached out to parents, turning parent-child sex discussions a common practice.

Measures like these have prevented many school dropouts. World Vision, the Christian organization, has also helped more than 340,000 people with sanitation and clean water in only five years. They also teach the people in rural areas how to dig wells.

These problems related to girls’ education in Rwanda have solutions — the help of partnerships between the government, relief agencies and nonprofit organizations. A pessimistic scenario can be used as a driver to action, and such motivation paired with humanitarian aid can produce doable results.

– Nijessia Cerqueira
Photo: Flickr

Top 10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Sudan

Facts About Girls' Education in Sudan
Facts about girls’ education in Sudan are startling as females are at a clear disadvantage. Girls in Sudan are more likely to be illiterate than their regional counterparts, which is concerning as the region around the nation is plagued with female educational suppression.

Facts About Girls’ Education in Sudan

  1. According to UNICEF, 49 percent of girls are missing out on primary education. As of 2017, a total of three million children have been left out of Sudan’s education system, half of them being girls.
  2. In general, Sudan has unegalitarian views towards women. Sudan’s legal system is a strict form of Sharia Law, which limits the rights of women in many respects. The nature of such laws has seeped into Sudanese culture, thus affecting the quality and quantity of girls education for the worse. These laws include punishment for not wearing religious garb in public and institutionalized discrimination against women. When the mantra of the government and its laws is anti-women, the educational system will most likely be anti-women as well.
  3. The laws in Sudan regarding education do not guarantee safety against discrimination. Educators can then easily implement their views on who they allow to enroll in schools. Such views are the norm in Sudan, as is the opinion that women should aspire to be a housewife for their ultimate goal. Sudanese culture follows a strict interpretation of Islam and is often a culture that allows female genital mutilation, honor killings and other violations against women. Such an environment would be hard pressed not to extend such discrimination to education.
  4. In Sudan, the enrollment rate for girls in primary school is lower than that of boys, and there is also a significant gap in literacy between boys and girls.
  5. The quality of  teachers is very low in Sudan in comparison to the rest of the world; there may be up to 110,000 unqualified teachers teaching in Sudan, as 48 percent of teachers in Sudan have only completed primary education. On average, children in Sudan experience either no education (as Sudan has one of the highest out-of-school-children rates in the world) or very poor education from unqualified teachers.
  6. A severe lack of female teachers in Sudanese schools often creates a learning environment much more hostile to girls, which can then deter girls enrolling in school. Only 12 percent of South Sudan’s instructors are female, and the data of female education rates across generations show less improvement over time.
  7. The average household in Sudan contains 5.7 people; contrastingly, an United States household holds an average of 2.58 people. The cost of education in Sudan is not direct tuition, but rather similar to western universities and religious schools charge aside from tuition: textbooks, uniforms, exam fees, and even teacher salaries. This is very costly for many families, especially as poverty is extremely high in Sudan — 44.8  percent of the population live below the poverty line, and there is a 17 percent unemployment rate.
  8. The large number of families who struggle with such costs generally have two options: (1) do not send their children to school (which is a partial explanation for why the educational enrollment rate in Sudan is very low) or (2) choose their favorite children to attend school. For the latter option, these favorites are almost unanimously boys which hurts girls educational opportunities.
  9. Given the fact that normal schooling in Sudan is explicitly anti-women, it’s very hard for girls in Sudan to receive an education, and the shortage of out-of-school alternatives really leaves Sudan’s girls in a difficult place.
  10. Fortunately, Sudan is not alone. The Global Partnership for Education Fund heavily funds the Sudanese government so as “to improve the learning environment in targeted areas; to increase the availability of textbooks; and to strengthen education planning and management mechanisms in the Sudan.” In fact, $76 million has gone into a project known as the Basic Education Recovery Project which significantly helps girls education in Sudan.

Steps to Empowerment

These facts about girls’ education in Sudan leave the international community with a daunting task — making change a reality in Sudan. Thankfully, such outcomes are occurring, but help is always needed and desired. Donating to organizations such as The Borgen Project that work to provide international aid is one of the best ways to help make change a reality.

– Daniel Lehewych
Photo: Flickr