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Katherine Schiedermayer
The Right to Education and the Girl Child
Around the world, girls are subject to discrimination
in various ways - and one of them is being denied education. Girls deserve
an equal education to boys, and need one if they are to succeed and continue
to succeed in the future. If women are to achieve equal rights and roles in
society with men, they must have equal educational opportunities. The WGG
(Working Group for Girls) NGO (non-governmental organization) Committee is
attempting to accomplish this, as well as 7 other noble goals, which were
decided upon in 2000 and will be discussed in May of 2007 at a UN meeting in
New York. They state that, "Education is the right of every girl everywhere
and key to transforming her life and the life of her community...[they need
education] to play a productive and equal role in their families, their
societies, their country and their world." Catholic Social Justice teaching
also calls for justice and demands the rights of all people as equals to be
recognized; this is stated in the right of Participation - that all people
have a right to participate in society, and a responsibility to defend that
right for those who cannot advocate for themselves. Girl children have very
little voice in much of the world - they are not in a position in society
where they will attract much attention to their cause by picketing. It is
necessary that the people in higher positions - or with more power -
advocate for them. This may involve the government, other countries, or the
common people (adults) in society - willing to devote their time to help the
children. This paper will focus on Iran, its educational system, and needed
reform.
Iran has started large-scale integration of girls into its
schools since the 1970's, but still has a long way to go. In a recent graph
of university attendance in Iran, 39 of its colleges were shown to not admit
women. Those that did admitted a significantly smaller number of girls than
boys. There are 5 small all girls' universities, which show some progress.
There is a significantly less amount of women teachers than men, and during
(and after) the war from 1980-82 there is an extreme drop in the number of
teachers in general. War proves to be a huge issue in Iranian education. If
people are not first safe and secure, how are they to learn?
People do not put education at the top of their priority list, when daily
fighting for their lives, or living in fear. There are various terrorist and
religious fundamentalist groups at large at the moment, which also threaten
the safety of children and their educational opportunities. Iran today faces
threats from inner and outer warfare, and until it is able to arrive at
various peace treaties, equal education (or education at all) will be a
difficult goal to accomplish.
Baha'i's, a religious group found globally, have done a lot of
work to promote education for girls in Iran. Baha'i is a religious group
that believes in the truth of all religions - that each prophet came to
reveal new truths when humanity was ready for them. So, Jesus came when the
world was ready for His truth, Mohammed came when the world was ready for
his truth, etc. As such, they are good candidates to advocate world peace
and reform - since they generally like everyone. They were one of the first
groups to react to the need that women be educated in Tehran. In the early
1900's, Susan L. Moody - a doctor and teacher - received a plea for help
from some Iranian teachers to have some female American teachers come to
teach in Iran - to give women more opportunities and to encourage more girls
to attend schools. She first went over to help with medical problems, but
ends up focusing more in education. She ends up forming several schools for
women in Tehran while there, and brings more women friends over to help her
teach. She died in the 1930's, highly acclaimed for her good works. The
Baha'i's continue to work in Iran today - promoting higher education for
women and all people in general.
I suggest that the Holy Names Book Club choose, Reading Lolita in
Tehran at some point, to promote greater awareness, empathy and to be in
solidarity with the people thirsting for educational opportunities around
the world - and in Tehran specifically. This book is a true story, written
by Azar Nafisi - a teacher who promoted education for women in Tehran. When
terrorists and religious fundamentalists attempted to stifle learning
through violent raids, Nafisi hosts secret meetings in her house to read
classic literature - to continue their learning, despite the difficulties.
This woman's testimony shows that education for women is possible - even in
the most dire of situations. Jesus says that the "three greatest virtues are
Faith, Hope and Love - but the greatest of these is Love". Through empathy,
we can come to love the people of the world, and be inspired to act on this
love. This book gives hope that the goals of the WGG could succeed, and that
there are people out there willing to devote their lives to this cause in
particular - to educate and empower women.
Bibliography
"Iran: Education." Pars Times. 2006. Pars Times. October 8, 2006 <http://www.parstimes.com/education/>.
Armstrong-Ingram, R. Jackson. "Susan I. Moody." Research Notes in Shaykhi,
Babi and
 Baha'i
Studies, No. 2. 2006. Matrix: Michicgan State University - Net Humanities
and Social Sciences Online: H-Baha'i. October
8, 2006 <http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/notes/moody.htm>.
Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. United States of
America:
Random House Publishing, 2004.
The Embassy of The Islamic Republic of Iran, Ottawa-Canada. "Higher
Education
Advisory
in Canada." Education in Iran. Oct. 21st, 2003. The Embassy of The Islamic
Republic of Iran, Ottawa-Canada. October
8, 2006 <http://www.salamiran.org/Embassy/Embassy/StudentAdvisory/index.html>.
Working Group on Girls. "WGG Platform for Girls and WGG facts sheet."
Working
Group
on Girls" Today's girl is tomorrow's woman, Don't leave her behind. 2006.
Working Group on Girls. October 8, 2006
<http://www.girlsrights.org/girls.php#fact_sheets>.
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