Sydney Stochl

The Right to Education and the Girl Child

          There are many reasons why throughout the world girls are not being educated. There are "approximately 100 million children and 55% of them are girls" (NGO Committee)  who should be enrolled in school are not. There are many reasons for this. One of them is the sexual prejudice against girls in many countries. In many places it is a cultural element that women are not equal to men and in their culture they believe that women do not need to be educated. Because of this discrimination many girls grow up and pass their lack of skills onto their children. This creates an ongoing spiral that not everyone can get out of.

           Another reason for the lack of education for girls is a plain lack of money. Many countries cannot afford to provide an education for all the children in the country. In fact just to education all the children in Africa it is estimated that the continent would need, "some three billion US dollars per year" (Nduru). The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) is one group taking action about the need for education in Africa. FAWE has been working on a project of providing scholarships and so far they have "assisted 55 girls in Kenya and 240 girls in Zimbabwe" (Nduru). There are many organizations out there like FAWE, that are doing whatever they can to help with the effort to educate girls, but their efforts would be so much more powerful if there were a bigger money supply to support them.

         It is true that educating girls is the first step in ending poverty in third world counties. By educating women the community as whole benefits. There are many  benefits to educating women including: lowering infant mortality, improving health, wiping out HIV/AIDS and other diseases, and preventing trafficking and sexual exploitation. Overall, educating women would raise the quality of life in many countries. It would increase the awareness in those countries. Girls who are educated in their childhood are also more likely to educate their children. Thus ending the spiral of uneducated girls and reversing it to create a cycle of educated girls. As it is said in the BAP report, "education is the gateway to equal access to information, opportunity, self determination, and political and social empowerment" (GAP).

            The main way to end this problem is through personal interaction and involvement and financial support and education. Actually traveling to a country where education is a problem is a life changing experience and really opens a person's eye to the severity of the situation. A person cannot really comprehend the problem unless they have seen it first hand. Of course financial support is necessary in any case to solve a problem like this. In many countries, such as Tanzania, the government does not have the money to support public education and the people do not have the money to pay for the education for their children. It is not a case that they do not want their children to be educated it is a case that they just do not have the funds to provide and education for their children. Another way to help is just by helping people understand what education can do for them and how it can significantly change their lives. Also helping governments understand that education should be a priority in their budget and how they can best provide education for all the people in their country.

            One example of a church group who is doing something to help the education process in other countries is actually my church, Faith Lutheran Church. Here we have a project called Ailanga School Project. This organization is in partnership with the Meru diocese in Usa River, Tanzania. The group raises money for school in the diocese and has sponsored many children so that they will be able to attend school, even if they cannot pay for it. One of the schools that the group is in partnership with is Ailanga. This is actually one of the many schools that I visited while in Tanzania. At this school the group has bought them 16 computers and given them access to the Internet. Recently the Meru diocese has sent a document to us expressing their dire need of financial help. The diocese is running out of money and may soon have to shut down some of their schools. So at the moment, my church is trying to figure out a way to raise money to send to them. The schools rely on out financial help and it is partnerships like this that are helping to increase education in other countries

            There are many ways that we as individuals and as a Holy Names community could help the problem of education in other countries. One was is just talking to children in other countries to lean what their situation is really like and getting their perspective on what they think will help educate people in their community. This many be very hard because communication can be difficult because not all people have access to the Internet or the money to send mail. But I have kept in contact with some of the children that I met while I was in Tanzania and I really enjoy hearing from them. Another way that we as a community can help is to raise money and make sure that the money goes to the right people. Money is a very big issue for people in third world countries and one of the main reasons why people are not educated. Raising money could provide children with scholarships and school with the money to expand or lower tuition or many other things that the school may need, such as supplies or textbooks. Another thing that we as a community could do is just to raise awareness. Before I went to Tanzania I was not really aware of the extreme lack of education in some countries and Tanzania is not the worst of the worst. Now that I have come back I really realize that I want to do something to help, I am just not sure how to go about doing that. One thing that the group of students is doing now that we are back is selling goods that we bought in Tanzania for higher prices than what we bought them for and sending the profit back to a school. Another thing that we as individuals can do is make sure we buy things that are fair trade and support stores like 10,000 Villages that are fair trade. In this way we are supporting the prospering of communities and the flourishing of education. There are many things that can be done it is just a question of who is willing to take the initiative to support these people and give them a voice in our community so that others will know about the problems that face those less fortunate than we.



                                                                               Works Cited

"Gender Achievements and Prospects in Education." The Clock Strikes Midnight. GAP Project. 08 Oct. 2006 
                   <http://ungei.org/gap/educaitonClock.php>.

"Girls' education advocate delivers message of hope to First Spouses during World Summit." Tanzania, United Republic of. 23 Sept.
                 2005. UNICEF. 08 Oct. 2006 <http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/tanzania_28355.html>.

Nduru, Moyiga. "Africa: Urged to Invest in Education of Girls to Reduce Poverty." Third World Network. 22 Mar. 2006. TWN. 08 Oct.                      2006 <http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/edu-cn.htm>.

Platform For Girls. Ed. The Working Group on Girls. May 2006. NGO Committee on UNICEF. 08 Oct. 2006. 
                <http://www.girlsrights.org/summary.php>.

"UN Appeal for Girls' Education." BBC News 26 Apr. 2000. World: Africa. 08 Oct. 2006   
               http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/726763.stm>.