Educating Girls Part 1: Roadblocks To Education
As a veterinarian, I spend a lot of time around highly educated women. Even 25 years ago when I was in veterinary school, most of my graduating class was female. Female enrollment in veterinary colleges has continued to increase since then. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 77.2% of veterinary students were female in 2009 (1). In American higher education in general, women now outnumber men, and more women get bachelor’s degrees than men (2). Though there is still room for improvement, educational opportunities continue to get better in the United States and other developed countries. The news is not so good, though, for millions of girls worldwide. According to UNESCO, there are about 130 million primary and secondary school age girls who are not currently in school. Three countries, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Nigeria, each have over a million girls not in school. Not only that, but two-thirds of the world’s illiterate are female, and a quarter of women worldwide have not completed primary school (3).
If we want to understand why so many girls are not in school, we have to look at the obstacles to education that girls face. If there is any one factor that overwhelmingly impacts the ability of girls to get an education, it is poverty. According to UNESCO:
Poverty remains the most important factor for determining whether a girl can access an education. For example, in Nigeria, only 4 percent of poor young women in the North West zone can read, compared with 99 percent of rich young women in the South East. Studies consistently reinforce that girls who face multiple disadvantages — such as low family income, living in remote or underserved locations, disability or belonging to a minority ethno-linguistic group — are farthest behind in terms of access to and completion of education.
For girls from the poorest families, the costs involved, such as school fees, are simply prohibitive (4). In some parts of the world where poverty may be so severe that there is lack of access to basic health care and nutrition, girls may not even be well enough to attend class (5).
Most Americans are aware of the plight of girls in Nigeria, where about 200 schoolgirls were recently kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists. This type of violence is another major factor preventing girls’ access to education. In conflict areas, up to 90% of girls of secondary school age may be out of school. (6). For example, in the conflict-ridden country of South Sudan, 76% of girls are not in school. Girls fare only a little better in Niger, The Central African Republic, Chad and Afghanistan (7). It’s not just war and roving militias keeping girls out of school, though. The fear of gender-based violence in schools is a constant distraction. If a girl is afraid to use the toilet because of the threat of sexual assault, she isn’t likely to be concentrating on her studies. And, some girls have to walk hours to get to school, exposing them to even greater risk of violence.
Child marriage, the subject of a recent DVM For Hope blog post, blocks access to education for untold numbers of girls. Many factors may contribute to the high number of girls forced into child marriages: cultural traditions, family honor, controlling sexuality, and poverty, among others. The link between child marriage and education has not been entirely elucidated, but pregnancy and the stigma associated with it play a role, as do gender norms that mean married girls will be attending to their husbands and household instead of attending school. The end result is that girls who are married under the age of 18 are less likely to finish their education, negatively impacting the girls, their children, and their communities. According to the World Bank:
Child marriage is…a critical challenge. Child brides are much more likely to drop out of school and complete fewer years of education than their peers who marry later. This affects the education and health of their children, as well as their ability to earn a living. According to a recent report, more than 41,000 girls under the age of 18 marry every day and putting an end to the practice would increase women’s expected educational attainment, and with it, their potential earnings. According to estimates, ending child marriage could generate more than $500 billion in benefits annually each year. (8)
Poverty, child marriage, and violence are certainly major roadblocks to education for girls, but something that many people have probably never considered has to do with simple biology. In parts of the developing world, a lack of sanitary pads, or the inability to afford them, means that many girls may not be able to attend school during menstruation. In some parts of Africa, for example, up to 10% of girls miss school because of their periods (9). The problem also coincides with poverty, because sanitary pads can be cost prohibitive, a pack sometimes costing a whole day’s pay! (10) If the family can’t afford the pads, the girls will likely miss school for part of every month.
At this point, the reader should have a good understanding of the obstacles that can face a girl wanting an education. Equally important, though, is the impact that lack of access to education has on both society and on the girls themselves. In part 2 of this series, coming in one week, I’ll look at the consequences of having so many girls out of school and discuss some strategies being employed to solve the problem. Then I’ll give you some ways that you can help.
M.
Sources:
- The American Veterinary Medical Association
- Paddison, Laura. “Educating Girls: The Key To Attacking Global Poverty.” The Guardian, 3 Oct 2017.
- “Girls Education-The Facts.” UNESCO, October 2013
- www.malala.org
- “6 Things Keeping Girls Out Of School And What Plan International Is Doing About It.” plancanada.ca,
- www.malala.org
- Un.org
- www.worldbank.org
- “Kenya’s Schoolgirls To Get Free Sanitary Pads From Government.” bbc.com, 22 June 2917.
- “The Invention That Stops Girls Missing School Every Month.” bbc.com, 31 May 2016.