Elena Caldera
In our society, going to school is part of the routine of many children and young adults. If our routine is waking up early for not missing the bus, following the lessons for six hours straight and then studying and doing our homework, we should be aware that education is a right that is not always equally distributed or recognised: according to the UIS (UNESCO Institute for Statistics), for the school year ending in 2018, about 258 million children and youth were out of school; this total includes 59 million children of primary school age, 62 million of lower secondary school age and 138 million of upper secondary age. This lack of education can be found especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Asia due to persistent poverty and marginalization. However, gender inequality is a problem that also affects this field; indeed, today the ones who have less access to education are girls, representing more than the 54% of the unschooled population in the world.
Besides the cultural and social factors, early marriage is one of the major causes of drop outs by girls under the age of 18, who often don’t have a say in the decision of their parents: the trigger factors of it are the thought that the only roles of women are to be a wife and a mother, as well as the interruption of the reproductive health services that raise the cases of pregnancy and subsequent marriages. In addition Covid-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on education and economy: due to this, the risk of early marriage in many families increased up of 10% from the originally 100 million girls. The phenomenon of early marriage steals a girl’s childhood, having repercussions on her future,physical and mental health. Therefore the possibility of attending school, or reaching a higher level of education is very relevant since girls will be more likely to continue their professional careers, thus reducing little girls and teen marriage. Are “the best women the least educated”? According to the Hungarian government the answer is yes: women’s education would endanger the economy and disadvantage men; besides, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has stated that the high number of female students in their higher education system could be a serious problem since it would make young women less likely to marry and have children. In addition, according to the most famous stereotypes, men would be “more inclined to entrepreneurial spirit, mathematics, logic and mechanics”,while women would be able to work only in domestic environments and would distinguish themselves for being tolerant and obedient. Thus, if the male traits are less developed than the female ones, then men run the risk of developing “mental and behavioural problems”. Furthermore, the government favours and helps only women under the age of 30 who choose to get married, which in the past year has led to an increase in female dropouts.
In Afghanistan, after the Talibans took power in 2021, many girls dropped out of school. What is the reason for this situation? Was it a choice or were little girls forced to interrupt their studies? In reality, at the beginning, the Taliban guaranteed respect for women’s rights, including education, emphasizing then “under the sharia system” (extreme Islamic moral principles). In September, only girls aged between 6 to 12 years old returned to school (forced to attend exclusively girls’ classes) but secondary school was interrupted (12-17 years). The Taliban also allowed university female students to complete their studies but, since they are not allowed to graduate, no girl will be able to study in university anymore. Samira Hamid, activist of “Afghanistan Amnesty International” said: “It’s the worst nightmare possible for Afghan women and girls, who today have seen their future torn out”. Protest movements, such as “The Movement of Change”, were born in this period: they took women’s rights at the center and took positions against the Taliban management of women’s education. Female education is a good investment for various reasons: the education is the best means to promote gender equality, so to ensure the same opportunity. Then an educated girl tends to avoid early pregnancies and diseases. They are favoured in starting economic activities and negotiating their rights, starting with those relating to the management of reproductive health and the education of children. Educated women tend to avoid early pregnancies and risk behaviors. They are favoured in starting economic activities and negotiating their rights, and undoubtedly an illiterate girl is less protected from violence, disease and exploitation than a peer who has been educated. Educated girls tend to have fewer children and focus more time and attention on the newborn. Their children are on average better fed and cared for, because mothers are better informed about disease prevention and can receive the messages of health institutions on the need to vaccinate children, maintain hygiene measures and dose medicines.
Group work by Sardini Anna, Milani Anna, Bertuzzi Alessia, Buffoli Sara.
Photo by Akshayapatra
Sitografia:
Unesco, Out of School Children and Youth
United States Institute Of Peace
L’importanza delle pari opportunità nell’istruzione | UNICEF Italia
First of all, I agree with all the ideas in the document. Unfortunately, girls are now looked at as if you’re going to take care of your husband, your wife, your child, but like everyone else, women also have dreams. For example, studying, not needing anyone. Getting married before they turn 20. Which girl would want a child. I think, actually, no trump card wants a child to have a child at that age. To endure so much pain at that young age. He doesn’t want to, but he has to. because the girls’ place is under the husband’s feet. There is no such thing. Girls, like men, can do whatever they want and make the decisions that will shape their lives. The wisdom that men have, also exists in girls, and even more. Because of this, they should never be silent, they should do their best, because in this country, silence can not get anywhere.
İn fact,in paragraphy of the text you sent, you said that the Denial of girls educaticon has increased due to the extreme islamist ideas of the Taliban. İn other words,they misrepresent İslam in fact, countreis do not say that a girl cannot read islam, they misrepresent İslam however ,the wife of our prophet was also working,and the wives of other prophets also had professions. l wish they could tell the truth…
Recently, she mentioned the numerical data of people who left education politically, culturally and religiously, and the data is really high. In the research, mostly girls were emphasized. Women’s education is a plus in terms of many things: education, health, economy, development of the country and most importantly. raising well-rounded children.
Early marriage and health problems also cause major problems for education. In some countries, the oppression and violence against women and girls still continues. I think this is a lack of education anyway.
Women are not seen as an asset in society. The woman is the mother. The woman is the wife. A woman is honorable… It is put into many molds. Women are seen as a sexual commodity in society.
Women have been greatly devalued. As women, we see how much the society they live in has devalued the responsibilities imposed on them. Women cannot read because they also know that if women read, they will realize their rights. This poses a big problem for the patriarchal mentality. An educated woman begins to seek her rights and to educate her children in this direction. The main source of education is the family… and this means that women who have a great effort in children also end. Societies with a patriarchal mentality see women only as a means of reproduction and not as a wife but as an entity that will fulfill their service. If a woman is educated, she will start to seek her rights and stand on her feet. This will cause the empire created by patriarchal societies to be shaken. They ignore women and deprive them of many rights, such as the right to education, so that the ‘Empire of Inequalities’ they have created is not destroyed. However, it is women who make men. It is the woman who hosts them in their bodies for nine months.
Women are the ones who enable the development of societies. When we look at the underdeveloped countries, we see how much women remain in the background in all of them. However, in all developed countries, women are at the forefront. This shows how important women are in the progress of societies.
The thought that roles other than wife and mother (such as employee, student) in society make them less useful has led to their education and other basic rights being put into the background.
I think this is undesirable because the increase in living standards is against the existing system.