There are some disturbing facts facing girls all over the world. Some of them include that:
- One in 3 girls in developing countries are married before turning 18
- Poor girls are 2.5 times more likely to marry in childhood than wealthy girls
- Child marriage usually ends a girl’s education, and puts her at greater risk of violence.
- Childbirth is the number one killer of girls aged 15 to 19, with 50,000 deaths annually
- 36 million primary school aged girls are not in school
- Girls receive just an average of six years of formal education in their lives
- A girl’s income is elevated by 10 to 20% for every year of secondary school she attends
- A child is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five if she is born to a mother who can read.
It is the International Day of the Girl Child today.
These are reasons why we should invest in girls education to make them rule.
1. It is a lifeline to development.
2. Girls basic education is one sure way of giving them much greater power.
3. It enables girls make genuine choices over the kinds of lives they wish to lead.
4. It is not a luxury.
“The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women establish it as a basic human right.”
5. It makes it possible for women to have the chance of a healthier and happier life.
6. An educated woman has the skills, information and self-confidence that she needs to be a better parent, worker and citizen.
7. An educated woman is likely to marry at a later age and have fewer children.
8. Studies show that an extra year of schooling for girls reduces fertility rates by 5 to 10 per cent.
9. Children of an educated mother are more likely to survive. The infant mortality rate of babies whose mothers have received primary education is half that of children whose mothers are illiterate.
10. An educated woman is more productive at work, and better paid.
Fact is that the dividend for educational investment is often higher for women than men. Studies from a number of countries suggest that an extra year of schooling will increase a woman’s future earnings by about 15 per cent, compared with 11 per cent for a man.
See this…..
Changing job needs are empowering women, leveling the playing field
Men raised in macho cultures with traditional values feel even more threatened as women gain equality and power.
As Homans put it in the Times: “The end of men is really the end of a manufacturing-based economy.” Six million lost jobs since 2000, mostly men, creating a vacuum. As a result, “a new matriarchy is emerging: For the first time in history, the global economy is becoming a place where women are finding more success than men … run by young, ambitious, capable women … taking matters into their own hands.”
Forget politics, this is the “new service economy, which doesn’t care about physical strength,” demanding skills that “come easily to women.” Our educational system is preparing a new generation of women leaders: “Today 50% more women get college degrees, so even if fewer women are at the top, they are beginning to dominate professions like accounting, financial management, optometry, dermatology, forensic pathology and veterinary practices.”
Tell you what, GIRLS WILL RULE!