Overcoming Education Challenges For Girls in Africa

Overcoming Education Challenges For Girls in Africa

Can you imagine never having the opportunity to go to school? Needing to stay home to cook and take care of your family? Not being able to read or write a single sentence? This is reality for millions of girls in Africa, 28 million of them ages 6-15 are not in school and never will be.(Costin, Montoya, Mundy). Education for women would lead to lower infant and maternal mortality, less child marriage and overpopulation, and a more educated country in general with improved treatment of women.(Jordan) While there is support and promotion for women’s education in Africa, it continues to be hindered by outside forces.  

Poverty and outdated family values are believed to account for the biggest obstacles in female education. In many common African households, women are expected to take care of housework for the sake of tradition(Jordan). Fortunately, these customs and expectations are finally changing(Jordan); however, education for girls is still being majorly obstructed by poverty. There is often not enough money to squander on materials needed such as books, uniforms, and fees, and families will often use any small amounts of extra money to send their sons to school(Schuetze). Males are generally held in a higher regard than females in Africa, they receive the best food and treatment(Hunter-Gault). Because of this, they are more likely to get a paid job than women, which encourages families to educate their sons rather than daughters. While the boys are in school, girls are often forced into marriages while they’re under 18 years of age(The Conversation Africa). Child marriage along with underage and often unwanted pregnancies contribute to around 15-20% of school drop-outs in sub-Saharan Africa(The Conversation Africa). Since women are considered as inferior to men, their lives are often viewed as a drain on family money unless the girl can be married off for a dowry to financially benefit the girl’s family(The Conversation Africa). This means that the “education” that girls experience in Africa consists of how to be a proper wife.

There are numerous campaigns and and organizations working to improve women’s education, and while the situation is still dire, many positive advances have been made. Camfed, a non-profit organization devoted to providing financial aid for African girls has caused much of this progress. More than three million students have benefited from Camfed work, and the organization has constructed a network of Camfed graduates working to advise their communities(Schuetze). Other companies such as UNESCO, the World Bank, and the Global Partnership for Education are also attempting to promote gender equality and provide schooling for women and girls(Mundy, Costin, Montoya). As education for girls becomes a more prevalent topic of discussion, people are finally giving it the attention and aid it deserves. A civil society organization in Ethiopia managed to increase attendance rates for girls and delay child marriages by offering a sheep or cow to parents who promised not to marry off their daughters(The Conversation Africa). As parochial values begin to break down, women are being viewed in a more favorable light, and are given more opportunities.

As Nelson Kaperemera said, “We still have some communities where the value of education for girls is still being doubted, because in the past they were valuing sending boys to school. But I think that is now changing. There's been a lot of social mobilization campaign to try and increase girls' access to education.” Africa’s enrollment and attendance rates, as well as its learning environments are certainly improving, but many young girls are still held back by poverty and tradition.

Works Cited

Africa, The Conversation. "How Schooling Can save African Girls from Becoming Child Brides." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Hunter-Gault, Charlayne. "The Missed Education of African Girls." NPR. NPR, 08 Aug. 2006. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Jordan, Ray. "The Education Challenges of Africa's Girls." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Feb. 2017. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

Mundy, Karen, Claudia Costin, and Silvia Montoya. "No Girl Left behind – Education in Africa." Global Partnership for Education. Global Partnership, 6 Mar. 2015. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.

Schuetze, Christopher F. "Bringing Education to African Girls." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Nov. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.