Issues We Address
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Girls’ Education
In Sub Saharan Africa, as of 2005, only 57% of girls are enrolled in primary school. Worldwide, 62 million school-age girls are not enrolled in school. In many cases, schools are far away and would take a child away for the entire day, robbing the family of his/her labor around the home. If they are enrolled at all, girls are usually taken out of school first, if needed, since boys’ education is valued more highly. In most developing countries, a woman with the same education earns far less than a man, so there is more economic benefit in paying to educate a boy. Also, since in many societies it is the girl who leaves her parents’ home to join her husband’s household, there is little incentive for her family to educate her, as this “investment” will be lost to the household. Learn how PMC’s program, Cesiri Tono, that aired throughout Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Ivory Coast changed attitudes about the importance of girls’ education.
Girls’ education and eliminating the gender disparity in primary and secondary education also has a direct impact on the number of children a woman has. In Brazil, women with secondary education have an average of 2.5 children vs. illiterate women who have an average of 6.5 children. Once women are aware of their options with regard to family planning and are empowered to seek out alternative opportunities in life, the desire for large families decreases. Having fewer children then allows families to invest more in the health and education of each, thereby raising the productivity of future generations. Smaller family size almost always correlates with reductions in child mortality and improvements to child nutrition and maternal health. Girls’ education also helps curb rates of HIV infection, especially among women, and reduces rates of mother-to-child transmission, by helping women to understand how the virus is transmitted, and by informing them of their options and rights for family planning and spousal negotiation.
