Women & Girls & Education
Statistics
Women represent 70 percent of the worlds' 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty (National Education Association,
www.nea.org). In developing countries, more that half of the women over the age of 25 have never been to school (Girls
Global Education Fund, www.ggef.org). Less than half of the world's poorest women who are age 15 and older have
had enough schooling to be able to read and write. On average they have spent a total of one year in school, one-tenth
as much as their sisters in the richest fifth of the global population (www.nea.org). According to the Girls Global
Education Fund, their yearly income averages to about one percent of the income of those in the richest fifth. Every day,
over 125 million primary school-aged children will not attend class around the world (www.ggef.org). Girls compose 2/3
of all the children excluded from basic education in the world (www.nea.org). Many girls do not attend school because
the lack of schools, domestic or child labor, and sometimes a general view that girls do not or should not be educated.
Worldwide, the gender gap in enrollment ratios is closing. However, this overall figure masks regional variation in both
the starting level and the degree of improvement. Girls' disadvantaged position within the education sector is shown
through limited access, lower rates of representation at particular levels, and rates of completion and rates of
achievement. In addition, education is a human right and is cited in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Benefits of Women & Girls Education
Also, many agencies such as the World Bank and United Nations have noted that the education of girls is a main factor
to economic and social development. When girls are not educated, a society severely slows down its productivity and
its rate of growth. Educated girls become educated women and those women influence entire families, communities
and nations. Each year of schooling a girl receives, produces measurable benefits. For example, in Africa the child of a
woman who has not been to school has a one in five chance of dying before the age of five and a child whose mother
has been to five years of school has a 40 percent lower mortality risk. Educated women and their children have better
health and productivity(World Education Forum, www2.unesco.org/wef/en-leadup/findings_girls%20education2.shtm).
Many women around the globe are also the primary educators and nurturers of children, which is another reason the
investment on women's education is very important. "...Once its benefits are recognized, investment in the girls'
education may well be the highest return investment available in the developing world"(Lawrence H. Summersiv,
>www2.unesco.org/wef/en-leadup/findings_girls%20education2.shtm).
References* & Information
* World Education Forum: www2.unesco.org/wef/en-leadup/findings_girls%20education2.shtm
This site provides much information
on the education of girls around the globe. It gives specific information on specific regions. It contains a lot of detailed
information that would be
useful for educational purposes or personal knowledge.
*Girls Global Education Fund: www.ggef.org
This site gives personal stories from girls, and teachers. The site also contains some statistics that are very useful. In
addition, the site is for raising awareness about the inequities of the education of girls and offering a way that others
may help.
*National Education Association: www.nea.org
This site is dedicated to information on education for everyone. It has a specific pages on women and girls and global
issues. The site is extremely informative and helpful.
Other Suggested Websites For More Information
Literacy Resource Center Network: www.accu.or.jp/literacy/1rc/index.htm
This site is rather extensive, and is a comprehensive resource center for the promotion of literacy of girls and women.
Save A Female Through Education: tamil.cs.duke.edu:8080/~safe/
This is a site from a body of students at Duke University associated with a nonprofit organization in India called Sri
Ramkrishna Tapovanam. This site is very interesting and it focuses on the education of girls in India.
The American Association of University Women: www.aauw.org
Suggested Books
Women's Education in Developing Countries:
Barriers, Benefits, and Policies
edited by Elizabeth M King and M. Anne Hill
A World Bank Research Publication
1998 paperback, 352pp.
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