Closing the gender gap in education

By failing to educate girls to the same level as boys,  some countries lose more than US $ 1 billion a year. This is one of the findings of The Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report at UNESCO. In addition to the economic cost , the report also adds health values which shows that if all women completed primary education, maternal deaths would be reduced by two-thirds. If they had a secondary education, child deaths would be cut by half, saving 3 million lives, and there would be two-thirds fewer child marriages.

“Girls’ enrolment rates in primary and secondary education have almost doubled in low-income countries, and that the gender gap in primary enrolment has been halved.” — UNESCO

UNESCO unveiled a new fact sheet on girls’ education as part of the #HerEducationOurFuture initiative which focuses on the progress achieved over the past 25 years.  It was published on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which culminated with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a key global policy document on gender equality and the most ambitious roadmap for the empowerment of girls and women.

“Ignoring girls’ education is akin to ignoring one of the most effective solutions for development.” — Audrey Azoulay

UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay says, “When girls access quality education, it emboldens them to break the social stereotypes that hold back gender equality. It also gives them the tools to better navigate future choices on pregnancy, childbirth, and health challenges claiming millions of children’s lives around the world.”

The report states that there has been progress in countries ' commitment to girls' right to education”.  #HerEducationOurFuture — a new social media campaign launched in partnership with multiple education organizations to help advance the commitments made on education in the Beijing Declaration — calls on girls and teachers to add their voices to call for change by saying what they would want to improve for the next generation.

- Singh Rakesh Ranjan

(Sources)