Some people believe educating the girl child is completely useless and unreasonable, they believe its waste of time and money. They think a girls place is in the kitchen cooking and giving birth to children.
The girl child suffers alot of discrimination as she grows from childhood into adulthood. She is denied alot of fundamental needs and rights and in such harmful attitudes and practices as a preference for sons, early marriage, female genital mutilation, domestic abuse, incest, sexual exploitation, discrimination, less food and less access to education.
In many countries, both developed and developing, the status of girls is significantly worse than that of boys, the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, identified the persistent discrimination against the girl child and the violation of her rights as one of the 12 critical areas of concern requiring urgent attention by governments and the international community.
Overall, girls’ school attendance still lags severely behind that of boys. One of the major reasons why so many girls do not attend school is because of their workload, both within and outside the household. Daughters are often kept at home to help the family because the social and economic value of educating girls is not recognized. It is a little known fact that among the world’s exploited child workers, girls outnumber boys.
Without access to education, girls are denied the knowledge and skills needed to advance their status. By educating girls, societies stand to gain economically. In addition, educated mothers usually have smaller families, with healthier and better-educated children.
Girls are often treated as inferior to boys, both within the home and by society-at-large. They are socialized to put themselves last, which in turn undermines their self-esteem and their ability to reach their full potential as human beings.
When a girl is prevented from going to school or is too exhausted to pay attention in class because of her workload at home, she is being denied her right to education. When a girl carries the bulk of responsibility for the housework while her brother studies, plays or attends to his interests and hobbies, she is being discriminated against.
Some parents need to see beyond their children, they need to realise that educating the girl child. They need to realise that educating their girl child is not a worthless effort.
Educating the girl child is important, they shouldnt be seen as inferiors and they shouldnt be regarded as minors in the society. They are also as relevant as the male child.
Queen Ebong
