WHEN U.S. FIRST LADY Michelle Obama touch down for her brief stop in Monrovia later this month, the world will briefly take notice as it has, whenever the popular first lady and her daughters Sasha and Malia join her in one of her famous world tours.
Not Showboats & Eye Servants Looking For Selfie Opportunities
FOR LIBERIA, THIS means yet another show of the international strength of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to lure international attention to a nation in the middle of a major transition from war to peace and gearing up for what is no doubt its most important elections to date come 2017.
ACCORDING TO THE U.S. STATE Department, the First Lady will visit a school in Unification Town for a discussion with adolescent girls who are facing serious obstacles in attaining an education in a session expected to be moderated by Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto, an advocate for girls’ education. “The conversation will highlight both the educational barriers girls face as Liberia moves beyond the Ebola epidemic, and the U.S. Government’s efforts to continue to address those barriers and provide adolescent girls with equitable access to safe and quality education. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will join Mrs. Obama during her visit. The First Lady’s events in Liberia will take place on June 27,” the statement said.
MRS. OBAMA aptly did not chose Botswana which has a female literacy rate of girls between 15-24 at 96.3; or Namibia which has a literacy rate for women at 90.6 for her education obstacle tour, those two countries are already educating their women and really do not need encouragement although they do have some barriers affecting the education of girls.
BUT EVEN THOSE COUNTRIES are not without challenges. Despite having achieved near universal primary education with a 99.2% net enrolment rate for girls, and a lower drop-out and grade repetition rate than boys, progress has been slowed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic that has hit Botswana especially hard. Botswana, after Swaziland has the second highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the world, with 37.4of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics now infected.
IN NAMIBIA, steps have been taken to improve the quality of basic and inclusive education through the use of advocacy and knowledge management to influence policies and institutional frameworks which aims to strengthen the capacity of the education system to ensure continuity in education. Some 66 per cent of school-aged boys and girls benefit from continued access to improved learning from primary through secondary education within a safe schooling environment. But like Botswana, high HIV infection rates have been a problem.
WHAT THE TWO countries share with Liberia is a relatively high-rate of sexual violence against women.
IN BOTSWANA, an estimated 65,000 children are orphaned by the AIDS epidemic and girls are consistently discriminated against as their education continues to be viewed as less important than boys. Early Pregnancy results in girls dropping out of school before completing primary education.
KEEPING GIRLS IN SCHOOL is a major asset for any nation. This is why Liberia can be proud that Mrs. Obama is coming to a country that has been struggling to rebuild its education sector.
THE U.S. FIRST LADY’s visit is welcoming news for Liberia which is expected to get some attention to its failing education sector, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf once described as a mess.
THE U.S. BASED MacArthur Foundation which supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks by building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world aptly sums up the importance of educating girls. “Girls with more years of education earn more, are more likely to participate in formal labour markets, and contribute to higher rates of economic growth at the national level. Additionally, these girls on average delay the onset of sexual activity, marry later, have smaller and healthier families, survive childbirth at higher rates, and are less likely to contract HIV.”
MRS. OBAMA’S GIRLS education tour will also take her to Marrakech, Morocco where she is expected to highlight the US Government’s work to help adolescent girls go to school and stay in school.
THE CHOICE OF LIBERIA suggests that a lot of obstacles is standing in the way of girls attaining education and shows that we have a lot of work to do in ensuring that girls here have much easier access to education, especially under its first woman head of state.
MRS. OBAMA’S ‘LET GIRLS LEARN’ initiative realizes that the education of girls builds a healthier family, a stronger community, and a brighter future.
ACCORDING TO THE first lady’s program, more than 62 million girls around the world are not in school—half of whom are adolescents. “We know that countries with more girls in secondary school tend to have lower maternal mortality rates, lower infant mortality rates, lower rates of HIV/AIDS, and better child nutrition. But too often, a girl who could change her world for the better is locked out of that future by the circumstances of her birth or the customs of her community and country.”
THIS IS WHY President Obama and the First Lady launched the Let Girls Learn initiative to ensure that adolescent girls can attain quality education that empowers them to reach their full potential.
LIBERIA CAN AND must do more in that direction and develop initiatives that are working to some extend in Botswana and Namibia despite some limitations, if we are to make learning accessible for girls in Liberia.
AS LIBERIA and its traditional step partner prepare for the FLOTUS visit, it is our hope that those in government here understand what’s at stake and at least for a day, put aside their selfish tendencies to take selfies with FLOTUS for their Facebook walls while ignoring what is actually at stake here.
WE HAVE SEEN IT time and time again where a lot of good intentions by President Sirleaf have failed to take off because those tasked with the responsibility to make things happen have simply failed to live up to their end of the bargain.
IN 2006, The Government launched its National Girls’ Education Policy, calling on partners to work together to achieve universal primary education for every Liberian child.
AT THE TIME, the policy was trumpeted as aiming to provide universal, free and compulsory primary school and reduce secondary school fees by 50%. The plan also outlined activities to recruit and train more female teachers, provide counselling for girls and life skills education in schools, increase the availability of scholarships for girls and strengthen health systems in schools. The plan further calls for ending the impunity of teachers who sexually abuse and assault students. The policy encourages the formation of parent-teacher associations and girls’ clubs, and it promotes adult literacy.
TODAY, MANY young girls are being forced to hang on the streets and help their parents sell good just to make a living and help the family stay afloat.
GIRLS AND EVEN young boys should not be forced to sell on the streets; they should have options and choices to find their own way in life.
LETTING GIRLS LEARN should have been a priority from the start for this government. But it is never too late to start. The key lies in the political will and the desire to see it through and to ensure that our girls have a better future and a shot at a better outlook in their lives.