As we approach June 16 which is globally celebrated as “Day of the African Child”, it is paramount that we reemphasized on the importance of girls’ education in a country where teenage pregnancy is exponentially increasing. It is in this light, I did this article with the hope that it appears in your paper.
By Lassana M. Dorley, II, dorl[email protected], Contributing Writer
Across all cultures and traditions in the world, women were once marginalized and deprived of some fundamental rights especially the right to education at some levels. Even in the great United States, women were once denied the right to higher education. In colonial America, women were not permitted to enter institutions of higher education. There is nowhere in history where men were deprived of the right to education at any level. Despite the marginalization of women and girls, their hands’ marks are seen on the transformation of the world we enjoy today. History has always been an ally to men. Therefore, we must make history an ally to all by creating equal opportunities for both genders.
It is from that backdrop, we focused our speech on the importance of girls’ education.
The fight against girls/women illiteracy is not an individual fight, but a fight of inclusion irrespective of ethnical, social or political affiliation. It is a fight that we must all get involved in. No matter which party you belong to, no matter which ethnic group you are from, no matter which religion you practice, you must get involved in this fight. The reason you must get involved is because this fight is
your fight.
Girls Education is important because it is the foundation of a prosperous nation. I’m sure we are familiar with the slogan that says if you educate a girl, you educate a whole nation. Imagine educating a girl is educating a whole nation; so if we educate all the girls in our society, we have educated the world. And if we educate the entire world, our world will flourish because girls have been educated. So, it is erroneous to overlook the importance of girls’ education in our society. There is no nation on earth that has flourished without the contributions of women. America is flourishing today because she prioritizes girls’ education.
There are more girls/women with degrees and in institutions of higher education than men in the United States. Educating girls is equivalent to fighting several societal ills and boosting the world’s economy.
I know this may be shocking to you; according to a world bank’s press release dated on May 30, 2018, the world including Liberia loses 160 Trillion the United States Dollars in wealth because of the difference in lifetime earnings between men and women. 160 Trillion United States Dollars is enough to transform Liberia to paradise. That is the amount the world is losing because some countries have failed to prioritize girls education. This could have been avoided if the educational ratio between men and women balanced. The information provided by the World Bank is so factual that we can see it in our country today.
Many of us are working but our women are not working. Some of us who are working and our women are working as well; we realized that we bring home money than our women. There is no debate about this; in most home, men bring more money than women especially in Africa and especially, especially, in Liberia.
For instance, a man is working and the woman is operating a wither market, there is no way she is going to bring more money in the home than the man looking at the profit margin of the business she does.
There is a big difference between men and women lifetime earnings because girls’ education has not met
its potential. We could reclaim our 160 Trillion United States dollars if we all start to take girls education seriously. Girls’ education is the cornerstone of a better world.
If we want to make the world a better place, we must put girls and women in a better position.
It is about time that we stop looking at women and girls as reproduction machines. Women and girls should not be seen as reproduction machines, but as the backbones of men. In fact, that is why we say that behind every successful man, there is always a woman. I cannot think of a successful man who had no woman behind him; that tells you how important women are. So, it they are that important, why should you look down on girls’ education? Women being behind successful men are not a myth but reality; and we can see that through our first lady, Madam Clar M. Weah. Our president could not have been what he is today if he had not had a strong woman behind him. She stood firmly and ensured that he became president. We all saw during the campaign of U.S Former President Barrack Hussein Obama how influential his wife Mrs. Michelle Obama was. She also made her husband America’s first black president. During the Apartheid era in South Africa, we saw how supportive Winnie Mandela was to her husband in the fight for freedom. After Nelson Mandela was sent to prison, Mrs. Winnie Mandela continued the struggle for freedom in the absence of her husband.
We all the happy ending, freedom finally became a reality in South Africa. That is exactly what happens when we educate our girls children; they become educated women. And when women are educated, they become greater than the men. And when women are greater than the men, they make enormous positive impacts on societies.
Mrs. Clar Weah made her husband president; Madam Winnie Mandela made her husband Nelson Mandela succeeded in his quest for freedom. Your daughter could do the same; your sisters could the same, so educate the girls’ children today.