Women education- worldwide issue

                        

On 9 October 2012, a Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai along with two other girls were shot by a Taliban gunman in an assassination attempt. And their crime is that they want to go to school, they want to learn and they want to fly. These girls have learned to raise voice against injustice and they have the ability to fight against wrong and that's why they have to pay for it. However, Malala manages to convert this hardship into opportunity and become the youngest Nobel Prize honoree for her work in the field of child and female education. This is just a single story. There are many such told and untold stories in different parts of the world. There are still many girls like Malala who are struggling for their right to education. 

But the question is why the world needs to worry about the issue of women education. Worldwide there are still 131 million girls out of school and these are 131 million scientists, doctors, politicians, engineers, entrepreneurs, teachers, and environmentalists that the world is lacking.

There is an African proverb which states that “IF YOU EDUCATE A MAN, YOU EDUCATE  AN INDIVIDUAL BUT IF YOU EDUCATE A WOMAN YOU EDUCATE A NATION.” This is just not a saying but the reality that we need to accept as the society. According to a report of UNICEF, studies from a number of countries suggest that an extra year of schooling will increase a woman's future earnings by about 15 percent, compared with 11 percent for a man. This is just an economic aspect apart from this an extra year of schooling for girls reduces fertility rates by 5 to 10% which in turn contributes to population control. Also, the infant mortality rates of babies whose mothers have received primary education is half that of children whose mothers are illiterate. But still, there are countries like Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Niger where women have to struggle for their right to education.

We can't the system alone but at least we can begin the change from our homes. So let's make sure that no girl or more ideally no child should be deprived of their right to education. Let's bring change together.