It is very prudent to place special emphasis on girl-child education as a necessary tool for development of the nation, because women were born special in the affairs of handling and adhering to the morals of good governance.
The constitution of Ghana guarantees equal rights for women and men, yet disparities in education, employment, politics, leadership positions and health for women remain. Article 17(1) and (2) of the constitution guarantees gender equality and freedom of men and women, girls and boys from discrimination based on social or economic status, religion or ethnic grounds.
We need to be reminded that a society without education is like living in a disorganised home, where everything completely lies in jeopardy and the children go wayward to be miscreants who mess around, and eventually become seen as adults of low pedigree.
However, it is remiss to celebrate International Women’s Day without acknowledging the indefatigable efforts women play in pushing the nation to the front of progress regardless of the challenges they go through, be it psychological, emotional or physical impediments/afflictions.
It is imperative to note that most girls after completing the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) or the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) are compelled to venture into petty trading, among other very insignificant economic activities, which will not enhance their capabilities in further education.
Instead of making such children continue their education, they end up continuing the cycle of raising vagabonds on the streets who have no aim of contributing their part to development of the nation.
Role of TVET as a Viable Alternative
The girl child who could not be given education to must also see opportunities around her, including vocational jobs, as a means of living a life of fulfillment for the betterment of her future family and society or the nation as a whole.
Vocational training in this current dispensation provides holistic education to the girl-child for her to be responsible and very resourceful in the career she has chosen.
In this light, it is key to uphold one’s aspirations regardless of where she finds herself because the world is full of opportunities and it is never too late for education to be considered in life.
Stakeholders in the education sector must constantly find out the extraordinary potential of girls to enable them build strongly on it, because we need to admonish girls to see vocational training as a viable alternative for skills acquisition in addition to their education.
This thoughtful idea will enable women to contribute their maximum quota to the nation’s economic well-being.
Education, a code to #BreakTheBias
Can someone with any scholarly findings tell me how the entire world would have been without the existence of education?
In closing the gender gap, it is very important to give girl-children quality education to the maximum in order to break the bias they will face as women – because women are more empowered when given quality education to the max.
The 2022 International Women’s Day was celebrated under the theme Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow, and flanked by the hashtag slogan #BreakTheBias – and the question that hovers in my mind’s eye is: can we collectively break the bias of our time without education?
International Women’s Day paves the way for another opportunity to ponder the issues of gender parity and advocacy of rights for women and girls, which can only be achieved by educating every girl-child in every corner of Ghana – and that is the only way we can break the bias.
The first International Women’s Day was held in March 1911, when women and men came together to talk about the need for women to have basic rights afforded them: the right to vote, the right to work, the right to speak out in public, and the right to equal pay.
For us to get to the fullness of the aforementioned of women’s rights, we cannot downplay the role and impact education plays on the girl-child to be assertive in their day-to-day endeavours.
A Call for Action
International Women’s Day informs us that it takes education to surmount the hustle and bustle they face in life; and stakeholders must be able to identify communities where girl-child education is low and give their parents the needed sensitisation for the girls’ participation in acquiring formal education.
That notwithstanding, we have to recognise the courage, resilience and fortitude of women across the globe, despite the discrimination, violence and abuse they continue to experience on a daily basis.
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence is an intolerable act, but this distasteful practice is seen as being on the ascendency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, António Guterres, underscored in his message to mark the Day that, in too many areas, the clock on women’s rights is moving backward – and as a matter of fact, violence against women is on the upsurge. Many girls have dropped out of school and some women are out of work due to the pandemic.
Education, a solution to women’s representation
Without education, there will not be fair representation of women being potentates in their area of jurisdiction, because it takes education to be accorded the responsibility of a portfolio.
The miserable representation of women in decision-making, politics and public life can be blamed on education, because it takes education and experience to attain such heights.
The 2021 Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide, and 145.6 years to attain gender parity in politics; and I strongly believe that education can help us get there in some years to come.
In fact, the situation is worse in Africa – with Ghana not an exception, since the 2021 Inter-Parliamentary Union ranking of women in politics places Ghana at 147th position out of 193 countries; and this should inform educated women to be daring and show interest in such positions.
This does not speak well of Ghana as the country that was first to gain independence in sub-Saharan Africa.
In Parliament, out of 275 MPs only 40 are women; and out of the 49 ministers, only 9 are women. Also, out of the 39 deputy ministers, only 10 are women. Ghana has 16 regional ministers, of which only two are women.
The case is not different in our local governance system, where out of the 260 MMDCES, only 38 are female… and we need more women to occupy these portfolios.
A humble Plea
Government must keept girl-child education in mind at all times for the nation to experience accelerated growth and a buoyant economy.
By Naomi Naa Adjeley Anang,
Executive Director, Najel Foundation, Accra.
Email: [email protected]
