Women Education a matter of fact [Archives:2005/868/Letters to the Editor]
Mohamed. F. Ibrahim
[email protected]
In the all days, human societies were well structured and roles clearly defined in respect to gender and age groups. Basically,in the Arab world women were domestic servants whose cardinal responsibility was to wait upon men and they earned respect and recognition based on how best they excelled in this job. That was then. In the modern society and with the advent of Western concept of formal education, the equation has been altered and new targets set. However, in spite of deliberate and concerted efforts to avail equal access to educational opportunities for all, disparities in enrollment and retention between boys and girls are still elaborate and skewed in favour of boys. In capitalist societies, competition to excel in the job market is largely pegged on level, quality and relevance of acquired knowledge through formal education. As it were, education would provide solutions to the many problems ever confronting girls as adolescents, as young adults in the competitive job market, as wives to their (cosmopolitan) husbands, as mothers to their children and as productive members of society. Just as their male counterparts, girls have needs and aspirations in life. They have achievement targets and it is upon the society to create and make available an enabling environment for them to exploit their academic potential and pursue chosen careers. It is true that advocacy for the girl-child education has been consisted having attracted quite a number of lobby groups. But perhaps the local approach to this global concern would explain why there has been relatively dismal achievement. The mushrooming of organisations to allegedly push for the girl-child education with a funding motive negates public perception and erodes the requisite confidence for the support of this noble cause. Organisations advocating for the education of women at whatever level must take a more active role and embrace a radical shift in strategy from boardroom talk and Press conferences. They must be seen to endeavour to translate their talk into deeds. They need to aggressively initiate and support sustainable educational programmes that are geared towards benefiting more women and expanding the reach of formal education. Educators and policy formulators need to work closely with community leaders where the education of girls is relegated!
to the periphery. These communities need to be confronted with female role models from within who have excelled in life as a consequence of their educational standing. our attitude on the education of women must change for the better in a bid to build a more balanced society with equal opportunities to advance without regard to gender.
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