HEURISTIC INSIGHTS ON GENDER EDUCATION

Abstract

The Director-General for UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay remarked “Ignoring girls’ education is akin to ignoring one of the most effective solutions for development,” “When girls access quality education, it emboldens them to break the social stereotypes that hold back gender equality. It also gives them the tools to better navigate future life-altering choices on pregnancy, childbirth, and health challenges claiming millions of children’s lives around the world. We cannot achieve the world we want without the education and empowerment of all girls and women.” The Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report at UNESCO shows that if all women completed primary education, maternal deaths would be reduced by two-thirds. If they had a secondary education, child deaths would be cut by half, saving 3 million lives, and there would be two-thirds fewer child marriages. If all girls in sub-Saharan Africa, in South and West Asia had a secondary education, the number of pregnancies among girls younger than 17 would fall by close to 60%. But slow progress is preventing girls from reaping all these benefits. UNESCO unveils a new fact sheet on girls’ education ahead of International Women’s Day. The data is published as part of the ‘HerEducationOurFuture’ initiative which focuses on the progress achieved over the past 25 years. It shows that girls’ enrolment rates in primary and secondary education have almost doubled in low-income countries, and that the gender gap in primary enrolment has been halved. But it also shows that the pace of change is not fast enough. At the present rate, getting every girl into primary school will only happen in 2050.Hence it is vital to focus on the key issues of gender responsive implementation of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. This informative article presents some heuristic insights on gender education