Running head: FEMALE EDUCATION ACROSS THE WORLD 1

Female Education Across the World

Megan McLane

e3 Civic High
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Abstract

Many women across the world have been unable to get an education. This has been due to their

culture and lack of access. Just donating money is not the best way to provide an education to

girls who have been unable to receive one. Although some believe that building new schools will

increase attendance among girls because it makes going to school more accessible, the actual

best way is to provide schools with ways to help their students be healthier because they will not

become sick and become unable to go to school.

Keywords: women, education, developing countries, health, schools

Female Education Across the World

Many girls around the world face difficulties in getting an education. There can be many

reasons a girl might not be able to go to school: The nearest school is too far for her to walk by

herself, she is needed to help her family at home, or the school fee is too expensive for her

family to pay. Donations from people in other countries can help, but it can be hard to know

what would be the most effective way to use the money. Many times, projects that are supposed

to help people in developing countries fail because of unexpected consequences. Although some

believe that building new schools in developing countries is the best way to get more girls in

school, the most effective way is actually to provide existing schools with ways to improve their

student's health so that they will not have to miss school when they are unwell.

Deworming is an effective and inexpensive way to increase attendance in schools. In

developing countries, many children have intestinal worms. These parasites can affect a childs

body as well as their abilities in school. Students with intestinal worms do worse in school than

students without them. Also, as worms can cause anemia, they especially affect girls, who due to

menstruation, are more prone to anemia. For only 50 cents per child per year, deworming

increases attendance in schools and helps students to be more attentive.

School feeding programs are another effective way to encourage better attendance.

Parents are encouraged to keep their children in school because they know that they will be fed.

In the UNs feeding program, additional food is also given to girls in order to give families a

reason to keep them in school.

Another way increase attendance among girls is to provide them ways to manage their

menstruation. Because many girls in developing countries do not have access to sanitary
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protection, they might choose not to go to school when they are menstruating. Additionally, girls

might not have access to a toilet at school. Even if the school has a toilet, many are dirty and lack

water, and most do not separate girls and boys. A girl might also fear that she will stain her

clothes at school. Not only are the stains embarrassing, but some girls families might not be able

to afford soap to regularly clean their clothes. By providing sanitary protection and building

toilets for schools, more girls will be able to regularly attend school.

Counter Argument

Although these all seem like good ways to keep female students in school, some people

will have doubts about if they really are effective. There have been many times where programs

with good intentions have not reached the intended outcome. In some cases, what was meant to

help people ended up hurting people because effects were not thought completely through. For

example, the UNICEF and the World Food Programs school feeding program was originally

intended to be used to improve childrens nutrition. However, instead of children getting more to

eat, parents realized that they could spend less on feeding their children at home. One could say

that the program failed, because the children were not getting fed as much as was the original

goal, but there was another positive affect. Because it helped them save money, the families were

more likely to send their children to school. A project started by the company FemCare had a

similar problem with what looked to be a simple solution turning out to be more complex. To

help African girls manage their menstruation better, they decided to distribute free pads. They

soon ran into problems. FemCare ended up paying to build bathrooms in schools that didnt have

any as well as a way to dispose the pads in some schools. These examples can be used to prove

that projects that focus of the health of students are not effective, but while projects like these did
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not end up the way that they were supposed to, it is important to learn from these mistakes so

that we are still able to reach the end goal.

Conclusion

While building new schools in places where there is a lack of access to education seems

like the most simple and obvious solution, it is not always the best solution. By providing

students with what they need to stay healthy, students will be able to stay in school longer and

miss less days. If we continue with what we know works best and learn from our past mistakes,

soon all children across the world will be able to get an education.
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Annotated Bibliography

Adelman, S., Gilligan, D., Lehrer, K. (2008). How effective are food for education programs?: A

critical assessment of the evidence from developing countries. Washington, D.C.:

International Food Policy Research Institute.

This book describes the effects of food for education programs.

Girls' education and gender equality. (2015, July 23). Retrieved from

https://www.unicef.org/education/bege_70640.html.

The article, Girls' Education and Gender Equality, on the UNICEF website explains the

disadvantages girls face in getting an education in many parts of the world. The article

first gives data on how many girls are in school in certain parts of the world, then

explains why the number of girls is so low in some of these areas. These reasons have to

do with access, resources, and culture. UNICEF then explains what it is doing to

empower girls and help them end discrimination. I chose this article to illustrate what

some organizations are hoping to accomplish and how they are planning to do so.

Kristof, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2014). A path appears: Transforming lives, creating opportunity.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity by Nicholas Kristof and

Sheryl WuDunn is about the ways that people can make a difference in the world. The

book uses stories to show how even small contributions can benefit someone. For

example one point brought up throughout the book is that deworming students is one of

the most effective ways to keep them from missing school. I chose this book because it
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can show the most effective ways to make a difference based on the author's experiences.

Kristof, N. D., & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for

women worldwide. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide is about five

major issues for women around the world. The five topics are gender-based violence, sex

trafficking and intergenerational prostitution, maternal mortality, female economic

empowerment, and female education. This book tells the stories of women across world.

In their time spent in developing countries, Kristof and WuDunn have seen the effects of

female education in communities and have seen the most effective ways to make

education more accessible to all children. I chose to use this book as a source because it

tells of the problems women face and offers solutions.

Kirk J., & Sommer M. (n.d.). Menstruation and body awareness: linking girls health with girls

education. Retrieved from

http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-1200-kirk-2006-menstruation-kit-

paper.pdf.

The journal, Menstruation and body awareness: Linking girls health with girls

Education, by Jackie Kirk and Marni Sommer explains the connection between girls'

health and their education in the developing world. Some cultural ideas about a woman's

menstruation in certain countries are explained. These views are what keep girls from

going to school. The girls' families may also lack the money to provide them with proper
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sanitation. Menstruation and body awareness: Linking girls health with girls

Education uses data from areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. I chose this journal

to use as a resource because I believe it shows the direct effect culture and lack of

resources can have on girls' attendance in developing countries.

Net enrolment rate. secondary education. (2016, October 24). Retrieved from

http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=secondary+education&d=UNESCO&f=series%3aNER_2

3.

This data from the United Nations shows the percentage of students enrolled in secondary

education. The data from each country can be sorted by year and has separate data for

male students, female students, and both genders. This data also shows how access to

education had improved by how the percentage of enrollment in secondary education has

increased over the years. I chose this set of data because I am able to see how many girls

are able to attend secondary education compared to the overall amount in that country. It

is useful to see which countries have a gender gap, and how big the gap is.