Education is one of the vital elements in any person’s life. It is one of the basic rights that every human beings deserve. Specially in today’s world education is very crucial. There is no alternative to success without at least secondary education. Unfortunately, there is an evident gender gap in access to education. Compared to boys, girls have to face a lot of obstacles that hinder them from completing their education and prohibit them from pursuing even the primary education. Despite recent policies and technological advancement to promote girl’s education, a generation of girls have been deprived of this basic right. Due to discrimination, negative stereotypes, poverty, and conflicts, everyday a significant numbers of girls are denied from education. Although numerous policies have been implemented to minimize the gap, there are many challenges that outnumbers these policies and make it almost impossible to carry out the policies throughout.
Every day the policies are broken and fail to hit the target however, they are regularly revised to amplify its implications. Due to the negative stereotypes and socialization of women, by university, women make up less than one-fifth of STEM majors in German universities which leads to fewer and lower paying professional opportunities for women (Stoeger, Duan, Schirner, Greindl, & Ziegler, 2013). To combat the issue a mentoring program for girls was initiated to provide role models, knowledge about STEM topics and opportunities, and build support system. However, this action did not work as anticipated due to scheduling issue, transportation, and mentor availability. As a result, online mentoring program was introduced which produced beneficial effects such as stable confidence and increased intentions to pursue STEM related majors. To tackle the poverty issue, a cash lending program, Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT), was introduced that provided money to families after certain requirements to encourage students re-enrollment in schools (Najy, Florencia, Esther, Pascaline, & Victor, 2013). However, due to its costly administration of targeting, monitoring, and administering families that met the requirements, a cost friendly program, Labeled Cash Transfer (LLT) was implemented which required no monitoring and increased school participation rate by 2% compared to CCT program. Diseases is another major factor that hinders access to education for many students. Iron deficiency, anemia is the most widespread problem in developing countries, and girls are more prone to anemia than boys which leads to weakness, poor physical growth, and comprised immune system (Bobonis, Miguel, & Puri, 2006). As a part of the solution, iron supplements were provided to Indian preschool students. This policy increased school participation rate by 5.8%. Menstruation is another obstacle for girls that inhibit their ability to attend school if they lack access to modern sanitary products. Menstrual cups were distributed to Nepali girls and there were no educational effects of the cup but it resulted in better management and mobility (Oster & Thornton, 2011). Transportation is another major hurdle especially in remote areas. Establishing community-based schools increased enrollment by 50.2% for girls and their scores elevated by 0.63 standard deviation (Burde & Linden, 2012). Since there is an apparent barrier in girls’ access to education, the government should enact policies to help narrow down the gap and families should carefully use the resources provided to invest in their children’s education.
Education is a vital element to improve the condition of the society, boost the economy, combat major world issues, and ameliorate the country as a whole. In order to attain major achievements we need to start tackling the issues at the bottom. Only after establishing a strong base can we build a strong foundation. Access to education for girls goes beyond just admitting them into schools. It entails providing a safe learning environment, gender-bias free environment, and ensuring they are grasping all the skills necessary to adapt and succeed in the changing world. Women make up half of the population and it is impossible to uplift the households, society, and country out of poverty and lead to prosperity without first creating a clear path without any obstacles for women to attain education. Some of the policies that we can enact to narrow the gap between girls and boys are introducing online training programs, providing financial aid and scholarships, establishing a student disability law, free lunch program, implementing strong laws against child marriage and women violence, menstrual health management program, and programs for the safety of girls. A change cannot occur in a short span it requires many policies to be implemented to bring about a change and for those policies to be followed properly throughout.
Teachers are the professional and direct agent of education. Students rely on them to gain quality education and it is the teacher’s responsibility to facilitate learning process through innovative strategies in order to enhance the educational experience of the students. Unfortunately, there are many teachers all around the world who are under qualified and lack skills on how to create a fair and interactive environment to foster knowledge. Being the authority in the classroom it is vital for teachers to promote a gender neutral environment to encourage girls’ interest and participation. One way to improve this is to make a mandatory requirement for teachers to attend a training program before they start their job where they are taught skills and strategies on creating a non-biased classroom environment. However a foreseen barrier to this policy can be the cost thus, as an alternative an online training course for teachers can be introduced. Many girls lack a sense of belonging in a classroom because of the demographic of the classroom. Often times there are far more boys than girls which creates imbalance and emphasizes on the stereotypes against girls. Introducing policy where there should be an equal ratio of male and female students in a classroom establishes a sense of belonging and further motivates girls to pursue higher education. Not only should the male and female ratio of students but also the ratio of male and female teachers should be equal. Male teachers outnumber female teachers especially as we move up the education system. Lack of female teachers at school can be a daunting experience for many young girls. Introducing programs to encourage and motivate women to pursue educational career and bringing in more female teachers will sustain a gender neutral environment placing girls at an ease. Disability places girls at the bottom of marginalized students because of their gender and disability. Section 504 is an anti-discrimination civil rights that prohibits discrimination based upon disability. Implementing similar law in every country will ensure no students especially, girls will have to face consequences of discrimination which hampers their confidence and motivation.
Poverty is another huge factor limiting girls from attaining education. Due to the stereotype against girls, families from poor economic background choose to send their sons to schools and keep daughters at home to do chores. There are many policies that have been introduced to tackle this issue such as creating public schools. However, some families still cannot afford to buy the school materials needed. Introducing a government policy that provides financial aid to students that meet the certain economic criteria will minimize the economic difficulty for students. Nevertheless, some students might choose to spend the financial aid provided to them on non-educational stuff to help their families. Also, providing money is not the best and safe way as this might bring upon a possibility of abuse on children. Families can easily misuse the money provided. Thus, to avoid such event from occurring distributing checks instead of money that can only be redeemed to purchase materials related to school will ensure that families and students will make the proper use of the financial aid provided to them. Moreover, providing free breakfast and lunch is another way to slightly reduce the economic burden on the family. It is a sad truth that many families in the world struggle to earn even one meal and providing free meals will act as an incentive for parents to send their kids to school.
Child marriage and women violence is a major reason for girls setting back from attending school. Many young girls are forced to get married and they are more likely to complete fewer years of education and dropout than their peers who get married later. Moreover, the violence against women for stepping out of their roles of raising family and doing chores impedes them from pursuing education. Putting an end to child marriage by systemizing a legal age of marriage would increase women’s educational attainment. Just implementing a policy is not enough, everyday young girls are married and set off to start a family regardless of the law that prohibits child marriage. Thus, conducting seminars at local communities and aware the families of the importance of education for girls and the negative impacts of child marriage and violence on their health and their ability to earn a living for themselves. Menstruation plays as an inhibitor for girls because of lack of sanitary products and proper bathrooms, and unsupportive teachers at school. Girls are embarrassed if any mishaps happens due to the stigma which interrupts girl’s participation in school. Executing a menstrual health management program that ensures all girls will be supplied with sanitary products, extra pair of bottoms, and a proper bathroom with clean water and soap will help girls during their menstruation. The teasing and stigma behind the menstruation arises due to the lack of understanding and knowledge on the changes that comes to a girl’s body during puberty. Thereby, developing a puberty book and distributing them to the young boys and girls will help them understand what is happening to their bodies. In many underdeveloped countries due to lack of strict regulations and laws, everyday it is risky for girls to commute by themselves. They become the target of sickening incidences such as trafficking and rape. Thus, many parents in such communities decide to not send their girls to school and make them stay home for their safety. To combat this schools can launch school buses that will drop and pick up all the students to and from school. To ensure the safety and protection of all the students a parent must be with the student waiting for the bus at the bus stop and the student can be dropped off only to the parent or care-giver of the student. This policy is not very cost-friendly however, through the help of campaigns and donors it can be implemented.
Education not only increases our general knowledge about world and the events happening around the world, it develops a different perspective at life. It provides students with knowledge and skills to express their opinions. Throughout the history, women have been oppressed and although the table is slowly turning and women are enjoying equal rights as men there are many women who are left behind especially in underdeveloped countries. Thus, strict laws and regulations are required for the betterment of all the girls and eventually the whole nation. Overall, targeting the poverty issue, the negative stereotypes and violence against girls, and ensuring a safe and gender neutral environment will foster their self-esteem and eventually increase girl’s participation in school.