President of Malawi Calls for Women’s Education
In a CNN article we recently came across titled, “Educating
girls like Chrissie can save a nation,” Joyce Banda, the first female president
of Malawi, called for the education and empowerment of women around the world.
As a child, Banda was fortunate enough that her family was
able to pay her school fees and allow her to finish her education. Her best friend Chrissie, on the other hand,
could not afford that same opportunity, and while Banda now speaks on the floor
of the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of her country, Chrissie lives
in poverty with her many children.
Failing to provide women with the necessary support they
require to finish their schooling and improve their economic standing will “squander the potential of girls such as Chrissie,” as Banda put it. She pledges to keep women’s education at the
focus of her presidency as a means to reduce poverty and strengthen Malawi’s
economy.
“When we empower women with education and access to
reproductive services, we can lift an entire nation,” said Banda.
Read the full article here.
ProLiteracy works every day to empower women through our
Women in Literacy initiative. Read more about it on our website.
I think females like Banda are fortunate to have a family that can afford to pay for her education. But as you have pointed out, females like Chrissie are not so lucky. My question is will globalization ever have a major impact on women’s' education? Education is a big business and sometimes I feel more emphasis is put on monetary gain that learning in the classroom. As educators develop new programs and improved learning methods, more emphasis needs to be geared towards including education for the poor.
ReplyDeleteHi Velma, thank you for your thoughtful comment in response to this article on women’s education in Malawi. We do feel that globalization is having an impact on women’s education, though progress varies from country to country. In many of the programs we support internationally, we see that when education is combined with other forms of community development (i.e. economic, human rights, environment, or health), women are more willing to take the time to invest in their education because they see the value in how to apply it to a larger problem they might face in their lives/communities. Here is an interesting article from Huffington Post that explores the impact of globalization on women not just in the education sector but also the economic/employment sector.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcelo-giugale/globalization-women_b_1149516.html
Hi Gringa
ReplyDeleteGreat article and I can see where women are making important progress in education in some countries. Globalization is good for some and maybe one day good for all. I can also see where women realize that education is a key to their success as an example, problems they may be facing in their communities. Great post, thank you for your feedback!!!