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Some of World's Poorest Countries Show Most Progress in Educating Girls, Report Finds
Westport, CT - (May 3, 2005) -
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State of the World's Mothers 2005: The Power and Promise of Girls' Education. |
While some of the world’s poorest countries are making dramatic gains in improving educational opportunities for girls, a number of substantially wealthier nations in the developing world are lagging behind, according to the sixth annual State of the World’s Mothers report issued today by Save the Children, a U.S.-based global independent humanitarian organization.
The report includes the first-ever Girls’ Education Progress Report that ranks developing countries based on their progress over the last decade in enrolling girls into school and keeping them there. The report also identifies 11 relatively poor countries currently on a fast track toward rapidly improving living conditions for children as a result, in part, of dramatic gains in girls’ education.
“Girls’ education is the key to changing the course of a nation,” said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children. “The importance of primary education is so obviously important that it is difficult to understand why so many children, especially girls, remain out of school. At least 103 million children of primary school age are not in school, including 58 million girls. In many countries, giving girls just one additional year of education can create a positive ripple effect throughout a nation and can help save thousands of lives.”
Among the report’s major findings:
- Of 71 developing countries studied, Bolivia, Kenya, Cameroon and Bangladesh have made the most progress in girls’ education. Each country has increased girls’ enrollment substantially and has had considerable success in keeping girls in school.
- Rwanda, Iraq, Malawi and Eritrea rank lowest in terms of progress due largely to a combination of negative factors, including conflicts, AIDS and rapid population growth.
In looking toward the future, the report identifies 11 “most likely to succeed” developing countries that can expect healthier, smaller families, lower child mortality rates and higher standards of living in the next ten years as a result, in part, of continued efforts to improve girls’ education. The countries are Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Egypt, Gambia, Mexico, Morocco and Vietnam.
“Political will—and strategic investment—have a lot to do with success – and failure – in girls’ education,” said Chloe O’Gara, director of Save the Children’s global education program. “This report shows that many poorer countries are recognizing the critical role that girls’ education can play in moving their nations forward.”
In looking at progress vs. national wealth, the report singles out Mongolia, Kenya and Madagascar as three poor countries “exceeding expectations” in girls’ education while citing Equatorial Guinea, Saudi Arabia and Oman as richer countries that fall below expectations in educating girls.
Kenya, for example, has a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of only $1,020. Yet, the report notes, when compared to Saudi Arabia, with a GDP more than 12 times higher, Kenya surpasses Saudi Arabia – by 22 percent – in the percentage of girls of primary school age in school.
“The more time girls spend in school, the better their chances of breaking the cycle of poverty and becoming mothers who raise healthier children and send their own children to school – girls and boys,” said O’Gara. “Investing in girls’ education also leads to increases in income, both for individuals and for nations as a whole, over several generations.”
What are the barriers preventing girls from attending school? The report says the greatest barriers include discrimination; parental concerns about girls’ safety; AIDS; lack of teachers, text books and separate bathroom facilities, inability to pay for school fees, uniforms and transportation, and cultural and religious norms “These cultural and religious norms often encourage girls to stay at home, rather than attend school, and to get married at a very early age, before they are ready for motherhood,” O’Gara said.
In examining strategies countries are using to overcome these barriers and improve education for girls, the report found no single approach that worked best. Instead, countries are using a variety of strategies to get girls into school and keep them there.
Several nations have embarked on sweeping reforms to their education systems at the national level. Bolivia, for example, enacted an education reform law in 1995 that has helped raise school enrollment rates from 65 to 94 percent and primary school completion rates from 10 to 78 percent. The law also set specific requirements for gender equality.
Others nations like Bangladesh have worked with international organizations to launch innovative scholarship programs and awareness-raising campaigns to encourage parents and communities to recognize the value of educating girls. In rural areas especially, humanitarian organizations including Save the Children have been successful in creating community schools that bring classrooms close to home and provide flexible schedules and curricula tailored to community concerns.
Going beyond the numbers, the report also offers dramatic first-hand accounts from girls in developing countries about how education has changed their lives. One example: 10- year-old Daniela, who lives in the rural town of Oruro, high in the Bolivia mountains, would have had little chance of completing school 15 years ago. Today, she is an enthusiastic fifth grader and has her sights set on a professional career due to dramatic changes in Bolivia ’s educational system.
To make such success stories more of a reality worldwide, the report offers a number of recommendations to improve girls’ education including eliminating school fees and other costs that prevent girls from enrolling in school, improving the quality of education to keep girls in school at the primary level and promoting alternative schooling for girls affected by AIDS, conflict and natural disasters.
The report also calls on the American public to support a U.S. commitment to double federal funding for basic education for boys and girls in developing countries to $800 million for fiscal year 2006 and to urge President Bush to announce a major initiative to support global education at the G8 World Leaders Summit in July 2005.
In addition to its special focus on girls’ education, the report also includes Save the Children’s sixth annual Mothers’ Index that identifies the best – and worst – countries to be a mother and child through a comprehensive look at the well-being of mothers and children in 110 countries. For the sixth year in a row, Scandinavian countries dominate the upper tier of the rankings with Sweden, Denmark and Finland making up this year’s top three in the Mothers’ Index. The United States ranks 11th. Burkina Faso and Mali are tied for last place.
Learn more about the State of the World’s Mothers 2005 report.
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