Footsteps Spring 2018 Footsteps-Spring2018 | Page 2

Why Are Millions of Girls Still
Not Receiving an Education?
“
A quality education has the power to transform societies in a single
generation, provide children with the protection they need from the
hazards of poverty, labor exploitation and disease, and give them the
knowledge, skills, and confidence to reach their full potential.
- Audrey Hepburn
”
Educating children is near to your heart, which is why you have picked up this
booklet. If you’ve been following along with CAI for a number of years, or if you
keep an eye on the United Nations and their goals for creating a better world, you
know that education for children, especially girls, is a top priority across the globe.
With all that effort, why are there still 130 million girls out of school globally?*
What more can be done to decrease this number? These are questions we ask
daily. We draw on the knowledge from our in-country partners, who work closely
with the communities we serve, to understand the barriers in each community and
what we and those who support girls’ education can do to make sure girls in these
communities can go to school.
These inquiries and research reveal three problems that surface across all these
communities and countries – lack of safe boundary walls to protect girls in
school, a devastating shortage of classrooms to hold all the students who
want to learn, and limited access to safe and sanitary toilets.
Can you imagine any of these problems holding you back from an education?
Most of us have always had access to clean bathrooms and fresh water in
school, our schools have safety measures to protect our children, and, though
overcrowding is a problem, it’s unlikely we were forced to sit outside and learn
because we didn’t have a classroom.
Fortunately, there are solutions to these problems facing girls in Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and Tajikistan. You can use your passion for education to be part of these
solutions. On the following pages you can read more about the problems and how
these solutions will change communities in these countries for the better. Isn’t it
incredible to think you have the power to change their lives? Isn’t it amazing to
think that one toilet, one classroom, or four sturdy walls can tip the scale in favor of
girls’ education?
*according to a July 2016 UNESCO report.
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CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE