Greg Mortensen with schoolgirl in Gumran Middle School, Logar Province, Afghanistan. © May 2014 Lorenzo Tugnoli
corruption, I believe one of the most effective force multipliers to bring social change and the betterment of society is girls’ education.
Numerous global studies have shown that investing in girls’ education yields huge returns, in all categories: socioeconomic, health, population growth, marriage age, and politics. In simple terms, girls’ education empowers women to make their own decisions. It gives them choices. It is a powerful force to alleviate poverty.
There is no religion that prohibits education of girls or boys. In the case of Islam, the first word of the revelation to Mohammad the Prophet is“ Iqra,” which means“ to read.” And in the hadiths( Islamic teachings), the quest for knowledge is mandatory for all people.
Here are some specific and important reasons why girls’ education is vital to social cohesion, stability, and the future of our planet:
A single educated boy might leave his village. But an educated mother is more likely to stay, and to encourage her children to go to school. h
SOCIOECONOMIC
� Girls’ education leads to increased income for the girls themselves and for nations as a whole. Increasing the share of women with a secondary education by 1 percent boosts annual per capita income growth by 0.3 percent. That’ s significant, since per capita income gains in developing countries seldom exceed 3 percent a year.
� Educating girls boosts farming productivity and better nutrition. Educated farmers are more efficient and their farms are more productive, which leads to increased crop yields and declines in malnutrition.
MATERNAL AND HEALTH CARE
� Educated women have smaller, healthier and better-educated families.
� The better educated the women in a society, the lower the fertility rate. A 2000 study in Brazil found that literate women had an average of 2.5 children while illiterate women had an average of 6 children.
� The better educated the women, the lower the infant mortality rate.“ The mother’ s education is often the single most important influence on children’ s survival,” according to The Council on Foreign Relations’ What Works in Girls’ Education.“ Primary education alone helps reduce infant mortality significantly, and secondary education helps even more. Educated mothers learn how to keep their children healthy and how to secure necessary support for their children— by using health services, improving nutrition
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