Online Education Blog

Education as a means to promote development in social, political, and economic spheres has been gender-blind, but in the late 1970s this perspective changed. In 1979 “Fertility and Education: What do we really know? “Was published by Cochrane. A large number of studies and research concerning this subject followed, and concluded the existence of a high correlation between increases in women’s schooling level and a decline in infant mortality and fertility rates. Women who had completed basic education were able to make use of health facilities and service for their children and had a higher interest in sending their children to school (Dighe 1998; 420,421). 1990 was proclaimed to be the International Literacy year, by the UN. The focus on education for women continued during the 1990s and results of different researches showed that investment in this area gave the highest “output” (compared to earlier development investments focusing primarily on production and industrial growth) both at socio-economic, cultural and political levels. Before the mid 1970s people occupied with development issues had paid little attention to the economic benefits which could be attributed from women (Fink 1992; 173). Educating women also results in economic benefits. In Africa, for example, 46 % of the agricultural workforce is female. Educating these women will increase productivity, enabling them to contribute to the protection of the environment and preservation of water and energy will increase economic growth markedly. Investment in education for girls and women has, according to Shultz, been one of the factors why fx Southeast Asia, East Asia and Latin America have had a significant progress in social and economic growth. Conversely, growth has for instance in the Middle East and North Africa been of limited scale which according to Schultz is one of the consequences of a lacking investment in the education of girls` and women (Schultz 2001; 208). Economic analysis on wage returns shows a lower fertility rate and infant mortality and a higher GNP per capita and life expectancy when a larger number of girls are enrolled in primary education. Furthermore does a study of countries with an equity of about 100 % enrolment rate at primary level, show higher GNP and lower fertility rates when more girls are enrolled in secondary education. This indicates the necessity of educating women at secondary level as well, since it not only gives a higher personal freedom as Dreze and Sen Mention. But it also affects children, as well as the rest of the society in a positive way. There are many obstacles to girls’ enrollment and further participation in the educational system, as will be discussed in part six. One of these are the lack of role models for girls and low expectations of girls. Despite the positive benefits of education, some implications within the educational system are relevant because it provides some of the explanations why girls achieve less and why they drop out before secondary level. This has to do with the educational system as a reproducer of values, sexual stereotypes and norms in a society (Sutton 1998; 391,393). Along with the increasing attention upon women’s education, the concept of empowerment emerged. In 1993 an issue paper for the panel on “ Girls and Women’s Education, Women’s Empowerment and Population issues” was prepared by UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund). This paper put focus on the important issue of education as a means to women’s empowerment (Dighe 1998; 422). Before we discuss the concept of empowerment in section five we will pay attention to the issue of gender and inequality, gender roles, and different development approaches to women in The Third World.