Educate More Girls Today for a Better Kenya

Talk presented by: Dr. Sheila Parvyn Wamahiu

Forum: At the Global Action Week-Big Story Campaign, 6th May, 2011

Venue: Milimani Primary School

Organised by: The Elimu Yetu Coalition (EYC) and Women Educational Researchers of Kenya (WERK)

Distinguished Guests,
Teachers
Girls and boys
Ladies and Gentlemen

I have been asked, along with others, to tell the story of my experiences of working with, and for, girls’ and women’s education. It is a great honour, and I am happy to do so.

All of us adults here at this function today, adults, are advantaged. We have been lucky enough to have gone through school, completing not only our basic education but possibly tertiary as well. And you children who are participating in this event, you too are advantaged.  Your parents have made sure that you get an education. So it is really with great pleasure that I stand before you.

But my happiness is tinged with sadness.  The changes towards gender equality and empowerment have been slow. Did you know that though you are in school, there are almost 70 million children around the world who do not have the same opportunity? In Africa south of the Sahara desert, 10 million children like you do not complete their basic education? Did you know that the majority of the children who are out-of-school, and do not complete primary education are girls?

In Kenya, out of every 100 girls, 76 complete their primary 8, compared to 87 boys. So though children of both genders drop out, girls are clearly more disadvantaged. We heard the earlier speaker say that in Turkana, and in many other remote counties in this country, very few girls go to school, and even fewer complete the primary level.

Yet, our leaders made a commitment to uphold the rights of children as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). They also agreed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the Jomtien Education for All (EFA) goals, and the Beijing Platform for Action. All these international agreements single out the girl-child as a specially disadvantaged group, whose rights are continually being violated.

The young debaters who opposed the proposed motion, that educating girls is a waste of resources, argued the case for educating girls very effectively. Their arguments are supported by research done in many parts of the world. Research tells us that delivering on girls’ education is one of the most effective investments that governments, communities and households can make. There are many benefits in educating girls. As one of the young debaters has said: “You educate a girl, you educate the nation”. I shall not recount the list of benefits again except to say that the UWEZO 2010 learning assessment conducted in Kenya, covering 72 districts confirms that children’s literacy and numeracy competencies increase with the increase in mothers’ level of formal schooling. UWEZO Kenya is an initiative that is managed by WERK, the research organisation that I am representing here.

The factors that cause girls (and boys) to drop out of school have also been well documented since the early 1990s. I had the privilege of leading two seminal studies: (a) the first comprehensive situation analysis of the girl-child in Kenya on behalf of the FEMNET and KAACR; and (b) education of the girl-child in Kenya in 1990/91 on behalf of the Education Research Network in Kenya (ERNIKE). And since then, there have been many more studies. The young debaters supporting the proposed motion earlier highlighted some of these factors. The two research studies that were shared with us today also identified the barriers to girls’ education and the achievement of gender equality in education.

It is saddening indeed that despite all this knowledge of the benefits, and an understanding of factors that prevent girls from participating equally with boys, progress has been so slow. This indicates that maybe we should be doing things differently. It calls for strategic thinking and being more proactive than we have been so far. Here I will raise five issues:

1.    Counting the cost of dropping out: If all the talk of benefits of girls’ education is not producing the desired results at a quicker pace, may be we need to turn the question around and ask ourselves: What is the cost of the higher drop-out of girls to the government exchequer? A recent study conducted by the Centre for the Study of Adolescence (CSA) suggests that the government may be losing an estimated Kshs. 60 million (or US$ 750,000) annually as a result of girls leaving school before completion. This amount does not even take into account the private costs of dropout.  Imagine, if more sustained and committed efforts were made to stop this wastage, the resources saved could be ploughed back to improve on the quality of schooling so that it is relevant, friendlier and hence attractive to the girls (and boys), so that they do not drop out before completion of the primary cycle.
2.    Working with children is as important as working for them. The young debaters have amply demonstrated that children are intelligent, with the capacity for independent thinking. They are also very effective advocates for themselves. We must avoid tokenism by all means; instead we need to give them space, listen to them, and involve them actively in actions that have a bearing on their welfare. This does not mean, however, that we abdicate out responsibilities as the primary duty bearers—we must make the resources available, guarantee their safety and security, and guide them.
3.    Affirmative action is crucial to level the playing field. Girls, in general, need an extra push if they are to achieve equally with boys.
4.    Involving men and boys in the quest for gender equality in and through education is critical. If we leave the men and boys out, the results may be disastrous and contribute to a widening gender gap and inequality. Men and boys are directly responsible for girls dropping out of school before completion. For example:
•    When we talk of early marriage, is it not a man/boy who marries the girl?
•    When we say a girl has dropped out because of pregnancy, who is responsible for impregnating her?
•    When she is being sexually harassed and raped, who is responsible for this very heinous crime against the girl-child?
5.    Finally, I would like to end by emphasizing the importance of mentoring young people, especially girls, if we are going, to make a difference. Mentoring is a key strategy that we, in WERK, (the research organization that I am representing here today) use to develop and guide young girls so that they can achieve not only in their professional life but also in become ethical and compassionate human beings.