👧 Girls: We don't need no education? Steemucation idea! (Original photos & thoughts)
Do we hate a girl child?
No? Then why, instead education, girls are SOLD into Marriage/ subjected to early pregnancies or treated as second rate citizens in many countries in the world?
Many of us (those in developing countries and the developed ones) will say - well, I love my daughter and I am doing everything I can for her education. That is great but have we taken a step back to see what is going on in the world?
Two thirds of illiterate persons in the world are female!
31 Million girls in the world lack Primary Education & 34 Million girls lack Secondary education as per this Unesco report
There are countries in the world (predominantly African and Asian) where poor girls get on an average less than 1 year of education in their youth! Please see the scorecards below:
Image credit
Can education help?
Yes - says this study by Unesco and also independent organization findings like this one by One Girl
The findings are based on surveys across many countries. Here are some of the benefits and advantages quoted:
- Educated women less likely to die in childbirth: In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, secondary education would help save 50,000 lives
- Better handle on population control: In sub-Saharan Africa, women with no education have 6.7 births, on average. The figure falls to 5.8 for those with primary education and more than halves, to 3.9, for those with secondary education.
- Girls with higher levels of education are less likely to have children at an early age: 10% fewer girls would become pregnant under 17 years in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia if they all had a primary education. Almost 60% fewer girls would become pregnant under 17 years in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia if they all had a secondary education.
- Educated women are more likely to find work: In Brazil, only 37% of women with less than primary education are in work. This rises to 50% if they have a primary education, and 60% with a secondary education
Am I merely preaching here?
My wife and I have been funding the education of girls over the years from our personal savings from time to time. We have always believed in action and mostly, direct action:
- Engineering college education sponsored for 2 girls so far
- School fees, books and uniforms sponsored for 4-5 girls so far. The girl in the photograph will likely be the next one to be supported very soon
- Supporting a society in my Alma mater for helping needy students (not specifically girls though)
- My wife sponsors a prize in her Alma mater every year of a girl child who is best in sports and studies
Our efforts have been limited to our circle and have not been far reaching. We have tried donating to charities and Non-Government organization too in the past but, unfortunately, we have had a fairly bad experience of this. Even reputed organizations in Africa and Asia appear to be riddled with corruption and inefficiencies - rendering them useless for the cause. I am not saying this is the case with all of them but it is certainly an issue we have to face while selecting suitable charities. Even with all due care, we are usually never sure that our money has really reached the needy.
'Steemucation' then?
Social platforms like Steemit have something that normal schooling systems do not have. REACH!!
With the spread of internet and smartphones, Steemit and other social media are reaching remote corners of the world. What if we, the Steemit community created 'Steemucation' that is based on following pillars:
- Create a Steemit based app that helpes children learn and rewarded them Steem in return for completion of learning tasks. This would be a fairly simple project for all the coding experts available on Steemit
- Create safeguards to prevent abuse by scheming elders (use biometrics /ID for ensuring identity). Also - rewards need not be huge - just enough to keep children and their parents motivated enough to learn
- Create a donation based or crowd funded Steemit account to fund this app.
- Appoint a trusted team of Senior and active Steemians to administer the funding account. Transparency of the blockchain will naturally help in tracking all transactions
- Expand the concept to reach maximum demographic cross sections by adding more subjects/ languages etc. as the project grows
I seek ideas, support and guidance on this 'Steemucation' idea and what we, as a community, need to do to take this forward. Please feel free to comment or contact me via Steemit Chat with your thoughts.
Note: First image is created by me by editing (to add text) to my original photo
Great content!
Hello @vm2904
It is said that boys tend to be better able to explore his world, have confidence in his physique, and later will be protective of his mother. However, it does not mean that girls have no advantage over boys. With its uniqueness, girls also easily take the hearts of their parents. Whether by making eye contact with you since birth, or saying the word "mama" faster, later they are also better able to communicate with you.
One of them Girls have other characteristics that are not less special.
@mawardi - Thank you for reading my article and for your detailed comment. You make a good point that girls are, in many ways superior to boys. Unfortunately, they have always been treated historically as the weaker sex. Things are changing now. We can help by spreading the word as much as possible.
You've done your homework.
I'm not an educator or teacher but talk about education for my daughter agree with you, how girls can be educated just like a boy. The key key is from the parents themselves whether he knows education is important or not .. 1. We must give special discussion to the parents that education is important and we must live .. 2. A teacher, even in our country in remote rural areas, sometimes short of teachers / teachers ... 3. Places and facilities (schools) may still be many schools that are not feasible to be occupied or damaged ... maybe that pendspat my thanks
True. Parents do play an important part in the education for girls. Facilities like schools in remote areas are also important. This is the reason I was thinking about an app based education system that provided monetary incentives for learning.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog and for your detailed comment
I have 4 girls and I am prepared to sacrifice everything for their education (and I may just have to do that). I was struck by the observation that when a girl is educated, her family become educated. the shared circle is so much wider when compared to her male counterpart. It makes me livid when I consider the cruelty in the past and now revealed in developing countries against those who ought to be protected most
Well said @fred703. You made a very important point about educating girls help more because the shared circle is so much wider than male counterparts. Hope your daughters do well. All the best!
thanks, nearing the end of a difficult financial road for my two oldest girls, Tanith will be graduating as a doctor and Shae will be graduating as a lawyer, at the end of the year.
I didn't realize there was still such an imbalance. I have read many things about China's child policy and a general knowledge of how males have always been favored over females due to their ability to work and make money for the family, but I didn't know it was this bad. I think its great that you are bringing some awareness to it and that you are also doing your part to help out. Keep it up
Thank you for your thoughtful comment @jasonshick. This mentality of giving importance to the male child is seen across many countries in Asia/ Middle East. Women are regularly seen as second rate citizens. I am not a great activist but do try to voice my opinion in the hopes that word will spread
Every little bit helps. I currently live in South Korea where it has been a typically male dominated society. There are still huge gaps with regards to pay and respect level, but Korean women are becoming empowered day by day, good to see
Good to know that Korean women are becoming more empowered. Thanks for your perspective.
wow, this is impressive work you are doing. I would be supportive of such a program for sure. I was in talks with Roya Mahboob, CEO of digital citizen fund to assist getting her school girls on here.......and I'd need help with that. maybe working with an actual school that's already organized would be good. we should talk soon. do you skype?
Yes. I am on skype but have not used it much lately. I will check if it works and will message you my coordinates.
Thanks for your appreciation. I was aware that you were trying to work on some concepts with schools but was not aware of details.
You've got the Midas touch.
This post received a 3% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @vm2904! For more information, click here!
You're preaching to the converted, hopefully this idea will be picked up by people who will have power to do more than bemoan the situation and perhaps encourage a cultural change amongst these populations.
Thank you for your comment and for taking the time to read my blog.
What I am proposing is to generate an interesting way, based on Steemit to incentivise children and their parents to learn more. While it is true that a vast cultural change is needed, that does not mean we sit on sidelines doing nothing. Every little bit would count. Let us do what we can and try to support others who can do even more.
cute great post well crafted buddy
This is a really brilliant idea. It combats the poverty & education problem. They would need access to the internet though? I really do love the idea.