Unequal Access to Education in the Developing World

Barriers to the Girl-Child Education

In Ghana, below are some of the main barriers. 1) Early marriage 2) Pregnancy 3) Poverty 4) Sexual harassment 5) Gender-based violence 6) Menstruation and stigmatization

In 2018, a report done on African Youth Voices on Child Marriage by Abigail Oppong at Ariel Foundation International indicates how the survivors of child marriage shares their experience on how the lack of education at their early age, affected them negatively. According to some of the women, they felt dead and inhumane when they were forced to get married at that young age forfeiting their education.

Link to publication is here https://issuu.com/arielfoundation/docs/afi_final_report_on_child_marriage_

Reasons why we should invest in Girls’ Education

Below are some of the reasons why we should invest in the Girl-Child education, if we seek to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goal 5.

1) The lifetime earnings of girls increases as they attain the skills needed to help them earn what they have worked hard to achieve. 2) There will be rise in national growth. As said by the late James Emman

Kwegyir Aggrey, if you educate a man, you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate the whole nation. 3) The rate of child marriage would level down since most girls are motivated and supported to be in school 4) The rate of child mortality rates falls as the level of teenage pregnancy levels down. 5) The rate of maternal mortality rate falls as there will be no early childbirth death. The girls are in school.

The sacrifice these victims paid their life for is like the price certain young girls unwillingly pay to go through forfeiting their education. I stand with all the young girls who stay at home and watch their brothers go to school, the

sacrifice is enough! The last statement from the Holocaust survivor Ms. Emma Adjadj to young people was that “Young people should be told about what happened”. Yes, the young ones should be reminded of what happened years ago.

Knowing what happened helps us to appreciate culture, history and who we truly are. The six million people who died because of this incidence experienced the inhuman act. Relating it to the girl-child education, it’s not about killing and burning human beings but is about the dream’s society kill, the dignity of the girl-child destroyed daily by rapists etc. The daily sorrows of the little young wives who are forced to marry men old enough to be their great grandfather. History was made on January 20, 2021, when Kamala Harris was sworn in as the 49th U.S. vice president. She became the first woman, first Black American and the first Asian American to occupy the office of the vice president. She has set the path and broken the boundaries for the younger generations. Hence, it is time to have every girl in school. This is a fundamental human right of every girl-child and should be respected.

SAY NO TO DISCRIMINATION AMONG GIRLS IN EDUCATION!

Twi Language

“Es3 s33 Obaa biara enya asomdwe ko sukuu 3b3y3 onipa tituro daakye”

“Every Girl-child needs the peace to go to school to become confident and prominent women in the future”.

Hate Speech A Hydra Head Element: Xenophobia By Bukola Omolona, Nigeria

A single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress. 1 Words simply put is a medium of communication. Words are indeed very powerful as it generates responses either good or bad. Words can be used to either help or not, to heal, to hinders, to harm, to condemn, to advise, to humble and most importantly to communicate.

Perceptions are crystalized through the choice of the words in which a message was communicated. It is a person’s perception of an idea that would generate his reaction to the idea. Furthermore, perceptions most often than not, leads to the creation of ideologies. The origin of ideologies starts from an individual or a groups perception to an information.

In the famous Gettysburg Address; the President Lincoln’s address, created the appreciation of the sacrifice of those who fought for the nation either dead or alive and that of human equality even as they experience the birth of a new united nation. His words gave the perception to his people that it was the dawn of a new era of freedom and equality for all. The led to the many dramatic changes he was able to establish. The words he communicated brough hope and light. In another vein, Martin Luther King Jnr also was another person who used his words to bring hope to his race. He gave the “I Have a Dream speech” this speech. This speech spoke of a better future to be looked forward too. It generated a movement. This movement came up as a reaction to the words they heard from Martin Luther King Jnr.

Words are powerful. It has been scientifically proven that positive words encourage cognitive brain function, while negative words activate the fight or flight reaction in an individual. Also, that the negative words slow the cognitive brain. Once words are uttered, the likelihood of it being believed and acted upon is high. Ideologies comes by hearing and believing the word as uttered.

In history, a lot of misunderstanding had arisen due to miscommunication, noncommunication, intolerance, and many other reasons. Despite the originating reason for disagreement, hate speeches has fueled the flames of wars and intolerance. Hate speech is the abusive or threatening speech or writing that expresses prejudice against a particular group especially on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation.2 Hate speech can be considered as a parent of Holocaust,

1 Andrew Newberg etal 2 Definition from Oxford languages