“Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.” said Edward Everette, the former US Secretary of State.

Education is power. It helps individuals to be aware of their rights, to make rational decisions and to protect themselves against abuse and oppression. However, millions of people around the world are being denied access to education and the vast majority are women. UNICEF believes for every 100 boys that are out of school, there are 115 girls in the same situation across the world. There are several deep rooted social, religious and cultural norms that serve to exclude women from receiving an education and thereby, occupying a position of power and authority.

Lack of education has an impact through out a woman’s life cycle. Even before birth, female fetuses are killed in countries like India and China where the birth of a baby girl is not preferred. This is because a girl would lead to a greater financial burden on the family to get her married and virtually no income. In the middle years, girls face another type of discrimination. They lack access to education. Many of them have to help out with the household work and take care of their siblings instead of going to school or playing. Although the rates of girls’ primary education have improved in most countries, only 43 per cent of girls in the developing world attend secondary school.

Child marriage is another practice prevalent in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Parents in these regions tend to get their daughters married off at a very young age to rid themselves of the burden of raising them. Early marriage and lack of knowledge about birth control leads to early pregnancy and parenthood. HIV is also a consequence of illiteracy. Lack of information about HIV and their sexual rights makes women more susceptible to HIV.

Adolescent mothers are less likely to seek medical attention as a result the rates of infant and maternal mortality are higher in these cases. Uneducated mothers are also not aware of the nutritional choices for their children. This leads to problems like malnutrition and anemia among the children. They are less likely to send their own children to school and often do not participate in the labor force or the political process. They rarely have any say in the household affairs. Men often control every aspect of their lives including their freedom, mobility and health care. As they grow into old age, women face the double discrimination of age and gender. They again, totally depend on men as they don't have any savings and security of their own.

The situation in Central American countries like Nicaragua is no different. UNICEF believes that poverty, lack of education and few opportunities epitomize the lives of many women in this region. The country has exceptionally high maternal mortality rate and adolescent mothers account for 1 in 4 births. Women constitute only 30% of the labor force and they also play a limited role in the political process.

Education is the only tool that can break this intergenerational cycle of oppression, abuse, and poverty of women. Education has the power to transform societies. Educated women are more aware of their rights. They are likely to have fewer and healthier children. They can protect themselves against diseases like HIV. They are more likely to send their children to school. A greater participation of educated women in the economy and political process would lead to a better world today as well as future generations.

Aristotle had once said “The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.”

It is time for all the people and their governments across the world to realize this and join together to make education an international priority. It is the responsibility of all educated citizens of the world to help our fellow beings live better lives.

~ by Shamala Pulugurtha 

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. - Derek Bok

It is so important to continuously challenge ourselves, learn something new, refresh our knowledge and keep our brains active. Good education instills in us the importance of learning, making us more skilled, understanding and confident. Someone without education often fails to have clear cut goals and this lack of vision for his own future makes him disillusioned and sometimes destructive. Violence at home, poverty, crime, addictions may be some of the sad aspects of illiteracy. Education is an asset that helps its owner communicate better and have access to more information. Thus, shortcomings of ignorance overshadow financial strains of education. In fact long term gains of education are life altering.

Each additional year of education translates into an increase in an individual’s earning potential. Wages of educated workers are higher, as are earnings of small business owners and farmers who are inspired to take advantage of new technologies. In fact there is a huge gap in the salaries between those who complete higher education and those who manage to finish high school.

Lack of education translates into much more than just monetary loss. An uneducated person knows and understands little about the political scenario of their country and hence fails to demand rights which benefit them and others around them. They continue to be exploited, abused and ignored by society. They fail to understand the changing scenario of their society and have a hard time adapting to new systems or accepting new ways of life.

Ignorance in women is all the more damaging because it translates into many lost opportunities for not just herself but also her children. Women’s education enables them to marry later, have fewer kids and thus afford better health and education for each child.

It has been found that independent of household income, mothers with primary education have better access to information that can keep their children healthy. Since educated mothers access and use information about health care for themselves and their family, they are instrumental in creating a healthy society. The society also benefits due to lower fertility and the at-home schooling that educated mothers provide to their kids.

Basic literacy is a fundamental right. As defined by the United Nations, it is the ability to read 40 words per minute, write 20 words per minute, and do 2-digit arithmetic. The percentage of poor who are lacking in basic literacy skills is very high. Unfortunately due to lack of education the gap between the poor and the rich gets wider. The best education stays confined to the wealthy section of the society while the section that is economically deprived craves for simple primary education.

One of the important goals of the UN Millennium Project is to “ensure, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, be able to complete a full course of primary education.”

This goal is particularly important for the poorest section of the society. Not only does gender parity in education decrease with poverty, drop out rates rise significantly in low income families. While low rates of enrollment is a huge problem in south Asia, in Latin America enrollment is moving towards being universal in many countries, but drop out rates and repetition lead to low completion rates. Children with disabilities are even less likely to be enrolled in schools. Lack of education thus makes them doubly disabled.

At the bare minimum, people should be able to read and write with sufficient proficiency to manage day to day activities like reading a newspaper, road signs and the like. Obviously there is no maximum. The right education opens doors that were previously closed. Guiding them through new paths, helping them conquer their fears and allay their self-doubts, pushing them to keep looking for better ideas - good education becomes a person’s most trusted friend and mentor throughout life. It is high time everyone in the world had such an indispensable companion.

~ written by Neha Singh / photos by Leslie Alsheimer, Santa Fe Digital Darkroom