By Divya Gokulnath
Gender has a material effect on social experience. In nearly every aspect of life, there is a discernible difference between the opportunities available to men and women, resulting in gaps in education, health, and livelihood. However, the collective support of communities, families, and teachers can have a far-reaching impact on safeguarding the future of millions of girls worldwide.
Educating girls has a multiplier effect and a generational impact. Studies show that by empowering girls with education and ensuring that they complete secondary education by 2030 can increase a nation’s GDP by 10% over a decade – a number that is inching further away every time a girl is denied the right to go to school. Moreover, women who receive equal education are able to make informed decisions that are in the best interest of not just their own health but the health of their families, creating a chain of positivity.
For me, the privilege of a gender-neutral upbringing made way for access, support, and self-belief. Whether it was playing basketball, pursuing biotechnology, or choosing entrepreneurship, gender never played a role in my life choices. However, for most girls, their rights and opportunities continue to be clipped. When gender sets boundaries for children, their right to self-agency and determination is whisked away. This usually has a cascading effect as pre-existing social and cultural biases in raising our children to trickle down into inequalities in education – one of the core markers of human development.
Today, nearly 130 million girls are out of school globally, putting them at risk of illiteracy and exploitation. In India, the male literacy rate outpaces the female literacy rate by 16.6%. This deficit has a domino effect, further underscoring the high cost of not educating girls. A World Bank report estimates the losses in lifetime productivity and earnings for girls who don’t complete 12 years of education between $15 and $30 trillion, in addition to wide-ranging losses in human capital wealth. On the flip side, research suggests that girls who receive an education are more likely to lead healthy and fulfilling lives, earn higher incomes, and take part in decisions that most directly affect them.
The impact of educating girls is generational, one that affects the ability of young girls to continue stepping into schools and the workforce. However, when girls are shut out of these opportunities, an entire generation of women is negatively impacted. While the benefits of educating girls outstrip any argument against it, a shift in favour of equitable learning must be achieved because it is the right thing to do.
Transforming lives
To build a future that believes in the agency of the girl child, we must begin by putting girls at the forefront of change initiatives. Policies tailored toward improving literacy gaps and creating more inclusive classrooms have a far-reaching impact. Concerted efforts by the Indian government such as the introduction of Sukanya Samriddhi accounts, the provision of a Gender Inclusion Fund in the National Education Policy, and the Saksham initiative for higher education among girls, have been working to democratize education while also mitigating challenges of access, finance, and dropout ratios. To ensure an inclusive and gender-responsive structure that protects the rights of girls, it is also imperative to catalyze collaboration between educators, families, and communities. Recognising this need, our social impact initiative ‘BYJU’S Education For All’ works at the grassroots level to provide free, high-quality digital learning to students from underserved communities, with girl students forming 50% of the 5 million beneficiaries so far. By 2025, we aim to reach 10 million.
Removing gender-tinted glasses
Growing up in an environment where your choices are not bound by the myopic lens of gender, where your right to learn is not denied, and your abilities are not questioned, opens incredible opportunities and new waves of self-determination. As we take proactive steps to help women and girls realize their potential, technology, and its ability to bring scale possesses a significant role. Education is a great equalizer, and technology is the most powerful weapon to break the barriers to access to quality learning. With tech-driven tools and learning modules, some of the most disadvantaged sections of society can be brought into the fold of education, transforming their lives and livelihoods.
Although education has tremendous transformative power, its potential to democratize society is undermined by gender inequality in foundational learning. This calls for gender-transformative education that seeks to bust gender-based stereotypes, attitudes, and practices. Such systems empower not just girls but promote the development of life skills – like self-management, communication, negotiation, and critical thinking – that are essential for success. They also close skills gaps that perpetuate pay gaps and build prosperity for entire countries.
With more than 1.1 billion girls poised to take on the future, girls’ education is an urgent priority. It is estimated that the global poverty rate could be more than halved if all adults completed secondary school. But gender equality in education is not simply about giving equal access to girls in school. It is about empowering girls to claim their right as equal citizens to participate fully in society as leaders and entrepreneurs. This is the foundation for any sustainable development agenda for the 21st century. With deeper collaboration, on-ground efforts, and the resolve to look at the world without gender-tinted glasses, we can cultivate a generation of empowered women who can effect change and create a better collective future for all.
The author of this article is co-founder, BYJU’S.
