On the Problem of Education: Extending Equal Opportunity Internationally

In October 2012, fourteen year old Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan was shot in the head

by a Taliban gunman when he boarded her school bus and personally identified her. The bullet

went through her head, narrowly missing her brain, and lodged itself in her shoulder just shy of

her spinal cord. Malala was immediately flown to a military hospital in a neighboring city.

Malala had been an activist for girls’ education and spoke out against the Taliban for three years,

blogging for the BBC about her experiences under the strict and violent regimen. When

interviewed by The New Yorker, Mirza Waheed (former editor of the BBC site that Malala

wrote for) said: “She was just the girl who wanted to go to school.” Shortly after, Malala was

internationally regarded as a symbol for a girl’s right to education. People all over Pakistan

signed petitions for equal compulsory education and the dedication of Malala Day, a day when

every child is to be in school.

 

Malala’s story is sadly not the only act of militant attack on education – just last month,

41-year-old teacher Shahnaz Nazli was killed on her way to the girls’ primary school where she

taught. One of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, eight internationally

imperative issues established in 2000 that were projected to be eradicated by the year 2015, is to

provide universal primary education. The UN estimates that about 32 million girls across the

world are not currently in school for various reasons, with countries in the Middle East and

North Africa having the largest discrepancy both in overall education as well as unequal

opportunity for boys and girls.

 

The international education disparity doesn’t just apply to children – countries in the

Middle East and Africa also show a inequality in the proportion of women who receive

secondary and tertiary (higher) education. Further, Iran was among the first countries in the

Middle East to open its universities to women in the late nineties. However, when the gender gap

narrowed and eventually found women outnumbering men at 60% of the student body in 2001,

measures began to be taken in order to restrict women’s entrance into university. Universities

began dividing men and women into separate lectures halls, and even separate building

entrances, as well as banning women from a number of degree courses such as engineering and

computer science. Even the country’s leaders have stressed the need for the people to return to

“traditional values.”

 

However, governments aren’t the only organizations with the power to change. Sseko

Designs, a Uganda-based sandal company introduced to me by an RA during my freshman

year, was created to provide employment opportunities to young women while allowing them to

earn money towards a university education. Ssekos consist of a unique leather sandal base that

interchangeable ribbon-like straps can be woven through and secured in a number of fun ways –

all items are handmade by the lovely women of Uganda.

 

With a little less than two years before the deadline of the Millennium Development

Goals, now is the time for action. While a basic education is something most people in the

United States may take for granted, it can mean an opportunity for a longer and better quality life

for many women in the world.

 

Learn more about the mission of Sseko Designs and how you can help here , and read more about the UN’s Millennium Development Goals here.