The Future of Education in Africa

Friday, April 17, 2020

The Future of Girls' Education

When asked what she wanted to do with her future, a little girl living in sub-Saharan Africa answered that she wanted to become a doctor, or maybe a judge or scientist. To us, this may not seem out of the ordinary, but for her, achieving her goals would be near impossible due to the society and place that she lives in. (Kuwonu) In Malawi, her village, there are countless obstacles standing in the way of her education: the extreme poverty, unanticipated pregnancies, the sexist traditions and norms of girls marrying young and becoming housewives.
Driven by these factors, the enrollment rates of girls living in sub-Saharan Africa reached shockingly low levels, with their collective female population being the least educated population internationally (Kuwonu). Not only does this impair the futures of millions of African children, but according to lead World Bank analyst Mark Blacken, these rates are also bringing down the nation’s gross national product. He specifies that if girls were given the chance to become properly educated, along with other natural rights, the region’s GNP would increase by one percentage point yearly (Lafraniere). 

So why is a proper education so rarely given to girls in sub-Saharan Africa? There are a multitude of factors, the most prominent being the antiquated norms of society that are preventing the education of these girls. The standard in African culture is for girls to marry young, even as young as 12 or 13, and bear children for their family; however, girls who become pregnant while attending school are often forced to drop out and give up their education for good, compromising their entire future (Tibasima). Even those who escape early marriage can easily become pregnant–children are not taught sex education in school, and too often they become pregnant because they are misinformed. According to a Human Rights Watch article, in Tanzania, “over 15,000 girls drop out annually due to pregnancy”(Tibasima). 

Although girls have many more factors preventing their equal education, including pregnancy, the flawed school systems of sub-Saharan Africa impairs the quality of any education scarcely received by those who attend school. Akua Djanie, an experienced journalist, describes her experiences with her children’s education, comparing Ghana and Great Britain’s school systems to uncover the differences between the two countries’ education processes. The main takeaway Djanie had was that in more developed countries, including Great Britain, teachers challenge their students to think outside of the box and gain new insights independently, but in sub-Saharan African countries, they are not being asked to “probe their mind for other answers” beyond the obvious (Djanie).

The lack of resources available in the classroom also provides an explanation for the statistics: the typical classroom consists of chipped paint, cracking walls, and no desks or computers. (Djanie) How can these students be expected to learn effectively when the school system suppresses their learning and doesn’t provide sufficient resources?

Although organizations such as Unicef and the United Nations Educational Organization are raising awareness on this issue, sub-Saharan Africa consistently has the lowest rate of students attending school, and the students attending school funnel down from very few in primary school to even fewer at high school graduation (Sengupta). Without reform, the numbers will only continue to reduce. These girls are dropping out of school because they are treated so indifferently, and therefore led to believe that their education doesn't matter. Without reform, these girls will only continue quitting on their education, oblivious to how valued it should be.

Works Cited:

Djanie, Akua. "Education in Africa is failing its people." New African, no. 512, Dec. 2011, p. 46+. Gale In Context: Global Issues, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A275927696/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=a2ad1d59. Accessed 10 Mar 2020.

Kuwonu, Franck. “Millions of Girls Remain out of School | Africa Renewal.” United Nations, United Nations, Apr. 2015, www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2015/millions-girls-remain-out-school.

Lafraniere, Sharon. “For Girls in Africa, Education Is an Uphill Fight.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Dec 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/12/23/world/africa/for-girls-in-africa-education-is-uphill-fight.html

Sengupta, Somini. “African Girls' Route to School Is Still Littered With Obstacles.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Dec. 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/world/african-girls-route-to-school-is-still-littered-with-obstacles.html.

Tibasima, Marco. “Africa: Make Girls' Access to Education a Reality.” Human Rights Watch, 16 June 2017, www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/16/africa-make-girls-access-education-reality.

The Underlying Power of Movies

Sijie uses the symbol of the movies to show how the narrator and Luo working to creates a feeling of unity within the village and young intellectuals, thus furthering their hope of acceptance and returning home. The narrator and Luo begin to retell a film to the village. As they conclude the enticing tale, the villagers are moved by the unique story. The narrator observes that “The effect had been as grandiose as that of the screen version. The whole audience wept, even the village headman, who, for all his harshness, couldn’t hold back the tears pouring hotly from his left eye...” (Sijie 35). Luo and the narrator are able to reach out and connect to every single villager through these reenacted movies. Not only can the simple act of coming together once a month to watch these performances bring the village together, but the overwhelming shared emotion brought upon each and every villager bring a sense of unity. Having a purpose in the village, and being the ones to be responsible for this unity in the village can further bring a sense of hope and purpose to both Luo and the narrator. Additionally, After the narrator and Luo had taken several trips to the town, the narrator feels grateful for the opportunity of leaving the grueling work. He expresses his gratitude, thinking, “I wouldn’t go so far as to say that our visits to town had become an obsession but at least having to trudge across the mountain to see a film meant getting four days off from labouring in the fields…”(Sijie 81). The films gave a sense of refuge for the two youth. Rather than being forced to spend their entire time in the desolate fields working, the narrator and Luo are given a chance to travel. This provides hope for them to get through the strenuous re-education since they have journeys to look forward to. Therefore, the films unite the villagers through emotional affect, and at the same time give hope to the youth.