Let’s educate our women to educate our children

photo courtesy: wfp.org

Somalia locates on East Africa the population of Somalia is estimated about 8 million although there is a trend of population growth but the census of 8 million people was recorded before the collapse of the Somali central government.

For many decades of Somalia’s government was not working effectively all the social services like Education, health were not sufficient to the entire society which resulted too many children not to attend primary schools.

Education is defined as the wealth of knowledge acquired by an individual after studying particular subject matters or experiencing life lessons that provide an understanding of something or in other words it is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.

Education is one of the most important factors in the development of a country. Education brings more job opportunities for those who are educated. Without a doubt, Education, change a person's future, job opportunities are more likely to get for those who are more educated which improves their life style as well as for their country’s development

 In many Developing countries like Somalia number of female students enrolling in schools is very low compared to male students. Somalia, Gender Parity Index (GPI), which is the ratio of female-to-male primary and secondary net attendance ratios shows there is a difference between boys and girls in school enrollment.

According to State of the World's Children (SOWC) 2013, UNICEF (M: male; F: female) the net ration of Somali female attending to primary school female is 15 but male is 18, while the net ration of Somali female attending to High school female is 8 and male is 12, this report has been compared the enrollment of boys and girls in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESAR).

For the above ratio girls are small number in enrollment than boys in both primary and secondary schools in Somalia due to many reasons such as:  
1.Cultural belief: The cultural beliefs of parents emphasize to educate their boys and give little priority for the girl’s education because they believe the education of their daughter ends when she is married; in rural areas women are remained illiterate due to lack of schools in the remote rural villages. 
2.Poverty and the cost of education: many parents are unable to pay the school fee of their children and girls cannot access to education if the cost of the school fee is high and children are large in number. 
3.Early marriage: as usually Girls are married when they are matured and this factor had forced many Somali females not to pursue their education in secondary and universities.

However, girl’s education can be improved first by encouraging all the parents to take in to the account to educate their children equally which is obligation, second, that negative cultural belief of that girls has no right to educate is stereo type and she has right to educate whether she is married or un married.

Islam encourages for the education the Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him (pbuh) said in Hadith “Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every Muslim.”

In another hadith the prophet said “He who has a girl and teaches her good manners and improves her education and then manumits and marries her, will get a double reward; and any slave who observes God’s right and his master’s right will get a double reward.”

Girl’s education is very crucial to the development of the society; an educated girl will rise educated children for the future, researches have shown that educated mothers tend to have healthier, better-nourished babies, and that their own children are more likely to attend school.

I had conversed with many female students in secondary and university of Puntland state of Somalia they are very happy to pursue their education now but they are pessimistic to the future because they are not sure whether they will finish their education or their parents will force them a man.

Kowsar Ahmed(High school student) told me while I was conversing with her female education in Somali, she said “to educate a girl is to educate whole nation” for her statement she mentioned when you educate a girl she will help her children, her brother and the community at large for the future; she added that last two decade of lack government educated women contributed to the development of the community by holding social awareness of peace, health and education of the young children.

Lastly, let’s educate our children equally and make justice for them and particularly female education because when you educated her today she will raise educated children for future.

Contacts

Mohamed Osman Muumin, B.A in Development Studies at Puntland State University (PSU) in Garowe.

 He can be reached at mcmuumin1@ gmail.com