Don`t Forget Educating the Boys
Over the past three decades, much emphasis has been put on raising the level of education of the girl-child in Africa, perhaps at the detriment of the boy-child.
Jacinta Juma, Programme Administrator, Mifugo Programme, ISS Nairobi Office
Over the past three decades, much emphasis has been put on raising
the level of education of the girl-child in Africa, perhaps at the
detriment of the boy-child. This lack of attention has continued to
manifest in the modern society where focus has been on girls’ education
and academic success but the boy-child seems to a certain extent
neglected. Instead, organisations should broaden their focus to support
the family as an institution, faced with many challenges in a
competitive modern society.
The logic behind the campaign to “take a girl-child to school” was
based on the old phrase that was used in early post-colonial Africa that
‘when you educate a woman, you educate an entire village’. This needs
to be renewed as a call to parents who in this time and age are still
not prioritizing education for the girl-child. Certain successes have
been achieved and even though the campaign to take the girl-child to
school has last several decades, there are still pockets of negligence
where the rights of the girl-child have been violated.
A wide array of excuses is still in use today in different parts of
Africa, attempting to explain why parents are stopping the girl-child
from modern education. In the region, most of the affected communities
are pastoralists perhaps due to their nomadic life and unfavourable
climatic conditions.
Some of the common explanations which continually feature in
different parts of Africa are phrases like: ‘boys have more rights than
girls; ‘girls are not allowed to go to school because they have a lot of
housework to do;’ ‘girls should always be around the kitchen;’ and
‘girls are not as clever as boys.’ These sentiments may in the process
create a false sense of success to some boys who seem to be reluctant
and not as enthusiastic as the girls in academics and related fields.
While girls continue to be disadvantaged at different levels of the
society, the numbers of those succeeding seem to be on the rise and in
the 21st century; emphasis might be re-directed to the boy-child as more
challenges face them in todays competitive environment.
To some extent, most parents think that girls are burdened with
housework and therefore cannot combine it with regular schooling. It is
unfortunate that household responsibilities increase as the girls grow
older. Of course, this affects school attendance and performance, but
the girl-child still trudges on and overcomes many odds to succeed.
In some environments, parents are afraid of taking their girl-child
to school due to conflict situations that becomes breeding grounds for
rape, kidnapping and early marriages. The fears of such atrocities being
committed against their daughters are made worse by the problem of drug
and substance abuse in the society.. In the rural areas, some villages
are located far-off from education institutions and the fear of the
girl-child traversing large areas discourages school enrolment. Further,
these challenges discourage some parents from sending their girl-child
to school. This notwithstanding, the girl-child has been beating many
odds to the highest levels of success in different parts of the
continent and in the society.
The other challenge is the fact that some parents do not value the
benefits and importance of educating the girl-child whom according to
popular thinking, they will become mothers and housewives and therefore
do not require much education. Invariably, they argue that education
will be more relevant for boys as eventually they will become heads of
their households. This phenomenon too has been changing in the modern
times as it is possible that there are more households headed by women
as opposed to men in many parts of Africa.
Heart wrenching stories are commonly featured in the media of the
girl-child explaining how she had to drop out of school to take care of
her siblings while the parents pursued meagre income from temporary
jobs. In some instances, such girls are rescued from their circumstance
and are enrolled in schools where they perform as well as the boy-child.
While so much emphasis has been put towards the success of the
girl-child, the boy-child might have been neglected to an extent that
concerted efforts must also be directed towards reversing the trend of
poor performance amongst boys. A close analysis of most academic
institutions might reveal an increase in girl-child enrolment, but the
same might not be said of the boy-child, whose enrolment might be higher
with fewer completing higher institutions of learning. This trend has
definitely deprived some of them opportunities for higher learning.
Several factors that are reflected in the modern society could
explain the possible negative trend. The family institution that was
highly valued in the traditional society faces different challenges,
including single parents by choice or circumstances such as divorce,
separation, career or death of either of the spouses. In the process,
the bringing up of children has been adversely affected.
In some cases, the modern man is not in a position to exercise as
much authority as in the past based on the ever changing dynamics of the
society. In the process, the boy-child may lack a role-model save from
his idols in music, games, film, etc.
Indeed, it is high time that as much resources, research and genius
are re-directed to the family institution to save the future generations
of the 21st century. Whilst resources are used to improve technology,
infrastructure, development and urbanisation, deliberate effort must be
re-directed towards improving family institutions with particular
emphasis on both the boy-child as well as the girl-child as the pillars
of generations to come. A long-term positive impact could be guaranteed
only if there is sustained economic growth that promotes equitable
opportunities for the emerging modern society with values that surpass
wealth and technology.
