Girls' Education

The Cycle of Poverty:

In developing world countries the cultural and economic conditions often dictate that girls receive very little formal education, if any. Since free public education is not the norm, only the wealthy are guaranteed education. For the great majority any money available for education will benefit the boys, while girls will be expected to stay at home to learn household skills and work to help support the family. In extreme poverty cases families can resort to the heartbreaking choice of having young girls enter the sex trade.

Healthy Communities:

Nepal "Room to Grow" scholars (Photo by Nabidita Shrestha – courtesy Room To Read)

Giving girls an education has been proven as a powerful force in sustaining economic growth in developing world cultures. When a boy receives an education he tends to leave his home to pursue greater opportunities elsewhere, but a girl is much more likely to stay in the community, and educate her own children to follow in her footsteps. With education the girl grows up healthier, bears healthier children, and strengthens the fiber of a community. It has been shown that birth rates decline, and the standard of health and economic prosperity improves dramatically when girls and women receive education.

Healthy Life Choices:

Girls study at an outdoor school in an Afghan refugee camp, Pakistan. (Photo courtesy Central Asia Institute)

As the children of an educated woman grow, and in turn are educated themselves, their life’s path tends to lead in a more peaceful and stable direction. In many developing world cultures, as a child grows to adolescence, the mother’s guidance is deeply respected. The young adult seeking advice on life choices will be profoundly influenced by the mother’s wishes, and a mother with a secular education who has been freed from oppression will lead her children in the direction of peace. The alternative choice of violent conflict, which is fueled by ignorance and religious extremism, becomes far less likely.

Donating to Promoting Peace:

Girls reading at Room To Read library Vientiane, Laos (Photo by Stacey Warner – courtesy Room To Read)

Class-ACT recognizes that educating girls has the potential for promoting peace and understanding between nations, and as such we give our donors the option of assisting in this endeavor. Contributions that are specifically earmarked for the education of girls can be allocated for girl-specific Class-ACT projects, or can be channeled through an established non-government, non-religious 501 (c) 3 non-profit global humanitarian organization with which Class-ACT has established direct communication, such as Room To Read and Central Asia Institute.