GENDER INEQUALITY : EDUCATION

 EXPOSITORY ESSAY: GENDER INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION

       In this 21st century, gender inequality in education affects more than 129 million people globally, mostly women. Studies show that women are most affected by gender inequality in education than men. As they start their schooling, more females gradually face discrimination in education. According to UNICEF, 32 million girls are out of school by primary school age while 97 million girls were out of school by their secondary school age. Gender inequality in education is a circumstance that is caused by several factors.

         First and foremost, poverty in the community is the factor that causes gender inequality in education. Poverty condition makes some students struggle to manage their expenses for their daily life, especially in education. According to Dr. Radhika Kapur (2019), even though education is free in most countries, there are some expenses that students can’t avoid such as expenses for buying stationery items, tuition fees, and many more. This condition causes poor families to think that it’s adequate when sons are provided education so they can able to get a good opportunity for employment in the future and manage family expenses. Whereas, daughters were just trained to manage the household chores and family needs. Therefore, governments especially the ministry of education need to mandatory education for all gender and support financially to the family that facing struggles to send their children to schooling.

 

      Furthermore, insufficient school infrastructure also causes gender inequality in education. As we know, a good-condition school infrastructure provides convenience and a pleasurable environment for students to study. Despite that, there was undeveloped and inadequate school infrastructure in rural areas in India that causes the school organization to only give priority to boys for providing education to them (Nikhoo & Johnson, 2017). For instance, some schools don’t have separate toilets for students according to gender which causes an uncomfortable environment for female students. Thus, the NGO should contribute to schools that are not developed in their infrastructure so all the students including female students can continue their education in a convenient environment.

 

      Moreover, child marriage also become one of the factors that cause gender inequality in education (Saima & Ghafoor). Nowadays, child marriage still exists in some countries although the world become advanced in many aspects such as technology and economy. For instance, In South India, this child marriage became a casual thing in rural communities and causes the girls to stop schooling in the initial stage, they were asked to remain at home and take care of the family’s needs and requirements. Hence, the authorities should act against the individual who forced child marriage.

 

       In conclusion, education is the key to success. In this world, everyone deserves to be successful in their life. Therefore, women should be given priority in education as men so that they can also improve their lifestyle without depending on someone.